The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c10.460

v1.c10.460

**Saddle and bridle:** The equipment for saddle horses, as seen in sculptures, consist generally of a thick large padding kept in its place by a girth, a croupiere, sometimes trellised, and a breast band, and covered over with a housing or saddle cloth of a rich pattern. Nothing like a wooden saddle is anywhere perceptible, [128] and stirrups are also wanting. This is, however, not the case with padded saddles on lions; at Bhuvaneśvara they are invariably provided with well-formed stirrups, and human feet are represented thrust in them. In a piece of sculpture, apparently of an old date, in the Museum of the Asiatic Society, there are distinct delineations of stirrups formed of a ring with a broad, flat foot-rest. They are hung with straps proceeding from under the saddle-cloth or pad. The bridle includes a forehead strap, cheek pieces, gullet, and nose band, all studded with metal bosses. Tassels near the ears are frequently met with. A chamfron, sometimes straight, and sometimes crossed, is also generally added, and a martingale of cloth is not uncommon. The rein is single and plain, never studded as the other parts of the bridle are. It was most probably knotted or sewed on the bit, but in a piece of sculpture in the Museum of the Asiatic Society brought from Bhuvaneśvara, the joint displays a chaste floral ornament, most likely the representation of a metal boss, occupying the place of the buckle. (Woodcut No. 53). A positive buckle in the sense in which the word is now understood I have nowhere met with in ancient Indian sculptures, nor a description of it in Sanskrit literature.