Scats. 77 



section — that is to say, the lines we should see if the 

 animal were chopped fairly in two right through his 

 fourteenth vertebra — coincides very accr.rately with the 

 sweep of the rider's legs. At top, no doubt, the figure 

 is flatter than the man's fork, but the ridge of the saddle 

 fills up the empty space to a certain extent ; besides 

 which, no good rider sits in his fork^ but on his seat. 

 Further, although the horse's body is rounded away 

 under the belly, the possibility of varying the curve of 

 the leg from the knee downward enables the rider to 

 preserve contact very low down : he can encircle his 

 horse nearly two-thirds when sitting on this line. 



If, on the contrary, the stirrup be placed too far for- 

 ward, the thigh runs diagonally forward toward the 

 horse's shoulder. Now let us look at the horse from 

 the front, standing exactly opposite to his forehead. 

 We see at once that the animal's body, besides being 

 narrower at the shoulders than at the midship section, 

 presents, first of all, a concave curve from this to the 

 shoulder, and then a convex one over the shoulder. 

 The former of these has no adaptation whatever to the 

 curve of the rider's thighs, and this he cannot change ; 

 to remedy which the fashion of padding the saddle-flaps 

 was introduced. Sir F. Head says it is going out again. 

 The efiect of this padding or increased thickness be- 

 tween the rider's leg and the horse's body is, however, 

 to bring the former, frotn the knee doivnward^ right 

 away from the latter, as any one can see who looks at 

 this kind of rider from the front ; and it is therefore 

 evident that the greatest amount of adhesive surface is 

 obtained by placing the stirrup nearly under the rider 

 and making the tread on it perpendicular, instead of in 

 an acute angle with the horizon. 



There is another point to be considered. Is there 

 anything gained by the rider's leg from the knee down- 

 ward being in close contact with the horse's body at 

 7» 



