Saddling

“ Each wave was crested with tawny foam, Like the mane of a chestnut steed. In vain! no torrent, deep or broad, [Pg 123] Might bar the bold moss-trooper's road. At the first plunge the horse sunk low, And the water broke o'er the saddlebow; Above the foaming tide, I ween, Scarce half the charger's neck was seen; For he was barded from counter to tail, And the rider was armed complete in mail; Never heavier man and horse Stemmed a midnight torrent's force. ”

“ But the occurrence indicates a real danger, of which the traveller ought to be aware. Walking in the great heat, with constant perspiration, if the saddle is not a good fit and skilfully padded, the horse’s back is easily fretted and wounded. Then the animal naturally seeks relief when a chance comes, by rolling over and trying to remove the offending saddle. If the rider is in his seat, it may go hard with him. In passing through water there is a peculiar temptation to cool the injured spot by plunging down.
We awoke next morning to find ourselves fairly within the limits of el-Lejâʾ. ”

“ To catch and saddle the mare and tether her in a clump of trees close by: to have the means of escape nice and handy before I went to work. I have often wondered at the instinctive wisdom of the precaution; unconsciously I was acting on what has been one of my guiding principles ever since. Pains and patience were required: I had to get my saddle without waking the man, and I was not used to catching horses in a horse-paddock. Then I distrusted the poor mare, and I went back to the stables for a hatful of oats, which I left with her in the clump, hat and all. ”

“ I wish to draw particular attention to the necessity of tightening the girths of a side-saddle, even when a horse has been led to a meet; because I have found from long experience of riding young horses with tender backs, as well as hunters in hard condition, that, given the most perfectly-fitting saddle, trouble will arise sooner or later if this precaution is neglected. Some ladies are so careful [325] about the fit of their saddles, that they have a separate saddle for each of their hunters. I know of a lady who has fourteen hunters so equipped. ”

“ No matter how straight you sit, sooner or later the strain of a side-saddle begins to tell on a pony, from the mere fact that the weight of the rider’s two legs is on one side of him! I noticed this especially at Katāgum when riding horses which had never carried a side-saddle before, and so sensitive were they to the innovation that it was almost impossible to keep them in the road at all—they bored so badly to the near side. ”

“ I say, when your horse is led into the stable, after that same thirty miles’ trotting and walking, don’t let the saddle be whisked off at once, for if you do your horse will have such a sore back as will frighten you, but let your saddle remain on your horse’s back, with the girths loosened, till after his next feed of corn, and be sure that he has no corn, much less water, till after a long hour and more; after he is fed he may be watered to the tune of half a pail, and then the ostler can give him a regular rub down ”

“ If an animal, on being saddled, gets his “back up,” he should not be mounted until this certain indication of the buck that is in him has been removed, which may be done by either circling him with the long reins, or letting a groom run him about a little until his back goes down. ”

“ Besides, sore backs are not confined to side saddles, for every hunting man, at some period or other, has had a sore-backed horse in his stable. My argument against the adoption of men’s saddles is, in the first place, that such saddles afford us far less security of seat than we obtain in our own; for I do not think that men could ride, as we can, over fences without the aid of the reins. ”

“ A glance at a side-saddle tree will at once demonstrate the difficulty the saddler has to meet, add to this a heavy and ungainly appearance. The only way in which the shift can be obtained is by having two saddles. ”

“ Three calves had broken out and were frisking around in the grass. I saw them clearly in the moonlight. I called them.” He laughed mockingly, “Those certainly were moon calves.” “So? I believe not. For I brought them in myself this morning and then I saw that the stable door stood open. I thought to myself, the boy has gone courting tonight. Your eyes always sweep over everything and light upon everything and you [du] worry so over everything out of order, I wonder that you [du] have not seen it.”—“You say ‘thou’ [du] to me?”—“Yes, you say it to me. ”

