I have been quite surprised to see, in such a city as London, the paucity of really good saddles. Most of them would disfigure any horse they were put upon, with flaps of all shapes but the right.
To say how a saddle should be made, would be quite impossible, as it solely depends on the horse and his rider; for instance, a thin and sweepy saddle will not suit a horse with round, heavy shoulders, and wide over his loins. Many imagine that cut-back saddles are less liable to injure the rider, than ordinary ones; this is quite fallacious.
The saddle must have the head, or what is called, the pummel, to begin upon; and the further that can be carried forward the better; but the nearer it is got under the seat, the more likely is it to seriously injure the rider.
In side-saddles there is great variety; but the requisites for a first-rate side-saddle, to my idea, and one I would not hesitate in recommending, should be length (indispensable), a leaping-head, no off-head, and it should be cut as nearly level as possible. None, I may say, can dispute my first remark, and none who have ridden with the leaping-head will ever after be without it.
There are those who say no, to the off-head being cut away, “for should a lady become nervous, she could not steady herself so well as if the head had been left on;” here I fully agree, but beg to say in reply, that before a lady attempts the road or anywhere where she might be placed in such a critical position, she must have her nerves so strengthened through her equestrian education, that she need not look to the off-head of her saddle for safety; her point d’appui is the leaping-head. When holding on by the off-head, the lady of course loses the use of one hand. Next, her horse may go where he pleases, for she cannot get her hands down to have a good pull at his mouth. Then, in hunting, the poor lady’s wrists are everlastingly bruised by the off-head, to say nothing of the danger of their being broken by it.
BRIDLES.
There is a great variety of bridles. Generally speaking, the plainer the bridle the better, more especially for hunting and hacking; for the former, let your bit be long in the check (i.e., in moderation), the mouth-piece thick, having the bridoon the same, the suaviter in modo being much more agreeable than the fortiter in re, to all animals. For hack bridles, any fancy check may do, if the horse’s head be sufficiently handsome; but let me request my readers not to put a fancy bridle on a coarse-bred, common horse.
THE THROAT LASH.
Simple as it may appear, it spoils the heads of all horses, as it is usually made. It should be long enough to fall just below the cheek-bone, and not to lay on or over it, as it makes the animal’s head look short and thick.