SADDLE GALLS. 103 



the rider is in the saddle. Memory is certainly one of the strongest 

 faculties in the mind of a horse. 



PREVENTIVE MEASURES.— Only use well-fitting saddles of 

 suitable shape and size; avoid the adoption of a seat which is 

 likely to cause saddle galls, and attend to the stuffing and lining 

 of the saddle, and the fit of the numnah, if one be employed. Ihe 

 best kind of panel (see '■ Riding and Hunting ") for a saddle which 

 has to be used fo^r long work, such as hunting, is one of good flock 

 and covered with serge ; supposing that there is a. competent 

 saddler to whom the saddle can be sent, say, once a year, to be 

 overhauled. The panel is apt to get hard and " lumpy " from the 

 absorption of perspiration, so should be dried, beaten and brushed 

 as may be required. A saddle-cloth will act as a useful protection ; 

 and, if of felt or cloth, it will soak up the perspiration. Leather 

 saddle-cloths should be a little larger than the panel, and are use- 

 ful as a rule in preventing sore backs. Care sliould be taken that 

 they are kept soft by having fat or oil rubbed into their rough 

 side, which is more porous than their smooth side, next the horse. 

 In most cases, felt acts better than leather for the purpose^under 

 consideration, on account of the readiness with which it absorbs 

 perspiration. It goes almost without saying that young horses put 

 into work for the first time, or animals which have had a long 

 spell of idleness, are, when ridden or driven, much more liable to 

 become galled than those in regular exercise. A " heated " state of 

 the system naturally predisposes a horse's skin to become inflamed. 



When saddle cloths or numnahs are used, the groom, before 

 girthing up the horse, should raise the cloth with liis finger or 

 thumb (Fig. 41) well up into the arch of the gullet plate, so that it 

 may not press tightly down on the withers. At the same time, 

 care must be taken that the numnah is not so thick as to fill up 

 the gullet plate, and thus pinch the withers at each side. , Numnahs 

 are undoubtedly useful for preventing a badly fitting saddle from 

 hurting the horse, or saving the panel from becoming wet with 

 perspiration ; but their presence naturally increases the liability 

 of the saddle to shift. They are, however, indispensable to ladies 

 who use the same side-saddle on different horses and ponies ; 

 especially those who live abroad. 



Horses are galled by the pressure of the points of the tree, which 

 may be too close together for the horses on whom the saddles are 

 used. 



Pads or pieces of felt (sewn on to the panel, or loose) to relieve 

 local pressure, are generally ineffective if the animal has to be 

 ridden for a considerable time, as out hunting. The failure to fit, 

 lies in the tree and not in the panel, and such appliances can rarely 



