CAEE AND MANAGEMENT OF ANIMALS 819 



it is high enough above the spine, and wide enough in the 

 front arch to admit the withers both in their height and 

 width. A saddle not wide or high enough in the front 

 arch should at once be rejected. In fitting a saddle it is 

 not sufficient to simply place it on the back and look at the 

 parts mentioned, the girths must be drawn and a man put 

 in the saddle. An arch which appears quite high enough 

 before this procedure, may now be found to touch the 

 wither or to pinch it. 



With a man in the saddle, leaning forward so as to 

 increase the severity of the test, two fingers should easily 

 be able to find admission between the arch and the withers, 

 and the same should be able to gain admission behind, 

 between the upper part of the spine and the underneath 

 part of the rear arch. 



If it is a new saddle which is being fitted, it is important 

 to remember the stuffing in a new pannel soon settles 

 down under pressure, and parts which were previously out 

 of harm's way are now brought dangerously close to the 

 saddle-tree. 



Plain saddles are so cut in front that there is seldom any 

 chance of scapula pressure being caused ; but should a 

 horse be very prominent at this part, and the saddle cut 

 straight, the blade-bone will be interfered with, and a 

 saddle more cut back will be required. 



The fitting of a man's saddle is simplicity itself (we 

 refer here to civil and not military saddles) , but that for a 

 woman is far different. The tendency of their saddles is to 

 heel over to the near side, with the result that they are 

 responsible for more wither injuries than men. Further, 

 though bad riding is frequently and ignorantly urged as 

 the cause of sore backs with men's horses, with women it 

 is by far the most frequent cause. If a woman fails to sit 

 upright, so that her saddle no longer remains in the middle 

 of the horse's back, she will give the animal a wither 

 injury; further, she will damage every horse she sits on 

 until she does learn to sit with her weight balanced in the 

 centre. Very little attention by the rider is required to 



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