VII] 



RIDING AND SADDLES 



79 



warm. With a freshly clipped horse a damp 

 saddle may do harm to the skin. 



Saddle blankets and numnahs should be kept 

 in a warm, dry place, so as to be ready at any 

 moment. When removing a saddle, the instruc- 

 tions laid down in Chapter V. on grooming 

 must be carefully adhered to. 



307. Saddles. — Having considered the place 

 on which to put the weight, we will next con- 

 sider the best apparatus to carry a rider on the 

 horse's back. All saddles are, and always have 

 been, built on the same principle. A fiat side- 

 bar rests on the ribs on each side of the spine ; 

 these are connected together at the front and 

 rear by arches. The side-bars are usually made 

 of ash wood, and have a twist on their under- 

 surface so as to fit the first ribs, which slant 

 considerably, and the last ribs, which are nearly 

 horizontal. A straight side-bar would rock. 



Arches should be made of steel, but some 

 hunting saddles have the rear arch of wood re- 

 inforced with steel. The front arch (pommel) 

 must be very strong to prevent spreading, and 

 must be wide enough to prevent pinching, and 

 high enough to clear the withers. If the front 

 arch spreads it will touch the top of the withers. 

 The rear arch is not subjected to spreading, but 

 often breaks down from the weight in the 

 saddle, and comes in contact with the back. 

 Military saddle rear arches are generally 

 strengthened by steel brackets between the arch 

 and the side-bar. With military saddles, the 

 use of the numnah and blanket (although the 

 former is not used much nowadays) necessitates 

 the side-bars being farther apart and the arches 

 wider and higher in order to keep the cloak, 

 etc., that are carried on the saddle off the horse's 

 back. 



The real difference between military and 

 hunting saddles is that the high arches cause 

 the seat to be attached higher in front and rear, 

 and, in order to carry out the essential principle 

 of placing the rider as close to the horse as 

 possible, the centre of the seat is lowered, thus 

 giving it a chair-like appearance. 



308. The seat is formed by webbing being 

 stretched from arch to arch, and by other web- 

 bing being stretched over the first pieces from 

 side-bar to side-bar. The leather seat, pigskin 

 in hunting saddles, is then stretched over the 

 webbing. The rider sits on this, which trans- 

 fers his weight to the arches and thence to the 

 side-bar. The side-bars and arches are called 

 the saddletree. The shape of the back deter- 

 mines the shape of the tree. Now, although a 

 hunting saddle will fit most horses, provided the 

 front arch is high enough and wide enough, if 

 the stuffing in the pannels is adjusted to fit the 

 back, the tree of a military saddle will not 

 necessarily fit even two horses. On account of 

 the extra weight and the difficulty of keeping 

 stuffed pannels in good order on active service, 



military saddles are made without pannels, 

 numnahs or blankets being used instead. Felt 

 pannels are sometimes used under the side-bars. 

 In military saddles the side-bars must fit each 

 horse, and every military horse should have his 

 own saddle. The wood is roughly shaped to fit 

 the horse's back by the saddletree maker, who 

 ascertains the correctness of the fit by placing a 

 folded blanket on the back and pressing the 

 saddle down for a few minutes on to the 

 blanket. These parts will be shaved off. Again, 

 portions that have been shaved off too much can 

 have small pieces of numnah-felt tacked on. 

 Self-adjusting side-bars have been introduced, 

 and are of great use on active service, as they 

 only require adjusting as the horse loses con- 

 dition. Under the side- bars of military saddles 

 either felt pannels or numnahs are used with 

 a blanket. The numnah should have a buckle 

 at each end of its middle to buckle to the front 

 and rear arch of the saddle when in position, 

 thus keeping the blanket, if used— which is 

 between the numnah and the saddle — in proper 

 place. Slipping is impossible with the use of 

 these straps. 



309. With hunting saddles it is more practic- 

 able to use pannels, stuffed with flock or horse- 

 hair, which can be restuffed or readjusted as the 

 horse's condition alters or when the saddle is 

 used on a fresh horse. Numnahs are often used 

 under the pannel. The pannel is usually of felt 

 or leather. Leather is easier to keep clean and 

 soft, and does not absorb the sweat, but requires 

 to be kept well soaked or it will get hard. Felt 

 pannels must be dried in the sun after being 

 removed from the horse's back, and brushed 

 clean when dry. Weak ammonia should be 

 used to remove cakes of grease and dandruff. 

 Numnahs and blankets must also be kept 

 scrupulously free from hairs and grease. 



310. Cork and pneumatic pannels are used ; 

 the latter answer very well until the air sacs 

 leak, when the saddle is useless. It will be 

 understood that the essential part of a saddle 

 is the tree, and that the seat and flaps are only 

 luxuries and not necessaries. Some Mexican 

 saddles have only a small seat and no flaps. A 

 thick blanket laid over the tree would serve the 

 purpose of the seat and flaps, but would not be 

 so comfortable and would get puckered up. 



The bars of the tree must fit the back as the 

 boot fits one's foot. We all know what it is to 

 walk six miles with a lump in the lining of one's 

 boot, so we can imagine what it is for a horse to 

 carry a badly fitted saddle. Besides the under- 

 surface of the side-bars fitting perfectly, the rear 

 and front ends of the side-bars must fit perfectly ; 

 so must the arches. 



311. When fitting these parts or when ascer- 

 taining that they do fit, the following important 

 points must be borne in mind : 



The withers must not be pinched or pressed 



