92 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



modern riding are at fault, but that different styles 

 and types of seats are best adapted to the varying 

 needs of different conditions. It is as foolish to quote 

 the method of the Western cowboy as being applicable 

 for use in an English saddle as it is to cite the style 

 adopted by the men of the Orient. 



The Western saddle, with its high cantle and horn 

 pommel, is eminently suited to the work of lassoing 

 or roping steers, but it is wholly unadapted, uncom- 

 fortable, and dangerous to ride in over a country. 

 The cowboy can undoubtedly remain in his saddle 

 for days on end without fatigue; he undeniably has a 

 wonderfully natural and graceful seat, and he most 

 certainly can ride horses that no other man on earth 

 could stay on for five minutes, but he cannot ride over 

 jumps,* and he knows nothing about the accomplish- 

 ments of finished horsemanship, and would cut as 

 sorry a figure in an English saddle as we would in his. 

 It is clearly a case of the squirrel who, it will be re- 

 membered, said to the mountain: 



"Talents differ. All is well and wisely put. 

 If I cannot carry forests on my back 

 Neither can you crack a nut." 



The proof of the fact that, although long leathers 

 are peculiarly well adapted to the cowboy's Western 

 saddle, they are not, per se, conducive to a secure or 

 graceful seat when used on an English saddle, is evi- 

 denced by the performances of the U. S. cavalry over 

 the jumps. Far be it from me to deny that in long- 

 distance riding and endurance our cavalry may be 



* The force exercised by a horse bucking is an upward action instead 

 of a forward or lateral action, as it would be were the animal jumping. 

 Sitting a buck is therefore, mechanica'ly quite different from sitting 

 over a jump. 