“ You sit back in your saddle—all saddles in these parts have cruppers and breastplates to prevent your sliding over the animal’s ears as you go down or slipping off behind as you go up a mountain path—and as you watch the tossing line of packs below, the speculation forces itself as to the consequences of a mule’s misstep. ”

“ It was a wild ride for the man, with death perched there behind. The great arms, wound about him, were slowly squeezing the breath from his body, and beneath that embrace he felt his ribs bend inward to the point of cracking. Desperately, he maintained his grip on the saddle with his knees.
Then, just before consciousness would have left him, he raised his legs and flung himself sideways. The saddle slipped under the mare’s belly. Carried by the momentum, but with that crushing grip never relaxing, the man and the terrible creature which held him hurtled through the air. ”

“ Secondly, the other disadvantage most materially affects the horse; for by their so constantly leaning themselves to the near side, the side-saddle being so pulled and pressed against the withers or shoulder of the horse on the off side, keeping up a continual friction, and this being the case, I defy all the Sadlers in the kingdom to prevent the saddle from wringing and galling the poor beast, especially in the heat of the summer ”

“ The mounting of a laden pack-saddle is a problem in itself, and to the last I could discover no system upon which the feat is accomplished; a wild, spasmodic leap, taken from some wall near the animal, usually—but not always—lands one in the saddle, and once in position a fatalistic calm is the best attitude with which to confront the perils of the ensuing ride. ”

“ If you don't, some time the rope end may catch between the rocks or become tangled in some way and cause trouble.
"When you stop to rest after a hard ride, always unsaddle, whether you unbridle or not, and then wipe the dirt and sweat from where the saddle has been. It rests a pony more than anything you can do.
"At night, when you are on the plains, always use your saddle for a pillow, then no one can steal it from you. ”

“ A woman who has only one leg, or has two on one side, may have some excuse for the unnatural, ungraceful, dangerous and barbarous side-saddle. The last word was prompted by remembering the raw back of the beautiful horse which carried Miss Dix into the valley, under the old, conventional, side-saddle. ”

“ The Ideal Saddle-horse! Any man with a trained eye and ear should be able to recognize it among a herd of others. Its satin robe should be of a chestnut, bay, or brown color, with a silver star on the forehead. It should have a fine, thin mane, and a tail just heavy enough to set off the haunches. It should be of a stature of no more than 151⁄2 hands at the withers, never more than an inch less than that height ”

“ For father always liked a horse to have some wool upon his loins whenever he went far from home, and had to stand about, where one pleased, hot, and wet, and panting. And father always said that saddles were meant for men full-grown and heavy, and losing their activity; and no boy or young man on our farm durst ever get into a saddle, because they all knew that the master would chuck them out pretty quickly. ”

“ Your horse is dead, but there is one of the Indians’ standing by his dead master. Let us catch him and shift the saddle.’ The animal, when they approached it, made no move to take flight, and they saw that his master’s foot, as he fell, had become entangled in the lasso, and the well-trained beast had stood without moving. In three minutes the saddles were transferred, and the party again ready for fight or flight. ”

“ A trail now leads to the Saddle, and the place has proven so popular among tourists that it is frequently in use.
The Saddle is a typical alp, or elevated mountain meadow, where long, rich grass waves in the summer breezes, beautified by mountain flowers, anemones, sky-blue forget-me-nots, and scarlet castilleias. Scattered larch trees make a very park of this place, while the great swelling slopes rise in graceful curves toward the mountain peaks on either side. ”

“ These pack saddles are extremely comfortable to ride on if they are well balanced; one sits as on a broad, soft platform between the panniers, dangling a foot on either side of the mule’s neck, the idea being that if the beast falls you will alight on your feet and get clear of him whichever way he rolls. ”

“ On its northeastern side, by circuitous trails and stiff climbing, one may gain the Saddle. Against the slope of the Dome the Saddle leans like a gigantic slab, and from the top of this slab, one thousand feet in length, curves the great circle to the summit of the Dome. A few degrees too steep for unaided climbing, these one thousand feet defied for years the adventurous spirits who fixed yearning eyes upon the crest above. ”

