CHAPTER X
SADDLES
- HOW TO CHOOSE A SADDLE
- EVOLUTION OF THE MEXICAN SADDLE
- BIRTH OF THE BLUFF FRONTED SADDLE
- THE COWBOY AGE
- SAWBUCKS OR PACK SADDLES
- STRAIGHT LEG AND BENT KNEE
- NAMES OF PARTS OF SADDLES
- CENTER FIRE AND DOUBLE CINCH
CHAPTER X
SADDLES
We know that comparatively few of our boys take their hikes on horseback, especially their camping hikes. But a lot of their daddies and big brothers do take their horse, and the pack horse on their hunting and fishing trips, and every boy wants to know how to do the things his daddy knows how to do. Besides all that, the author is aware of the fact that the daddies and the uncles and the big brothers are reading all the stuff he puts out for the boys. They are constantly quoting to the author things that he has said to the boys, so that now in writing a book for the boys he must count them in.
Choose a Saddle that Fits
Everyone knows the misery of an ill-fitting shoe, and no one in his right mind would think of taking a prolonged hike in shoes that pinched his feet, but everybody does not know that a saddle should fit the rider; an ill-fitting saddle can cause almost as much discomfort as an ill-fitting shoe. The best all-around sportsman's saddle in the world is the cowboy saddle of the West. A writer in the Saturday Evening Post, who has written a delightfully intelligent article on saddles, in speaking of the Western cow-puncher's saddle, says: