SADDLING. 85 



In old saddles at the beginning of tlie century the 

 pommel and the cantle both rose a great height 

 above the middle or seat of the saddle. This way 

 of making them was gradually modified, until the 

 outline of the top of the saddle was considerably 

 flatter. But even now the front and back of the 

 saddle rise some inches above the middle, a plan 

 which might, I think, be altered for the better by 

 making them very much flatter than they now are. 



When the horses which were ridden hunting 

 were short, cobby, and for the most part hollow- 

 backed horses, the saddles, no doubt, were made to 

 fit them ; but with the long, straight-backed, nearly 

 thoroughbred horses which are now used for follow- 

 ing the hounds, the shape of the saddles used should 

 have altered accordingly, and the old shapes are 

 obsolete. 



The pommel of a saddle is made in one of three 

 ways : it is either an ordinary pommel, a half-cut 

 back pommel, or a whole-cut back pommel. 



A half-cut pommel looks as if half the pommel 

 had been cut off" ; and the whole- cut pommel looks 

 as if the whole of the pommel had been cut off. 



The half-cut pommels are common, but the whole- 

 cut pommels are seldom met with. They are much 

 the best of the three, that is, they combine the most 

 advantages. They will fit any horse without hurt- 

 ing his withers, because the part of the tree which 

 generally comes down on the withers, in these 



