124 SADDLERY. 



" BACK " AND GULLET LINING. 



In order to obviate, in well-made saddles, the undesirable 

 alternative of having to nail the panel to the tree, leather, 

 which is called the " back," is nailed round the upper surface 

 of the tree, so that it projects a little beyond the tree, and 

 thus furnishes a kind of welt to which the panel can be 

 sewn. The old and very objectionable method of driving 

 nails through the panel into the tree was a frequent cause 



Fig. 130. Saddle with Short Panel and open Gullet. 



of sore backs, on account of the nails hurting that part. 

 One nail, placed in the centre line and just under the cantle, 

 must be retained. When a saddle has an " open gullet," as 

 in Fig. 130, this open space down the centre of the saddle, 

 between the bars, on the under surface of the tree, is filled 

 up by a piece of leather (usually basil) nailed to the bars. 



COVERING OF SADDLES. 



The seats and skirts of good hunting saddles are of pig- 

 skin, which is too thin to be used alone for the flaps of these 

 saddles. Plain flaps are almost always made of a single 



