8 SADDLES 



forirotten, and the Greek and Koman cavalry for centn- 

 ries after his day remained less apt than that of their 

 barbarian neighbors. It was Philip of Macedon who had 

 first utilized the excellent little chunk of the Thessalian 

 plains, and organized the Companion Cavalry, which his 

 splendid son so divinely led, and which, to judge from its 

 manoeuvres and fighting, must have consisted of the most 

 admirable horsemen. The ancients all rode without sad- 

 dle or stirrups, on a blanket, or on a pad, or bareback, 

 and in spite of this fact, or perhaps by reason of it, 

 rode extremely well. 



The origin and era of the first saddles is hard to trace. 

 Some authorities strive to prove the existence of a saddle- 



tree several centuries before the Christian era. The an- 

 cient Gauls unquestionably used a tree. This is shown 

 by some small terra-cotta figures found in France, dating 

 back to the early centuries of our era. But we know that 

 the Greeks did not habitually use a saddle. 



It is wonderful what feats of military horsemanship the 

 bareback rider could perform in the age of what we might 

 call gymnastic equestrianism. Nothing but the personal 

 knowledge of what our old-time Indian could do enables 

 us to credit the historical accounts of the Greek's agility 

 and skill. They were simply wonderful. The weapons 

 he carried, his heavy armor, his baggage, all appear to 



