^6 Scats and Saddles, 



Jixed^ for the seat." According to this rule, the middle 

 of the rider adheres, both by weight and muscular 

 action, to the middle of the horse ; according to the 

 other system, the lower third of the rider clings, by 

 muscular action aloiie^ to the horse's shoulders, aided, 

 perhaps, to a certain extent, by the stirrup. 



But this brings us to the stirrup.- Riding was cer 

 tainly invented and practiced before saddles existed ; 

 and it is nearly equally certain that the first saddles, 

 pads, or whatever they were, had no stirrups, these con- 

 trivances having been subsequently invented for the pur- 

 pose of giving the rider further aid in addition to that 

 derived from balance and friction. Even now-a-days 

 many a man can ride bare-backed to hounds or in the 

 melee without stirrups ; and this very short statement 

 of facts ought, we think, to go far to prove that stirrups 

 are very subordinate in value to balance and friction 

 taken togethei'^ which is precisely why we have used 

 the term stirrup-riding in an opprobrious sense. The 

 " tongs-across-a-wall seat" depends on balance and the 

 stirrup, renouncing all contact of the legs with the 

 horse's body ; the wash-ball seat goes farther, and ab- 

 jures balance. In Chapter II., when speaking of the 

 position of the stirrup in the saddle, we could only give 

 some of the reasons why this should be central. We 

 have now arrived at a point that renders it possible to 

 give the remaining ones, which are of no less import- 

 ance. They are these : The interior surfaces of a toler- 

 ably well-built man's thighs and legs, from the fork to 

 the heels, are curved in concave or hollow sweeps, that 

 may be varied from the knee dowmvard by turning the 

 toes more or less outward ;* and if we look at a horse 

 from the rear, it will be very evident that his midship 



* It is therefore very absurd to insist on any specific measure for 

 this. Even a round-thighed man may get up a hollow curve by turn- 

 ing out his toes a little in excess. 



