ACCESSORIES 47 



slippery as ice, and difficult to sit in if a fresh 

 horse jumps about, leather treated with yellow 

 soap gives a good grip (unless it gets covered 

 with white dust from the paste used for cleaning 

 white breeches, which can make any saddle 

 almost unrideable for the time being). 



The writer has himself used nothing but bar- 

 soap for forty years, and it was in use in his 

 father's stables for many years previously, so he 

 has ample experience of its qualities. 



Q. What kind of numnahs can be recom- 

 mended ? 



A. Numnahs often play an important part in 

 stable economy, for where there are several 

 horses the same saddles often have to serve for 

 different animals. Felt numnahs are apt to 

 shrink when a horse sweats freely, but something 

 of this kind is much wanted. The writer some 

 years ago obtained some white numnahs both 

 for a lady's and a gentleman's saddle from Mr. 

 Morris, a saddler at Cirencester, and can give 

 unstinted praise to them, but he has never seen 

 them elsewhere. A leather numnah is often 

 useful towards the end of the season, if a back is 

 becoming frayed and tender, but it must be well 

 oiled when used in such a case. 



Q. If a horse hits its fetlocks, as some do 

 when tired, or in deep ground, is there any 

 especially useful boot to obviate the evil ? 



A. An excellent one for this purpose is made 

 of leather in two parts, each shaped to the joint 

 but only extending about a third of the way. 

 The pieces are joined together at the top by a 

 strap that buckles, and goes all the way round 

 the limb. When the boot is struck by the 