“ Falling out of the saddle is by no means a rare occurrence, for he takes not the slightest heed of ways and paths, but leaves the horse to find these for itself. And even if he be of more careful mood, he will take any path which the beast can tread, with as little hesitation as he mounts the wildest, most intractable horse. ”

“ The plan of the saddle tree is an excellent one, and the saddles are very safe and pleasant for the rider, and when they are well constructed, with the exception of their weight, are easy on the animal. ”

“ Meanwhile Saddleback came to the little hollow and gave the low call that always conjured from the earth the unruly procession of the nine riotous little pups, and they dashed at the Turkey and pulled and worried till it was torn up, and each that got a piece ran to one side alone and silently proceeded to eat, seizing his portion in his jaws when another came near, and growling his tiny growl as he showed the brownish whites of his eyes in his effort to watch the intruder. Those that got the softer parts to feed on were well fed. ”

“ Saddle horses were trained especially for the purpose of threading the heavy timber of the forests at a high rate of speed. In consequence of the extraordinary fleetness of these wild animals, it was often impossible to catch them, a fine horse being frequently ruined irretrievably, by its rider through the exertions which it was spurred on to make. ”

“ As to their saddles, they are as unlike English ones as can well be imagined, rising at each end, so as to give the rider a very safe seat, while their stirrups are as long almost as the foot itself; but the saddles have this advantage, that they never give the horses sore backs. ”

“ With the whirlwind I’ll fly out of his way!
Terrible is it to live in his sight.
Awful to meet him, no love in my heart—
Saddle! Let me hide myself from his might!
With whirlwind and foxes ’tis easier to fight. ”

“ By evening the storm reached them with lightning, heavy thunder and great piles of hail. The next morning the water had risen half way up tall trees.
The Indians stole the lead horse of one of the four-horse teams and Mrs. Low rode the other on a man’s saddle. Many western equestriennes [Pg 32] have learned to be not too particular as to horse, habit or saddle and have proven also the greater safety and convenience of cross-saddle riding. ”

“ To climb the huge boulders the animals were compelled to uprear and struggle blindly through the tangled mass of vegetation. Once the saddle-horse fell heavily and the man removed the pack to get the animal on its feet. ”

“ When mother and I went to packing up for our return, we found that we did not have pack saddles enough for all of our camp outfit. Besides our tepee, bedding, clothing, and utensils, we had sixteen sacks of dried meat and two sacks of service berries. This was too much for our eight pack saddles. Mother said that we could get along if we had two more saddles so I told her to use mine for one and I would ride bareback. She did not like to do this, but she finally consented, and another boy let us have his saddle, so we packed ten horses. ”

“ His legs will be too slender; his feet too small; his stride too long, and he will rarely be able to trot. Three parts, or half, and for the horse of all work, even less than that, will make a good and useful animal." For the saddle only, the high-bred, if not disposed to be vicious, is never objectionable to an enterprising and accomplished rider. His long elastic pasterns, giving easy, flexible motions ”

“ The sight of a saddle makes me sweat. An 'ound makes me perfectly wild. A red coat throws me into a scarlet fever. Never throughout life have I had a good night's rest before an 'unting morning. But werry little racing does for me; Sadler's Wells is well enough of a fine summer evening—especially when they plump the clown over head in the New River cut, and the ponies don't misbehave in the Circus,—but oh! Newmarket's a dreadful place, the werry name's a sickener. ”

“ The men generally sit sideways on these pack-saddles, and the women astride. The first time that a lady was seen in Mytilene on a European side-saddle, all the people came to see what seemed to them so unfemininc a mode of riding. ”

“ It was yet too far away for his untrained eyes to recognize it; but as he came closer he saw that it was a horse, and was about to resume the original direction of his way when he thought that he discerned a saddle upon the beast's back. He rode a little closer. Yes, the animal was saddled. ”