SADDLES. 125 



their ancestors by discarding the modern stuffed saddle- 

 flap in favour of that ancient hard one which for many 

 years has been used only by postilions. 



For ordinary riding, and especially for ordinary riders, 

 a quantity of stuffing in the form of a sausage, in front of 

 their shins, no doubt retains them in their seat. 



In hunting, however, this retention has for many 

 years been producing strains of the large muscles of 

 the thigh, which, although of common occurrence, none 

 of the sufferers could very clearly account for. On reflec- 

 tion, the cause is obvious. 



In riding over a large fence, or in any sudden blunder 

 the horse may commit, the rider, without losing his seat, 

 is liable to be thrown, body and bones, forward two or 

 three inches, and accordingly on the plain flat hard flap 

 he glides onwards without inconvenience or injury to the 

 exact extent required. 



But when, instead of being able to do so, his knees 

 and shins are suddenly arrested by the stuffing imme- 

 diately in front of them, the momentum of his body 

 causes it to bend forwards on the pivot formed by his 

 knees, on the same principle as a cart-load of earth 

 propelled along a new railway embankment is chucked 

 over its extremity on being suddenly stopped by a log 

 of timber placed there transversely for that very object ; 

 and accordingly, the great muscles of the thigh which 



