i 2 6 THROUGH STABLE AND SADDLE-ROOM. 



by which the trees of side-saddles are very much 

 strengthened, by means of an iron or steel band 

 which is placed transversely across the tree from 

 the near side of the shoulder to the off-side seat, 

 and which there terminates in a D for the attach- 

 ment of the back-stay. If my memory serves me 

 aright, I think I have described this accurately, 

 although it is some years since he was kind enough 

 to explain it to me. 



If it is necessary for a man's saddle to fit 

 well, it is perhaps, if possible, more so, that a 

 side-saddle should fit, and that the seat should 

 be as straight as it can be. Naturally, the 

 straighter the seat the longer the saddle : hence 

 an additional reason for the use of a back-stay with 

 a side-saddle, and also because, as a woman's seat 

 on a horse is very much an artificial one, she is 

 therefore entirely dependent for her strength of 

 seat on her saddle alone, as, apart from her balance, 

 the only hold she can obtain is that which is 

 afforded by the pommels. A woman should sit 

 fair and square on her saddle, and not on the side 

 of it. How many women are there who do so ? 

 Or, rather, how few there are ! Her shoulders, 

 when mounted, should be perfectly square to the 

 front, and her foot should be perfectly flat to the 

 side of her horse, and at whatever pace she may be 



