144 



SADDLERY. 



adhering to the soles of his boots, which often happens 

 in the field, when a man has to dismount or to walk 

 previous to mounting. 



I feel convinced that when a man gets dragged, the 

 accident nearly always arises from the stirrup being too 

 small. I have known only one case of a rider's foot 

 getting caught by its going through the iron. This solitary 

 instance in my experience happened during a fall, when both 

 horse and rider came down. One of the best proofs we 



Fig. 148. Western's Patent Safety Bar and Buckle. 



can obtain of the comparative safety of large irons, is afforded 

 by the fact that it is an extremely rare occurrence for a 

 cavalry soldier to get dragged, although military saddles 

 are unprovided with spring bars. Their irons, are, however, 

 very large. It seems impossible that a sufficiently big iron 

 could retain the foot, unless its upper part catches high up 

 on the instep. To prevent this occurring, the heels of all 

 properly constructed riding boots are made long, so as to 

 prevent the irons working too far back on the foot. Most of 



