THE COSSACK SADDLE 415 



time introduced into some of our cavalry regiments ; 

 Indians always do it. 



In addition to the vaulting exercises, the Cossack ex- 

 cels, especially in the Caucasus, in the dje/'eet, or dart- 

 throwing at a gallop. This is an old Oriental practice, 

 recently revived. The rider gallops up to the target, 

 which is a ball or a ring, casts his dart at some twenty 

 paces, and immediately turns to seek shelter. Except 

 among the Tartars, no people plays djereet so well as the 

 Cossacks. 



The Cossack bit is usually an easy one, though there be 

 Cossacks and Cossacks, and they cover all Eussia in Eu- 

 rope and in Asia, and all Turkey in Asia. The saddle, in 

 lieu of being placed as close to the horse's back as it can 

 be, is so constructed as to make the man sit very high 

 above the horse — what seems to us absurdly high — and 

 this height is increased as much as possible by blankets. 

 The stirrups are so hung as to bring the rider's toes on a 

 line directly under his ear, and his knees are much bent. 

 He holds on by his heels and calves, not his knees. The 

 Cossacks defend this seat by saying that when so placed 

 the rider is compelled to learn to balance himself, and that 

 the seat is consequently firmer. This latter opinion can- 

 not be maintained. JS^othing can give you as much firm- 

 ness as closeness to the horse ; the point is not really w^orth 

 discussion. The Cossack habit creates a difficulty in order 

 to train the man by making him overcome it. That the 

 best training consists in overcoming obstacles is true, but 

 this does not make the balance seat any better because 

 the saddle is high. You might as well assert that a rope- 

 dancer is more secure on his rope than on the ground. 



The Cossacks also claim that their seat is easier on long 

 marches, but our cavalry experience belies this. The Cos- 

 sacks have not made well-recorded marches equal to ours, 



