96 SEATS AND SADDLES. 



The French * Aide Memoire ' gives us 99^ English 

 pounds for the weight of the horse, and 1,296^ for the 

 trooper complete ; consequently the burden is 304ilb., 

 or less than one-third ; and deducting from this, as 

 before, 145| Ib. for the man, there remains 158f Ib. 

 of dead weight. It is no doubt this, and something 

 connected with the seat, which is very far back, the 

 stirrups being very far forward, that we must look to 

 for an explanation of the sore-back disasters of 1859. 

 It may appear absurd to accuse the French cavalry of 

 riding with a " hunting seat," but in truth theirs is an 

 exaggeration of a bad one. 



A Prussian book* gives 1,152 English pounds for 

 the weight of the heavy horse, f and 1,546 English 

 pounds for the cuirassier completely armed; consequently 

 the burden is 394 Ib., or more than one-third of the 

 animal's weight : and having deducted the 145|- Ib, 

 for the average man, there remains 248-| Ib. dead 

 weight, or exactly 50 Ib. more than Migout and 

 Bergery's estimate of what the total burden should be. 

 The light Prussian horse is set down at 921 English 

 pounds, and the dragoon or hussar complete at 1,252 

 English pounds. Proceeding as before, we find, there- 

 fore, that these horses carry 331 Ib. = 23 stone 9 Ib., 

 also more than one- third their own weight, of which 

 185| Ib. i g dead weight, or within 13 Ib. of what the 

 French authority lays down as the total admissible 

 burden. Now it is remarkable that, notwithstanding 

 this unfavourable state of things, we have hitherto 

 heard nothing about Prussian sore-back disasters in the 



* Ludwig Schone, ' Feldbriickenbau.' 



t The average weight of the English artillery horse is stated in 

 Griffith's 'Artillerist's Manual,' at 10 cwt. 2 qrs. = 1,176 Ib. 



