48 Saddles, 



XII. 



The same reasoning may be applied to saddles 

 as to gaits. To pull down a bull, the Texan must 

 be furnished with a horn-pommel, which would 

 have been highly dangerous to his rider if Patro- 

 clus had happened to come down over the gate 

 just leaped. Indeed, nothing but the flattest of 

 saddles is safe to the steeple-chaser. On the con- 

 trary, the soldier rides a trot, or uses his sabre to 

 much better advantage with a cantle sufficiently 

 high to lean against. And any man is liable to 

 have some physical conformation requiring a pe- 

 culiar saddle. 



The present generation of new-fledged riders 

 would fain tie us down to the English hunting- 

 seat by laws like the Medes and Persians. This 

 is a good pattern for our Eastern needs, but let 

 us not call it the only one. It is, of course, well 

 when in Rome to do as the Romans do, or at 

 least so nearly like them as not to provoke re- 

 mark. But every one cannot do this, and the old 

 trooper is not apt to ride this way. And yet, 

 there are thousands of ancient cavalry soldiers all 

 over this country, North and South, who, naked 

 weapon in hand, have done such feats of horse- 

 manship as would shame most of the stoutest of 

 to-day's fox-hunting, polo-playing riders. I do not 

 refer to the obstacles they used to ride at, — which 



