48 SEATS AND SADDLES. 



thus sacrificed by iron platings. This metal is, however, 

 very inelastic : if the plates be made thin and light, 

 they bend, and then retain the wood in a distorted 

 shape ; if thick, they are heavy, and very liable to break 

 with a severe shock, or, if not, to convey this rudely to 

 the horse's shoulder or back, instead of acting as the 

 buffer does between two railway trucks. The platings 

 should be made of steel, not too highly tempered, and 

 it ought to be possible to devise means of strengthening 

 the wood of that part of the tree we allude to without 

 increasing its bulk, and with a diminution of its weight. 

 As to military saddles, they are best made wholly of 

 wood and without any iron whatever. The necessity of 

 attaching a pack makes the question of neat appearance 

 altogether secondary, and the weight that must be 

 carried renders it imperative to economise every ounce 

 that is possible. Moreover, once introduce iron into 

 the composition of a saddle, and you must have a smith 

 and a forge to enable you to repair a broken one, which 

 is often out of the question in the field. The original 

 Hungarian saddle had not a particle of iron on it ; no 

 doubt it was subject to breakage, but it could be repaired 

 or a new one made at the side of a ditch, and in time 

 for the next day's march. We nineteenth-century men 

 have improved it everywhere, especially in England, up 

 to more than double its original weight, to a nearly total 

 incapacity for repair or alteration, and to being the most 

 efficient instrument conceivable for making holes in 

 horses' backs. 



Supposing, now, the under surface of the saddle to 

 have the proper form and size, the next point to be 

 determined is, where to put the weight. As we cannot, 

 in consequence of this being a man, divide and spread it 



