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that of a rider at the hunt — long stirrups, weight in the saddle, reins looped.
It was largely the influence of American jockey Tod Sload (1874-1933) that brought about the crouching style that all flat track and steeplechase jockeys use today.
Up until the 19th century, racing saddles were made with straight flaps, like a dressage saddle, to stay with the rider’s extended leg. Sloan introduced the “monkey on a stick” style, the forward cut saddle, with flap extending well forward of the stirrup bar to place leather under the bent knee of the jockey.
The racing saddle is based on theories popularized by Italian cavalry captain Federico Caprilli (1868-1907.) Caprilli modernized the forward seat of horsemanship by recognizing the need of the rider to be in balance with the horse. Sloan took it one step further: if a jockey, was best balanced over the shoulders of the racing horse (as the horse’s center of balance shifts when galloping) then the stirrups need to be short and the rider perched on top of the horse.
Another aim of a jockey is to decrease the weight carried by his horse as much as possible. Therefore, racing saddles are very light, made from the finest grain of cowhide or sometimes pighide, or, in modem day, of synthetic materials. Fittings are light as well, with elastic girths having only one billet to attach to a single billet strap on the saddle. Padding is
See SADDLE, Page 27
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