126 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



is the most important, for when a horse comes home 

 from hunting the inside of his saddle is more or less 

 soaked from the horse's sweat, and this has to be not 

 only carefully but very slowly dried. In the hunting 

 season there is often little chance of allowing the drying 

 process to take place outside, and under any circum- 

 stances it is dark, or very nearly so, when hunters are 

 brought back to stables. The saddle, after the girths 

 have been loosened, should be left on the horse's back 

 for a while, so that the back may become reasonably 

 cool before it is removed. Any mud which is sticking 

 to the flaps should then be removed, and the saddle 

 placed, not on a peg, but on its pommel, in the 

 saddle-room, or wherever there is a fire burning, and 

 consequently a dry atmosphere. In all large establish- 

 ments there is a cleaning and drying room, in which 

 all saddles, bridles, etc., are cleaned, as well as a 

 saddle-room, and where there are the two rooms only 

 saddlery that has been cleaned and is ready for use is 

 admitted. 



It is most necessary that a saddle should not be used 

 two days in succession, for if it has been worn through- 

 out an average day's hunting it will hardly become 

 thoroughly dry, unless the room is heated with hot 

 air. Neither should the process of drying be a quick 

 one, and thus a damp saddle should not be placed 

 close in front of a hot fire, for this is apt to cause the 

 front part of the inside to become hard, and has also 

 a tendency to draw the stuffing into knots. If a saddle 

 has been some hours in a warm atmosphere, it may 

 be placed nearer the fire at bed-time, but a gradual, 

 all-night drying in a warm room is best, and on the 

 following morning, if there is any wind or sun, the 

 saddle should be taken out of doors, and the inside 



