24 SEATS AND SADDLES. 



the horse do, if compelled to stand still under a burden 

 that is more than his hind legs can easily support with 

 perpendicular hocks? Let the reader turn to Plate VII., 

 where the English hussar there presented shows the 

 horse extending his hind legs precisely in the way 

 indicated in fig. 1, x l x l . What between the rider sitting 

 at the hinder part of the saddle and the weight of the 

 enormous pack, the perpendicular passing through the 

 centre of gravity of the whole falls considerably in rear 

 of the fourteenth vertebra. This figure is photographed 

 from life, and is very instructive. The horse, certainly 

 not a fair specimen of the regiment or of the cavalry in 

 general, was selected, probably, for no other reason 

 than because he could be easily brought to stand still 

 during the operation ; and the clearness of the lines of 

 the original everywhere except about the head, which 

 he probably tossed once or twice, shows that he did so, 

 which was rendered possible, under the burden he had 

 to bear, and the mode in which it was placed on his 

 back, only by this very position of his hind legs ; he 

 could not stand straight under it, and the less so because 

 his hind quarters are weaker in proportion than the 

 forehand. The position of the head and neck has 

 much to do with it, but this we shall have to consider 

 further on. 



The cases in which a horse, when standing still, and 

 weighted chiefly on his forehand, assumes with his fore 

 legs the positions indicated in fig. 1 by x s x s or x 2 x*, 

 occur so frequently that it is quite superfluous to devote 

 a figure to their illustration. Put a man on a horse 

 without a saddle, and with nothing but a halter on the 

 animal's head, and he will inevitably slip forwards 

 till his seat comes in contact with the withers. Let 



