226 THE STIRRUP-LEATHER. 



In cheap grades sometimes only one or two girth-tugs are 

 attached ; in racing saddles of light weight, the tugs are 

 omitted and the girth is placed over the seat of the saddle 

 and the ends buckled together. The lining or pannel is 

 " laced," /. e., sewed to the tree, in order to avoid the use of 

 nails or other metal fastenings which might become loose 

 and result in injury to the horse's back. Six small rivets 

 are generally used to hold the skirt, and parts under it, in 

 place. These rivets are placed three on each side, one near 

 the end of the pommel and another just below it and the 

 third below the seat a little back of the widest part. Staples 

 are generally fastened on each side of the pommel in front 

 of the skirts or on the edge of the seat at the widest part. 



THE STIRRUP-LEATHER.* 



The stirrup-leather should be of soft, pliable and strong 

 leather. The dimensions are usually determined by the 

 weight of the rider. A stirrup-leather for a man of average 

 height and weight is about an inch and a half wide, and a 

 little over four feet long from the buckle to the end of the 

 point. A double or bar buckle of steel should be used on 

 the upper end of which is a revolving band (see Fig. 90), 

 and not the single buckle which is shown in Fig. 91. The 

 double buckle is divided in the middle with a bar on 

 which the tongue works; after the end of the stirrup-leather 

 is fastened, the point may be passed through the opening 

 between the bar and the lower end of the buckle. If the 

 buckle is plated it soon becomes shabby by the scaling off of 

 the plate, but when made of steel it can be burnished and 

 kept as bright as any of the other solid metal parts. 



* For Stirrups and Spurs, see pp. 234-237, and for Girths, see p. 237. 



