THE SADDLE AND SIDE-SADDLE.
A side-saddle should have no right-hand pummel.--The leaping
horn.--Surcingle.--Stirrup-leather.--Stirrup-iron.--Girthing.--To
avoid riding on the buckles of the girths.
[Sidenote: No right-hand pummel.]
[Sidenote: Leaping horn.]
A side-saddle should have no right-hand pummel; it is useless to the
seat, and impedes the working of the right hand on the reins. The
appearance when mounted is infinitely improved by the absence of it. The
saddle should have what is called a third pummel, or leaping-horn. In
case of any unusual motion of the horse, such as leaping, an ebullition
of gaiety, or violence from any other cause, by pressing upwards with
the front part above the left knee, and downwards with the back part
above the right knee, a wonderfully strong grasp is obtained, much
stronger than the grasp obtained by the mode in which men ride. This
will be quite clear to you if, when sitting in your chair, you press
your two knees together, and afterwards, by crossing them over, press
them, one down and the other up. Besides this, when a man clasps his
horse, however firmly it fixes the clasping parts, it has a tendency to
raise the seat from the saddle. This is not the case with the clasp
obtained in a side-saddle; and, for a tour de force, I find I am much
stronger in a side-saddle than in my own. There is no danger in this
third pummel, since there is not the danger of being thrown on it; more
than this, it renders it next to impossible that the rider should be
thrown against or upon the other pummels. In the case of the horse
_bucking_, without the leaping-horn, there is nothing to prevent the
lady from being thrown up; the right knee is thus disengaged from the
pummel, and all hold lost. The leaping-horn prevents the left knee from
being thrown up, and from that fulcrum great force may be employed to
keep the right knee down in its proper place. If the horse, in violent
action, throws himself suddenly to the left, the upper part of the
rider's body will tend downwards to the right, the lower limbs upwards
to the left. Nothing can counteract this but the bearing afforded by the
leaping-horn. This tendency to over-balance to the right causes so many
ladies to guard themselves against it by hanging off their saddles to
the left. The leaping-horn is also of infinite use with a hard puller,
or in riding down steep places; without it, in either case, there is
nothing to prevent the lady from sliding forward. It has also the
advantage that, should one rider like it, and another not, it is easily
screwed on or taken off.
[Sidenote: Surcingle.]
[Sidenote: Stirrup leather.]
[Sidenote: Stirrup-iron.]
The saddle should be kept in its place by the elastic webbing girths,
and not, as the common error is--probably from the facility of
tightening it--by the hard, unyielding, leather surcingle. The use of
this surcingle is to prevent the small flap on the off side from turning
up, and the large flap on the off side from being blown about with wind;
and it should not be drawn tighter than is sufficient for these
purposes. The part coming from the near side should not be attached, as
at present, to the small flap, but to the lower part of the large flap
on the near side. This will leave the small flap on the near side loose,
as in a man's saddle, _and will allow liberty for the use of the spring
bar_. It will also lessen the friction against the habit and leg, by
rendering the side of the saddle perfectly smooth, except the
stirrup-leather. To lessen the friction from that I recommend a single
thin strap, as broad as a man's stirrup-leather, instead of the present
double, narrow, thick one. Of three sorts of single stirrup-leathers the
smoothest is with a loop to go over the spring-bar, and with an
adjusting buckle just above the stirrup-iron: or the strap may take off
and on the iron by a slip loop, and passing over the spring-bar as
usual, be fastened, and its length adjusted, by a _loose_ buckle, which,
though it is only attached to the strap by the tongue, is perfectly
secure. For hunting I always use a single strap, sewn to the iron, with
a =D= above the knee, and with a double strap and buckle between the =D=
and the spring-bar. The lady's stirrup-leather, which passes under the
horse's body, and is fixed to the off side of the side-saddle, is
supposed to prevent the saddle from turning round. This is a mechanical
error. But the great objection to this sort of stirrup-leather is, that
it cannot with safety be used with the spring-bar; for when off the bar
it remains attached to the saddle, and acts as a scourge to the horse. I
once saw a frightful instance of this. The lady's stirrup-iron should be
in all respects the same as a man's, and, to make assurance doubly sure,
it should open at the side with a spring. This might be useful in case
of a fall on the off side, when the action of the spring-bar of the
saddle might be impeded. But if the stirrup is large and heavy, it is
next to impossible that the foot should be caught by it. It is the
common error to suppose that persons are dragged owing to the stirrup
being too large and the foot passing through it, but the reason is its
being too small and light, it then sticks to the foot and clasps it by
the pressure of the upper part of the stirrup above the foot, and the
lower part on the sole of the foot.
[Sidenote: Girthing.]
A side-saddle should be girthed very tightly, since a lady sits only by
the saddle. The girths should always be felt _after_ the weight of the
rider is in the saddle. The girths of a man's saddle should never be
tight. The inner girth only should loosely hold the saddle; the outer
girth is merely a safety girth, in case of the inner one giving. This is
of consequence for the horse's breathing in galloping, since his ribs
must expand every time he inhales, or draws breath.
[Sidenote: To avoid buckles of girths.]
I think that one holder on each side of a man's saddle should be placed
as far forward, and one on each side as far backward, as possible
without showing beyond the outside stirrup flap. This separates the
buckles of the girths, and makes a smooth flat bearing for the thigh of
the rider. The girths must cross from the front holder on one side to
the back holder on the other; or they may be passed through a loose loop
below to prevent their separating. The double-stirrup leather and the
riding exactly on the buckles of the girths, are great abominations. I
go farther in this way myself, and cut off the inside girth flap
immediately below the tree of the saddle. It is wholly unnecessary when
the buckles of the girths are removed from under the weight of the
rider. The absence of this inner girth-flap gives a much firmer, and to
me a much pleasanter, seat; while to the horse the saddle is much
cooler, and a little lighter. If, on trial, this is not liked, the
girth-flap is easily sewed on again, or the holders are still more
easily replaced. It is very rash to recommend even the smallest possible
change which one has not tested well; and I have never tried dividing
the girth buckles with the side-saddle. But I should think that if they
were divided on the near side only, with a loop to keep the girths
together below, it might be an improvement.