122 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 



exists between the quadruped and the biped, whatever 

 is agreeable to the one is usually so to the other, a 

 roomy saddle, on which the rider can sit with ease and 

 comfort, is also beneficial to the horse, because it spreads 

 the weight he has to carry over a large surface, and 

 the pressure per square inch being thereby diminished, 

 a sore back is less likely to be created, and per contra, 

 for the very same reason, the human skin is less likely 

 to be rubbed. 



Less than a century ago it was deemed necessary by 

 hunting men to tie their saddle to their horse's tail by 

 a crupper, which, at every jump, must have compressed 

 the vertebrae of the poor animal, like the joints of a 

 telescope when slightly closed by a jerk. The object 

 of this barbarous apparatus was to prevent the saddle 

 slipping forwards, whereas, by the opposite apparatus 

 of the present day, a breast-plate has been substituted, 

 to prevent the saddle from slipping backwards. The 

 difference between these two conflicting precautions has 

 been caused by the difference in the breeding, and con- 

 sequently in the size of the horse's belly, which, in the 

 time of our ancestors, was lusty, instead of being as in 

 the present day, when many hunters are racers, and all 

 in high condition fine and slim. 



When a horse is exceedingly light in the carcase, or 

 as it is technically termed " tucked up," it is usual among 



