It may be convenient to classify bad saddling:-

  1. The numnah not strapped up in front and rear.
   
  2. The loose end of any strap getting in between the numnah and skin.
 
  3. Any portion of the rear pack resting on the spine, or even the only touching it.
 
  4. The sweat flap of the girth – or in panelled saddles, the panel flap – getting turned in when putting the saddle on
       in a hurry, thus forming a thick ridge which gets pressed into the side and produces injury.
 
  5. A horse is badly saddled which has either a loose girth or a tight surcingle.

Apart from actual vice, the above comprises all the bad saddling which is possible

Advantage of occasionally walking when tired
This wearing out of a tired horse by a tired man is effectually met by at once dismounting the man, and letting him lead the horse. After he has done some distance, his tired riding muscles will have regained their tone, and he can then remount.

In long marches, men get tired or cramped through being hours in one position, they twist and turn in the saddle leaned forward, or quit their stirrups, and let their bodies sway about. The wholesome corrective for this is dismounting the men. In a long march every man should walk and lead his horse for a portion of every hour, which prevents rolling, and secures the important advantage of allowing the blood to circulate freely through the skin.