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Updated: May 16, 2025
To these ordinary components of a side-saddle, a breast-plate and saddle cloth or numdah are sometimes added. On rare occasions a crupper is used. The pommel is made up of a gullet plate, which is a steel arch that goes over the withers, and its coverings. The points of the tree are connected, one on each side, to the front ends of the bars and to the gullet plate, and they point downwards.
The term numdah or numnah, which is applied to felt saddle-cloths, is derived from a Hindustani word that signifies 'felt. A saddle-cloth should be as thin as efficiency in serving its purpose will allow it to be, so that it may give as little play as possible to the saddle.
Although the fitting of the saddle should as far as practicable be limited to the adjustment of the shape of the tree and to regulating the amount of stuffing in the panel; the use of a numdah with a saddle which does not fit the horse or which is not sufficiently stuffed, is often a valuable makeshift when necessity gives no other choice.
As a substitute for a panel, Messrs. Champion and Wilton have devised a numdah lined with spongio-piline and covered with linen, to be used with a saddle, the underneath part of the tree of which is covered with leather. The chief advantage of this numdah is that a saddle which is provided with two or more of them, can always present a dry bearing surface to the horse's back.
A stout numdah of this kind can be used with a high withered animal, and a thin one with a horse which has thick withers. Its inventors claim that it distributes the weight better and keeps the saddle steadier than a panel. As children are unable to take the necessary precautions against accident, no considerations of fashion or smartness should outweigh those of safety for the little ones.
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