206 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



keep the saddle in place, but the off point must be 

 comparatively short, so that in the event of the animal 

 turning sharply and abruptly in a narrow place the tree 

 will not spread. If the points of a saddle have origi- 

 nally been fitted to a deep-girthed horse, the stuffing 

 and panels on the inside of the tree will be dragged 

 away from the points, if used on a fighter-girthed 

 animal. This is naturally due to the fact that, as the 

 points are stiff, they cannot adapt themselves to the 

 animal's sides in the same way that the stuffing does. 



The upper crutch, or "pommel," * as it is often called, 

 should not be placed way up on the horse's withers, 

 but far enough down to enable the rider to press the 

 lower part of her right leg firmly and flatly against 

 the animal's shoulder. On the other hand, the crutch 

 must not be placed so far down that the rider's right 

 thigh will be off the line that is parallel with the horse's 

 back-bone. The upper crutch should be about six and 

 one-half inches in height, depending to a certain extent 

 on the size of the rider's leg. (See Figs. 1 and 2, page 

 89.) If too long, the crutch will poke the skirt up in 

 an ugly fashion, and if too short, it will not afford 

 sufficient grip for the right leg. In a saddle intended 

 only for show purposes, the crutch may, for neatness' 

 sake, be made shorter than in one intended for real 

 work. 



The leaping head (invented about 1830 by a French- 

 man, M. Pellier) enables the rider to use her left leg 



people in the West are obliged to send. This accounts for the intermi- 

 nable delays that one is obliged to undergo when having repairs made 

 to a saddle-tree. 



* This upper crutch is often technically spoken of as the "near" 

 head, so called because before the advent of the leaping head all side- 

 saddles had an "off" crutch in the shape of a sort of handle, which the 

 rider might either grasp with her right hand or else which she might 

 use by wedging her right leg between it and the "near" crutch. 



