114 THE PRACTICAL HORSE KEEPER. 



recommending the saddles and bridles of well-known London 

 establishments, which are of the best quality and shape in every- 

 way. The fashion is to have plain flaps, which look very much 

 neater, and wear longer, than flaps with rolls, on account of 

 the leather being thicker ; but it is doubtful if they are quite 

 so comfortable, therefore it is a matter of choice between 

 appearance and comfort. Rolls are a great help in steeple- 

 chasing, so also is the doeskin saddle. 



There are various kinds of safety bars used for stirrups, but 

 many men do not believe in them, as riders have been seen 

 hung up in them frequently, and more especially on the 

 opposite side to that on which they have fallen, the bars 

 not having given way as they were expected to do. Their 

 superiority over the ordinary bar, with the spring latch let 

 down, is very questionable ; and it may be asserted that if a 

 man has a stirrup iron large enough for his foot, he will rarely 

 get hung up in the stirrup. It should be large enough for the 

 foot to turn round in, in every direction, without getting 

 stuck fast when pushed home to the ankle. With this precau- 

 tion there is scarcely a possibility of the foot ever sticking in 

 the stirrup, no matter how the rider may be thrown. Leman's 

 patent safety stirrup is greatly used in Ireland, and highly 

 spoken of by those who use it. 



Having mounted, the rider arranges his position in the 

 saddle, which should be with the feet well home in the stirrup- 

 irons (unless the riding is to be on a hack along a road, when 

 the stirrup may be kept under the ball of the big toe), toes 

 turned slightly outwards, stirrups of medium length, neither 

 too long nor too short, as either extreme is very uncomfortable 

 for both horse and rider, as well as looking very unworkman- 

 like : the weight in the former case being thrown too far for- 

 ward, in the latter too far back on the horse's loins. 



The body should be fairly erect, but without any ap- 

 proach to a military seat, which looks very awkward, and is 



