io2 THROUGH STABLE AND SADDLE-ROOM. 



able to the rider. Now, it cannot be comfortable 

 to the horse if it does not fit him ; similarly, it 

 must also fit the rider. The saddle, therefore, 

 must be of such a shape that it combines both of 

 these desiderata. 



If the shape of a horse's back and the shape of 

 a man be compared, it will be observed that the 

 one is by no means ill-ada2)ted to the other ; that 

 a horse is evidently made for the purpose of 

 carrying a man, and a man is made for riding a 

 horse. With these natural advantages to work on, 

 it should therefore not be a difficult matter to 

 interpose a seat between man and horse, which 

 should in its shape follow the lines of the horse's 

 back, and allow the man riding thereon to sit in a 

 perfectly comfortable and unconstrained manner. 

 Strange to say, however, it is by no means an easy 

 matter to procure a saddle which fulfils both of 

 these requirements, the result being that far too 

 frequently the man, the horse, or both suffer. 



The nearer a man can sit to his horse the better 

 he can ride, and the better the horse can carry him. 



When a saddle does not sit close and fit well, 

 the weight must be necessarily raised, and the 

 higher it is raised the less steady it must be 

 when a horse is in motion ; in plain English, the 

 weight — the man — rocks to and fro on the horse's 



