140 SHORT SADDLES POSITIVELY INJURIOUS. 



never hunt without one, and heavy men most de- 

 cidedly never should ; and that not a bit of thin 

 kersey, but one made as neatly as you please, but 

 double and nicely stuffed. To make amends for this, 

 the pannel need not be so full. Grooms may dry 

 their pannels as carefully as they may, and beat 

 them afterwards ; it won't do ; they may beat half 

 the dry sweat out of them, but they beat the 

 other half in. They can soften the flocks on the 

 side they can get at them ; but the other next the 

 saddle, lined as it is with leather, will not be affected 

 by all the beating they can bestow. The saddle- 

 cloth, properly dried and beat on both sides, is as 

 soft every time it is put on as the first day it is used. 

 Hunting-saddles are never made long enough for tall 

 and heavy men : what is the consequence ; the rider 

 is sitting nearly on the cantle, and the horse's loins 

 are crushed by the back part of the saddle. I have 

 seen many men the back part of whose bodies was 

 positively over the cantle, instead of that being some 

 inches beyond their bodies. How many horses are 

 seen to crouch down behind on being first mounted : 

 this in nineteen cases in twenty arises from the use 

 of short saddles : the horse is either hurt by them 

 at the moment, or, from having been so, gets into the 

 habit of crouching to avoid a repetition of their effect. 

 A man standing six feet, and riding even a moderate 

 weight, should never hunt on a saddle of less than 

 twenty inches in length. The difference of (say) 

 three or four inches would not make the saddle more 

 than a pound heavier, and this in a hunting-saddle is 

 no object at all. Look at race-horses after a season's 

 running how often are their backs sore ? and these 

 carry light weights, and that for a few minutes only. 



