232 



WOMEN'S SADDLES. 



the saddle steady, need not necessarily be connected with the stirrup-leather, 

 but it may be fixed to the front girth-strap on the near side of the saddle. 

 The ideal safety bar is one, firstly, which will release the leather instantly, if 

 in the event of a fall the foot gets caught in the iron ; secondly, which will 

 not do so unless such an accident happens. In park riding and ordinary 

 hacking a fall is such an unusual circumstance and occurs on such well 

 known grounds, that it matters little if the leather comes out as a necessary 

 consequence of a tumble. In the hunting field and in hard riding abroad 

 great inconvenience might be felt if the leather was liable to become re- 

 leased whenever the rider got thrown ; for it would not always be possible to 



FIG. 95. 



find the stirrup after it had dropped off. Any stirrup bar made on the prin- 

 ciple of that used for a gentleman's saddle will not do for a side saddle. 

 Although it can be made so as to obviate with certainty the risk of the 

 rider's getting dragged, the leather with it would be liable to slip out of 

 the bar, if the lady happened to draw back her left foot a little more than 

 usual. I must say, however, that I have never seen any bar that satisfies 

 these two conditions." 



