102 WOUNI>S AND BRUISES. 



just under the caiitle, and the withers, get rubbed on account of 

 there being too much stuffing in the panel, because the girths 

 are too loose, and the saddle is frequently too short for the rider. 

 -The good effect of the balance strap, particularly in preventing 

 lateral play, should be fully utilised. The fact that however 

 " square " a lady's seat may be, it is impossible for her to avoid, 

 at all times, putting more weight on the near side than on the off 

 should be borne in mind ; hence the great necessity of having her 

 saddle accurately fitted. 



In a side-saddle, the nearer the leaping head is to the near head 

 (upper crutch), the less near-side drag will there be, especially at a 

 trot. 



Pressure from imperfectly-stuffed rollers is not an infrequent 

 cause of sore withers. 



The use of too short a saddle occasionally gives rise to a sore 

 back, just behind the cantle, upon which spot an undue proportion 

 of the weight is in such cases liable to be thrown. With a saddle of 

 this kind, if the horse be made to go fast or to jump, the skin 

 immediately behind the cantle being pressed downwards and back- 

 wards, will become wrinkled at each stride the animal takes ; the 

 lesult being that inflammation is set up, and a tumour appears. 

 A repetition or two of this process increases the evil ; pus is 

 formed ; and the horse may be laid up for a month or more with 

 an abscess which usually turns into either a sac of soft matter, or 

 an unhealthy sore with a hard margin of skin round it (a " sit- 

 fast"). Many, if not most, saddle galls behind the cantle result 

 from too short saddles. The correct length of the tree depends 

 principally on the length of the thigh of the horseman. The 

 tendency to such an injury is naturally increased by the unwork- 

 manlike practice some riders affect of sitting far back in the 

 saddle, and of sticking their toes out in front of the horse's 

 shoulders, the weight being thrown on the cantle at each stride, 

 instead of on the centre of the saddle. Inferior saddlers often 

 allow the head of the nail which attaches the panel to the tree 

 under the cantle, to project, so that the horse upon which the 

 saddle is put, can hardly escape becoming hurt. 



Want of condition is a strong predisposing cause of saddle and 

 harness galls. 



After a case of sore back, a horse will often flinch for months, 

 or even years, if the part be suddenly touched. If the flinching 

 •be simply due to the remembrance of former pain, the animal will 

 allow the part to be handled, if the examiner begins by gently 

 rubbing the skin some distance away from it, and then gradually 

 works up to it. From this cause, a horse often contracts the habit 

 of crouching down when being mounted, and for a short time after 



