506 
SADDLERY AND SORE BACKS. 
of the saddlery or accoutrements. The smallest swelling or accumu¬ 
lation of dried perspiration or scurf may, if neglected, occasion a 
severe sore; and, therefore, the necessity for care and vigilance iu 
making these inspections cannot be too strongly impressed upon all 
concerned in the welfare of our troop horses. The above remarks 
will apply to the daily inspections and fitting of saddlery. 
In conclusion, I am desirous of drawing attention to the advisability 
of establishing a systematic and thoroughly practical course of training 
in the details of saddle-fitting for the prevention and relief of sore 
backs, throughout our mounted services. Not only officers, but every 
non-commissioned officer and man ought to know something about the 
structures upon which the saddle rests, the varities of conformation, 
the causes which operate in the production of sore backs, and the ex¬ 
pedients to adopt in order to prevent and relieve these injuries. How 
many men in a cavalry regiment know how a blanket should be folded 
to meet the various requirements of horses on active service ? Very 
few, 1 fear; and yet this is a duty they may be called upon to perform 
at any time. The subject of saddle-fitting has been exhaustively dealt 
with by General Sir F. Fitz Wygram, in his pamphlet on “ Saddling 
of Cavalry Horses,” and also—from a veterinary point of view—by 
Veterinary Captain Smith, late of the Army Veterinary School, Aider- 
shot, in a series of articles published in the “ Quarterly Journal of 
Veterinary Science in India,” 1883-84. The principles laid down are 
clear and sound, and as aids they are very valuable; but to be of real 
use they must be practically applied, and this can only be accomplished 
by a thorough course of training under competent instructors. 
The Chairman —Would any gentleman like to make any remarks 
now ? 
DISCUSSION. 
Lieut.-Colonel J. F. Brough, B.H.A.—After listening to the lecture which 
we have all heard from Colonel Walters, it seems to me that he has touched upon 
almost every point that any man who has to deal with horses could think of. I 
have never had any experience on service of the present system of placing the 
blanket under the saddle and the advantage which Colonel Walters says it is, but 
it certainly seems to me from what I have seen here that it is an improvement on 
the old patterns, which had a decided tendency in my mind to make the saddle 
rock, and also, as Colonel Walters has pointed out, it is more liable to vary; that 
is to say when you stuffed the saddle in one position, after the saddle had been 
on the horse’s back six weeks or two or three months it varied, whereas if you 
stick to the plain pannel as may be seen there (pointing to one of the model horses) 
the plain bar saddle, you have a rigid structure which is the same at all times. 
Another disadvantage is that the pannel has a tendency to place the man too high 
above his work. 
I agree with Colonel Walters as to what he said about the insufficiency of the 
size of the present blanket and chiefly for this reason : that the best battery and 
the best regiment with the horses in the best preparation for active service may 
start to-morrow, but those horses, as I have seen in Afghanistan, after long and 
severe work and with short commons, must lose condition, and when they lose 
condition the saddle which fitted them when they started will not fit them in two 
or three months. To obviate that, as Colonel Walters very rightly pointed out, 
