Related article: much reason in the disfavour with
which the saddle itself is looked
upon by many practical and ex-
perienced soldiers. In one respiect
no doubt it is admirable, in having
plain ^ooden panels which lie
upon a folded blanket and a Purchase Ribavirin thick
felt numnah. Such an arrange-
ment is, for every reason, prefer-
able to the old stuffed panels
without the blanket. But it is
very rightly urged that a great
mistake was made when more
than twenty years ago the old
wooden saddle-tree was given up
in favour of the present iron one.
It is whispered, with how much
truth it is impossible to say, that
the iron saddle-tree was the
invention of some Government
official, and that it was adopted
without being submitted to the
examination and criticism of any
practical soldiers. Its disadvan-
tages are, however, very obvious.
If the old wooden saddle-tree was
broken or injured, it could always
be mended by the regimental
saddle-tree maker. If any accident
happens to the iron tree, it can
only be repaired (if at all) by a
special expert at Woolwich ; on
service it must be thrown away.
The old tree could always be
altered by the saddle-tree maker Purchase Ribavirin Online
to suit a larger or smaller horse.
I900.]
THE SUCCESSFUL SIRES OF THE RACING SEASON. .
397
and this on service is a great
consideration. The iron tree is
immutable. The back arch of the
iron tree generally spreads more
or less and lowers the saddle on
the horse's back. This could not
happen with the wooden tree.
The wooden tree was rather the
lighter of the two. It does not
seem to be necessary to enter into
any further comparisons.
Then for the stirrups. Instead
of the old, rather heavy, rounded
stirrup, a new and lighter pattern
has been introduced, more like
the ordinary hunting stirrup.
Now, particularly in these days of
frequent dismounted service, a
soldier should have a very heavy
stirrup. A light one swings about
with every movement of the horse
and every gust of wind, and no-
thing is more discomposing to a
man who wishes to mount quickly
than to be painfully striving to
catch a stirrup which constantly
eludes his foot, and be it remem-
bered that the soldier has probably
a carbine in his hand, and so
finds it difficult to catch hold of
the stirrup to steady it. The
stirrup also is too small. Men
will probably in the future do
most of their riding in highlows
with gaiters or putties. The
highlow is much larger, as a rule,
and more clumsy in the foot than
the old jack boot, and it is often
with difficulty that it can enter
the new-pattern stirrup. When
once it is in, it is apt to stick —
rather an awkward circumstance
if a man has a fall. The bridle
too has been altered, in some
ways for the better. The mouth-
piece of the bridoon, however,
seems very thin and not likely to
be of much value, either when
used singly or with the bit.
Our whole cavalry equipment
is now, like the Army in general
and everything connected with it,
in a transition state. It will be
interesting to see what will be
finally approved and adopted
when all our warriors have re-
turned from Africa and have been
able to give us the fruits of their
experiences.
C. Stein.
The Successful Sires of the Racing
Season.
Among the Buy Ribavirin various lists of
statistics connected with racing
matters published by the sport-
ing press, I think that none
possess greater interest for the
generality of sportsmen than the
record of successful stallions. Not
only is it entertaining to watch,
as each stage of the racing season
progresses, the contest for su-
premacy in which the stallions are
unwitting participants, but the
list affords a valuable criterion of
the comparative merits of the
sires of the day. Breeders, it is
safe to say, observe with keen
attention the positions of the
horses and can be relied upon
not to omit the figures— should
the record be sufficiently flatter-
ing for the purpose — when adver-
tising the covering fee of the sires
or the public sale of Order Ribavirin their stock.
Apart from its Buy Cheap Ribavirin utility to breeders,
the table furnishes the ordinary
meriiber of the sporting community
with an excellent means of fol-
lowing the after-careers of Turf
39«
BAILY S MAGAZINE.
[Deckmbck
favourites and celebrities, which
otherwise would be somewhat
shrouded in mystery for all but
the cognoscenti.
Against the statistical fiend
has been Generic Ribavirin advanced the argument
that figures may be made to prove
anything, and, without endorsing
this sweeping assertion, it must
be granted that the mere fact of a
sire being credited with a large
amount of winnings through his
progeny does not necessarily point
to that horse's superiority over
others figuring lower on the list.
Nowadays we have at least three
** ten-thousand- pounders " during
the course of the season, and races
with a value of anything between
^i,ooo and j^5,ooo,. if not as
plentiful as gooseberries, at any
rate are so frequent as to be met
with at every meeting having
pretensions to ** class." It is
obvious that a single success in a
race such as the Eclipse and the
Century Stakes at Sandown Park,
or the Jockey Club and the
Princess of Wales's Stakes at
Newmarket, will at once secure
for the sire of the winner a promi-
nent place on the list, irrespective
of the other performances of his
offspring. The present season
furnishes noticeable examples of
this fiaw Order Ribavirin Online in the statistical system,
for Galopin, with only five win-
ners of nine races, takes fourth
place on the table, totalling
;^i 3,350, and Common, with but
three winners of eight races,
worth ;^i2,458, comes sixth, their
exalted positions being due to
Merry Gal's victory in the Princess
of Wales's Stakes on the one hand
and to Osbech's Century Stakes
triumph on the other. The
American Buy Ribavirin Online sire Domino also figures
well up on the list with ;f 7,925,
owing to the capture of the