70 OUR CAVALRY SEAT 



and that the whole business which is new to him is an 

 old story to the Indian it is astonishing how well he 

 does. His performances reflect unlimited credit upon his 

 superiors. And when he has learned his business, he is 

 certainly not surpassed by any cavalryman who bestrides 

 a saddle. 



Our cavalry seat in its best form is perhaps as good as 

 can be. For long marches the saddle is comfortable, and 

 the leathers are about the proper length for the work. It 

 is neither the one extreme nor the other. You see some 

 cavalrymen with stirrups altogether too long; but the 

 well-trained United States trooper has as good a seat as 

 any rider can have. I think it may be admitted that 

 however good for rough-riding or for cross-country work, 

 or racing, or polo, the English saddle may be, it is not as 

 good for long-distance riding as a correct form of what 

 we call a cavalry-tree. When a man sits in a saddle for 

 thirty or forty consecutive hours, with but a few minutes' 

 relief at a time, he can do better in a tree less long and 

 flat. With some commands it is usual to girth a horse far 

 back, so as to get the saddle well away from the withers, 

 much as they do in most foreign armies, and thus save 

 the weight from bearing too much on the fore-quarters ; 

 but the usefulness of the habit is still an open question. 

 The place where the United States trooper rides is not 

 far from the place where a man who sits in the middle of 

 an English saddle rides. It is the withers which should 

 determine the position of the saddle ; and as the girth al- 

 ways slips more or less, it is the make of the tree and the 

 way the saddle fits and the slant of the horse's shoulder 

 which determine where the weight shall be. Some horses 

 are bound to carry their weight more forward than oth- 

 ers. If you seek to alter the place, you must alter the 

 tree or look out for sore backs. 



