GIRTHS, SADDLE-CLOTHS AND NUMNAHS. 237 



increased. The rowel should be small, the depth of the 

 point is a matter of personal fancy. At the ends of the parts 

 passing around the heel there should be flat-headed buttons 

 with moderately long necks to receive the straps which pass 

 under and over the instep. 



GIRTHS. 



Girths are for the purpose of fastening the saddle to the 

 horse's back and are made of brown or white webbing, 

 leather, rawhide or cord. (See Figs. 100, 101.) The girth 

 most popular and the best for ordinary conditions is called the 

 Fitzwilliam. (See Fig. 100.) It is made of webbing and con- 

 sists of a broad under girth about five inches wide, it has a 

 loop of leather attached transversely near both ends and two 

 buckles fastened by leather strips sewed to the webbing, the 

 average length is three feet nine inches. Over this broad 

 girth a narrower and trifle shorter one is placed through the 

 loops of the under girth and has a buckle at both ends. 

 The length of this girth is about three feet six inches and 

 about three and a quarter inches wide. The plain leather 

 girth, although favored by some few good horsemen, is open 

 to the objection of its being very apt to cut the horse, espe- 

 cially a delicate skinned one. Girths made of plaited raw- 

 hide and cord (see Fig. 101) are very good as they are cool 

 and strong. The girth buckle should be a double or bar 

 buckle (see Fig. 90), not a single buckle like in Fig. 91. 

 Girths vary in length, the girth measure of the horse should 

 be taken with the saddle in place. 



SADDLE-CLOTHS AND NUMNAHS. 



Both saddle-cloths and numnahs are pads used under 



