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A Hack by Any Other Name by Keith Jenkin of Minster Saddlery We all know what it is to go for a hack or to hack to a show or meeting, but how many are aware of all the other uses of the word. It derives from the Norman French "HAQUENAI" which was a word used in medieval times to describe a horse of poor or indifferent quality which could be hired very cheaply. A far cry from the proud and active Hackney breed developed in the nineteenth century from the Norfolk trotting horse interbred with the Arab and Welsh ponies with a bit of Thoroughbred thrown in. This high stepping horse or pony was used extensively to pull the thousands of Hackney Carriages which plied their trade particularly in London until replaced by the motorised taxi still referred to as a Hackney Cab. I can still recall as a boy seeing the pony version tearing around with the driver standing, never sitting, across the cobbled streets of London pulling a cart or trap. Nowadays they are mostly to be seen in the show ring and at one time were also popular as show jumpers because of the powerful development of the hindquarters and legs.
However the word has many other meanings. You can "hack" your way through dense jungle using a machete. Before the gun was invented troops would "hack" each other to death with their swords. A footballer can foul an opponent by kicking or "hacking" his shins. A journalist of no great merit is known as a "hack". A harsh cough is sometimes referred to as "hacking". The London Borough of Hackney was an area where horses, mostly for carriage work could be purchased. A "hack" can also mean a rack used for animal fodder, a board on which meat is placed for a hawk or a piles of unfired bricks stacked to dry. "Hackneyed" is a phrase used too often. Fortunately to go "hacking" is a very popular pastime among horse people who make up a large percentage of our customers; "long may it continue".While passing on this piece of useless information, the derivation of CANTER may be of interest. The busiest coaching road in England was between London and Dover, which of course passed through Canterbury. While to trot the whole way would take too long, to gallop would have killed the horses. Accordingly they developed an in-between pace known as the "Canterbury Gallop" which teams could keep up for the whole ten miles between staging inns, where the teams would be changed and rested for twenty-four hours before being used again. The phrase was shortened to "canter", a pace between trot and gallop with which we are all familiar.While putting pen to paper I would like to clear up some confusion caused by an article I wrote some time ago in which I claimed that the use of a numnah or saddle cloth does not change the fit of a saddle. It is often said that a saddle should fit perfectly without the use of a numnah. This is of course true and we always fit a saddle without using a numnah simply because it is easiest to see what is going on. There is however a popular misconception that a numnah will change the fit and comparison is made to the insertion of an insole into a shoe. However this is not a true comparison because a shoe, unlike a horse's back, is an enclosed space and the insertion of an insole will reduce the space within the shoe and make the fit smaller. This of course is not the case with the back of a horse and the use of a numnah will simply lift the saddle off the back. When placing a numnah on the back the underside will precisely follow the contours of the back and will consequently be the same shape as the back. It will be obvious that the topside of the numnah will be the same shape as the underside, and of the back. In other words the fit does not change but is simply moved higher by the thickness of the numnah. I compared this to stacking any number of pieces of angle iron one upon another where the top piece is the same shape as the bottom piece, and similarly I said you could stack any number of numnahs one on top of another where the top one would be the same shape as the bottom one. What I was NOT suggesting was that you can use a pile of numnahs and then put the saddle on top as some people have suggested I did. In fact the final few lines of my article, which my detractors either did not read or chose to ignore, said "it is however advisable to use a fairly thin COTTON numnah to soak up sweat and keep the panel clean and while the use of a thick numnah will NOT change the fit, stability can be adversely affected".I hope that clears up that misunderstanding. I believe the confusion arises because when the initial flocking in a saddle compresses the underarch of the tree can come down on the wither and the panel will need to be reflocked to lift the saddle. The use of a thick numnah or poly pad will do the same thing and can be used for this purpose in the short term until the saddler is available and in this sense a numnah will change the fit. It is however the arch of the tree that should be precisely the same shape as that part of the back upon which it will rest. Years ago the process of making a bespoke saddle started with the saddler finding or making a tree which was the correct shape, which would sit on the back as a snug fit, the flocked panel merely serves the purpose of lifting the tree away from the back and providing cushioning and neither the flocking nor a numnah will change the fit of the tree which is of paramount importance. That is why all our own saddles are either made or modified to fit the templates which we take of the horse's back. Horses' backs are changing shape constantly and we are continually taking templates and changing the shape of the tree to accommodate the changed shape of the back, which of course cuts out the necessity to change the saddle. There is of course no way you can change the shape of the tree with a reflock. If the arch of the tree is either too small or too wide then the tree itself must be modified. It is the only satisfactory way to resolve the problem. To summarise, the only thing that will affect the fit of the saddle is the shape of the tree. The numnah has the same effect as the flocking which is both to lift the hard tree away from the back and provide cushioning and to keep the panel clean and unaffected by sweat penetrating the leather of the panel and the flocking within it.
For further information or to arrange a lecture/demonstration please contact Minster Saddlery on 01843 823923. NB. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not represent the opinions of any other person or organisation.