SAD DLE-SEA TS. 103 



back, very much to his own discomfort and possible 

 damage to his horse. The friction thus set up wears 

 out the horse's back, and establishes a sore, and 

 this effect is in a measure shared by the man. A 

 really good horseman will, it is true, manage to 

 ride on almost any saddle somehow. But the 

 steadiest seat and the greatest care will not prevent 

 a saddle o'allina- a horse's back if the saddle does 

 not fit it properly. It becomes therefore a matter 

 of the greatest importance that a saddle should fit 

 both horse and man as exactly as possible. A sore 

 man is easily cared, but a sore back takes a long 

 time in healing and recovering its proper condition ; 

 indeed, there are few things more troublesome to 

 cure, and when a horse's back has once been 

 'wrung,' it is generally tender in future, and more 

 liable to suffer again in like manner. 



Let us therefore examine a saddle, and dissect it, 

 as it were, so as the better to understand its several 

 parts ; and they are these, viz. : 

 The tree, as it is called. 

 The seat. 

 The flaps, panels, etc. 



We will take them in the order in which I have 

 named them. 



The tree of an ordinary saddle should be light 

 and strong. It is made of wood, and may be, for 



