82 CASUALS IN THE CAUCASUS 



splendid wraps, and hired six ragged-looking steeds, 

 one each and two for Ali to tow. They were all of 

 pronounced Mongol type, with long coats, like shaggy 

 retrievers. Cecily and I had brought out English 

 saddles, having been forewarned; but Kenneth had to 

 bestride the native variety, which travellers say is 

 good or bad according to the extent of their injuries. 



The rider sits in a deep gully, sandwiched between 

 two wooden uprights, the one at the peak being as 

 high as the pommel on a Mexican saddle, and that 

 at the cantle the same. A hard cushion lies in the 

 centre, held in place by a girth which holds the whole 

 affair on the animal's back. The stirrups take one 

 back to medieval times, and are designed on the ground- 

 plan of the common house-shovel. They skewer the 

 rider's legs into a horizontal position, which becomes 

 exceedingly painful if endured for long at a time. 



All Caucasian horses are ridden on the snaffle, and, 

 bar the torture of the local saddlery, riding is a very 

 easy business. The little steeds, like the Canadian 

 Cayuse, break at once into a rocking-horse lope, which 

 Ali Ghirik called " enokod," a name which seemed as 

 delightfully apt and to the point as that of Dr. Cook's 

 celebrated Eskimo friend, Etukishook. 



Our ponies had been shod for cHmbing with Turkish 

 shoes — flat plates which cover in all the sole of the 

 foot save for a small O in the centre. This novel 

 farriery certainly did facilitate the negotiation of 

 difficult slopes, but on bad roads the result can be only 

 likened to an equine attempt at roller skating. 



After loading up very much after the congested 



