58 



Short Stirrups : 



Nearly all soldiers ride with their stirrups 

 too long, and the old saying should be borne 

 in mind, ''Every hole you take your stirrups 

 up, after a long day's hunting, take six 

 pounds off the horse's back." In marching 

 order, with the heavy weight carried on the 

 front of the saddle, this is still more import- 

 ant. It is a good plan to dismount going 

 down hill as well as up hill ; the former is, 

 if anything, more important than the latter. 



Cleaning Saddles and Numnahs : 



After some short march, the opportunity 

 should be taken to strip the saddles and 

 examine the trees for loose rivets, etc. The 

 leather should be soaped over and the num- 

 nahs sponged with a solution of Scrubbs' 

 Cloudy Ammonia, in the proportion of one 

 bottle to a bucket of hot water. This re- 

 moves all caked sweat and hardness from 

 them, and when dry they become as soft a:id 

 smooth as when new. 



Girthgalls : 



The best plan to prevent girthgalls is to let 

 the men dismount early in the march, after 



