S8 Sca/s and Saddles, 



provocations to shying and restiveness, of which the 

 hunting man knows little or nothing; in fact, handi- 

 ness, safety for himself and a due regard for his horse's 

 legs are much more important considerations for him 

 than great speed. It is all very well to say that a road- 

 ster or hack should possess the qualities requisite to 

 ensure the above, but all does not depend upon the 

 horse ; if the seat of the rider be faulty, a break-down 

 will ensue sooner or later. 



Let us take the hard road, in the first instance, into 

 consideration. When one body strikes, falls or impinges 

 on another, to use a scientific phrase, it receives the 

 blow back sooner or later. This is, as we all know, 

 what is called recoil or rebound ; the elastic surface 

 gives back the blow later and more gradually ; the 

 inelastic one sooner and more suddenly. The horse's 

 leg being elastic, itself receives but a small shock from 

 the elastic turf, this being divided between both nearly 

 equally ; on the hard road nearly the whole recoil is 

 transmitted back to the horse's body through its limbs, 

 and this is nearly equal to tlie weight of both rider and 

 bearer. There are various means by which this recoil 

 may be diminished in intensity, to the great ease of the 

 horse. One of the most obvious is to distribute the 

 weight as nearly as possible over the middle of the 

 horse's back, which is constructed, as we have shown, 

 in such a manner as to admit of a certain amount of 

 elastic action in a vertical direction — in plain words, up 

 and down. Two men can carry a greater weight with 

 an elastic pole on their shoulders than with a stiff one ; 

 and if the burden be not exactl}' in the centre of it, the 

 man to whom it is nearest will get more of the recoil 

 from the si'ound than the other one. Now, taking: into 

 account that the road-rider does not want great speed, 

 and has at the same time an inelastic surface to deal 

 with, there can, we think, be little doubt that, by 



