60 SEATS AND SADDLES. 



desirable ; but unfortunately few people ever think of 

 this. The sum of the whole matter is this the larger 



*s 



the surfaces of the rider and saddle brought into per- 

 manent contact, the firmer will be the seat, and the less 

 will it depend on the stirrups or the reins. 



The saddle-flaps serve in some cases to increase, in 

 others they absolutely dimmish, the surface of contact 

 between the rider and horse : their chief use is to pro- 

 tect the man's legs from injury by the girth-buckles, 

 straps, &c. For military saddles nothing can be more 

 preposterous than a stiff flap interposed between the 

 rider's legs and horse's side, because the surcingle and 

 shabrack cover all these things effectually, and perfectly 

 attain this object of the flap of the English civilian 

 saddle. This stiff flap is therefore an unnecessary 

 additional weight, and it keeps, moreover, the leg out 

 of its proper position. To sum up the whole of the 

 foregoing, we may describe the general rule for seats to 

 be this the saddle in the centre of the horse's back ; the 

 girths, stirrups, and rider in the centre of the saddle; 

 in short* 



" The maxim for the horsy tribe is 

 Horatian, ' Medio tutissimus ibis. 1 " 



There are certain appendages to the saddle that 

 require a short notice. And first of all, which is better, 

 the blanket or the feltplate under the light cavalry 

 saddle? The advantages of the former are, that by 

 folding it in different ways you may vary its thickness 



* In the original manuscript stood the words, " in the centre of 

 the saddle," which was altered to " about," &c., in the press. The 

 truth is, we were afraid of shocking weak nerves, but so many 

 good riders have since then expressed their conviction that the 

 girths, stirrups, and rider should be in the centre of the saddle, 

 that we gladly return to the old reading. 



