i88 



ANIMAL MANAGEMENT. 



Injury 

 from lower 

 edge of 

 side bar. 



Injuries 

 from curve 

 of sidebar. 



Alte'-a- 

 tions for 

 side bar 

 injury. 



Injury 

 under 

 rear arch. 



Balance of 

 weight. 



must be so folded as to increase the number of folds under the side bar 

 and reduce those under the arch ; this helps to make the arch wider. 



Injuries due to the lower edge of the side bar pressing into the back 

 almost invariably occur in the region of the rear arch. They may be 

 dealt with by a process the reverse of the foregoing, viz., strips of numnah 

 along the upper edge of the side bar and an increase in the number of 

 folds of the blanket. 



In putting on these strips of numnah they require adjusting and care. 

 The side bar should be marked with chalk to ensure they are secured in 

 the right place, and the edge of the numnah should be shaved moderately 

 thin. 



Injuries due to side bars being too curved occur about the middle of 

 the back, and the curve cannot be reduced, so the only thing is, to fill up 

 both ends of the side bar with strips of numnah, shaving them off to 

 nothing as they approach the centre. More than one strip may be 

 required at the extremities ; in this, as in all other building-up operations 

 with numnah, the personal equation of the operator, his capacity for 

 grasping requirements, and his resourcefulness, make all the difference 

 between success and failure. 



With pannelled saddles it is comparatively simple to deal with altera- 

 tions ; they generally consist of more stuffing, which only a ' trained 

 saddler can do, or at least no one else attempts, though it is quite simple. 



With a side bar too curved, more stuffing would be placed fore and aft 

 of the pannel. With one pressing on the blade-bones or loins, the stuffing 

 is taken out of the end of the pannel and the part stitched across to 

 keep it empty (fig. 35). 



With the edge of the side bar pressing into the back, the stuffing 

 is adjusted so as to raise the impressing edge, but this is not a 

 manoeuvre easy to eftect in a pannel. It is better to place strips of 

 numnah along the side bar (exactly as in the saddle with no pannels), 

 and then fit the pannels on over them. 



There are injuries caused by side bars which are liable to present 

 difficulty ; they are generally found on the back opposite the position 

 occupied by the rear arch, but an examination of the side bar reveals 

 nothing calculated to give rise to a sore an inch or two in diameter. 



It is a bad place for an injury ; in fact, excepting the withers, it is 

 the worst seat of trouble. What is its cause ? The cause is the want of 

 proper adjustment in the balance of the weight carried. Some men 

 incline more to one side than the othei*; many men ride with the near 

 stirrup leather longer than the off, and all this means a disturbance in the 

 balance of weight carried. lUit this is not the disturbance we are 



