THE SADDLE. 47 



pressure be equally distributed over the whole surface. To 

 make a saddle a yard long, and put the weight altogether 

 at one of its extremities, is not the way to attain this 

 very desirable object, as shall be more fully explained 

 presently.* 



There must, however, be some limit to the size of a 

 saddle, for its own absolute weight is a matter of serious 

 consideration : it goes into the scale with the jock. Let 

 the size be proportioned to the weight to be carried, and if 

 you have a tender-backed horse, make it a little bigger 

 than would be otherwise necessary. Of course a jock 

 can ride his race on a thing that is more a contrivance 

 for hanging up a pair of stirrups than a saddle, whilst a 

 sixteen-stone rider must divide his weight over as large 

 a surface as convenient. 



There are two ways in which the weight of the saddle 

 may be decreased without its useful under surface being 

 narrowed. The first is to avoid extending the frame 

 (tree), or indeed any other part of the saddle, beyond 

 the surfaces where it really has to support pressure ; 

 and this being exercised chiefly in a perpendicular 

 direction, it is not only useless but absurd to make 

 these extend too far down over the ribs laterally. The 

 second is to use, for the tree, materials combining great 

 strength and moderate elasticity with the least possible 

 weight. A civilian saddle, made altogether of wood, is 

 a very clumsy affair, and it is therefore the practice to 

 reduce the volume of the wood, and regain the strength 



* As familiar illustrations of the principle may be mentioned 

 the difference of depth of track of broad and narrow tired wheels, 

 or of a roller as compared with both : or, a board of one foot square 

 will sink deeper into soft ground under a man's weight than one 

 of double that size ; and this latter will sink as deep as the former 

 if weighted only at one end. 



