50 KIDING. 



able to judge wlietlier his horse is properly saddled and 

 bridled. I must still inveigh against misplacement of 

 the saddle^ which grooms, it will be remarked, usually 

 place too far forward — a mistake which is of more con- 

 sequence than is generally considered. 



Take a dragoon, for instance, weighing, with arms, 

 accoutrements, and kit, from fifteen to twenty stone; 

 this weight, if allowed to fall unduly on the fore- 

 quarter, must help to founder the charger, and bring 

 him into trouble on the first provocation. Let him 

 make the least stumble, and the weight of his burden, 

 instead of being back in its proper place, with the 

 man's assistance there to helj) him up, is thrown for- 

 ward, keeping the beast tied down, and preventing his 

 rising. But, taking appearances into consideration, 

 the forward placement of the saddle is most ungraceful, 

 reminding one of the position of an Eastern driving an 

 elephant, seated on his bearer's neck. 



I have seen the tout ensernble of a magnificent cavalry 

 regiment strikingly deteriorated by the ungraceful and 

 absolutely unhorsemanlike misplacement of the saddles, 

 and consequently of the men — though the military 

 regulation on the subject is fair enough, directing a 

 saddle to be placed a handbreadth behind the play of 

 the shoulder. This would, perhaps, be a slight excess 

 in the other direction, were it not considered that, in 

 all probability, out of a hundred troop-horses so sad- 

 dled, ninety-nine would be found after an hour's trot- 

 ting to have shifted the saddle forward, for one on 

 whom it would have remained stationary or gone 

 back. 



It is well known that no rider should ever go fast 

 down-hill on the road, or round a corner, especially on 



