Brookings County sentinel. (Brookings, Dakota [S.D.]) 1882-1890, 1882-04-06
The Proper Saddling Of Horses.
[From the Hour.l


The traditional German professor who
insisted on going TO the ancieuts for
everything has proved his wisdom again.
The strange and uncouth positions in
which We saw horses at fuil gallop pic
tured in some old bas rekiefs, and which
we passed by with smile Of pity tor
the artist, are now found to be correct,
and the modern painter, who has de-
picted the horse as making frantic efforts
to fling it's four legs away into chaos,
must retire. The astonishing revela-
tons of Governor Stanford, of California,
in "The Horse in Notion" the result of
the very extensive, minute and painstak-
ing instantaneous photographs of Mr.
Muybridge, prove the correctness Of the
ancient draughtsmen. The camera
shows that the hind feet are the first to
leave the ground, and that one fore-foot
is used as propelling means, after the
manner of the leaping- pole, and that in
stead OF alighting on the other foIe-foot,
the borse lands on its hind feet. At one
portion Of the stride the horse is entirely
IN the air, not as represented in paint
ings ard engravings, with its legs
stretched away from him, but with all
four gathered under him. The position
is certainly awkward and cramped, but
there Is no doubt about its truth.
As soon as these discoveries come to
to be generally understood, they cannot
fail to bring about total revolution in
the existing methods Of training. sad
ding and riding racehorses. The fun
damental idea underlying training is TO
get the greatest amount OF speed out OF
horse With the least possible exertion
of force. Now, the breaking down of
raceborses has been the dread Of train
ers ever since the bell summoned horses
to the post. The fact that the breaking
down always occurred in the foreless
was attributed 60 ~" circumstances that
the animal alighted on them al the end
Of his stride, having been lifted into the
air by the hinaleSs. But, As the photo
graph shows, the "breahing down." Oh
giving way or breaking of the tendpns,
when it arises, occurs during the last
violent contraction of the muscles of the
foretoot. 1t is then so far back that a
vertical line from it will fall behind the
saddle. The weight of the head, neck
and shoulders OF the animal is supple
mented by that of the rider, ali being
borne in front of the foot, and conse-
quently acting as il placed on the end of
lever which is to be raised by grasping
the short end. OF the whole weight
horse, rider and saddle at least seven
tenths are in front of the foot, and in
order to raise this at such mechanical
disadvantage ard hurI the whole OF it
through the air, an immense expenditure
Of force is required.
Trainers have, thus far, placed the
saddle as near the shoulders as possible,
and, in addition, jockeys are taught to
lean forward, under the hitherto existing
notion that the speed of the horse WAS
increased by relieving the weight on its
hind or propelling quarters. Mr.. Muy-
bridges photographs show that speed is
lessened by this means, by increasing
the weight on the real propelling por-
tons OF the body, while, at the same
time, they are more rapidly worn out.
Perhaps one reason why the mustang OF
the plains lasts SO much longer than the
saddlehorse, and particularly the race
horse, of civilization, while laboring
harder and over ground which would
break down almost any animal ridden in
the civilized fashion, is that the vaquero
sets his saddle further back, that the
"cinch, instead Of being fastened near
the elbow, comes around the swell of
the barrel. The stirrups are placed
further from the pummel Of the saddle,
and the rider not only throws himself
back on the cantel. but his body is erect.