Numnah’s are generally made of felt, though leather has been tried. The use of a numnah is not to make the saddle fit or render it soft to the back (incidentally it does both), but its function is to absorb the sweat and prevent it passing into the blanket or panels. This is where the leather numnah failed; it was not absorbent, and in addition presented the disadvantage of becoming dry and hard under the influence of sweat.

The girth
Various considerations cause the service girth to be made of leather, rather than webbing, cord, or raw hide. The last three, however, may have to be used and are excellent as long as they last.

A soldier’s saddle has to be kept more firmly girthed up than a civilian, owing to the greater weight, much of it top heavy. To avoid undue oscillation this weight has to be steadied, and a girth too tight for a hunter may be absolutely necessary for a troop horse.

In order to give further assistance in steadying the weight, the girth, instead of being secured to a central attachment, is buckled into straps which come from either end of the saddle. This V attachment is an immense advantage where great weight is concerned.

Fitting the saddle
It has not been found possible in speaking of the structure of the saddle to avoid making some reference to its fit, but this section is specially devoted to a consideration of the fundamental principles of saddle fitting.

There are six axioms in saddle fitting never to be forgotten. They constitute the essence of the whole subject, and when they are applied intelligently, saddle fitting becomes almost an exact science: