THE PHILLIPS PACK SADDLE - MODEL 1924
Part II

SADDLING

To Saddle

Place the woven mohair pad, or the Corona, if the latter is used, upon the animal's back and smooth out all folds.

The saddle is best handled by two men, one on each side, taking hold of the foot-rests and lifting it. The saddle is raised over the croup and placed in rear of its proper position to enable the breeching to be dropped in place. When the breeching has been placed upon the croup, the saddle is raised and moved forward to position, similar to the position of the riding saddle, that is, with the forward edge of pads about four (4) inches in rear of the animal's shoulder blades.

When the saddle is in its proper place upon the animal's back, the bottom bars should be level or inclined slightly downward and forward; never downward and rearward. The conformation of the animal may require a slight shifting of the position of the saddle.

When the saddle is finally positioned, hook the cinching devices to the cinch rings of the saddle. Cinch the front cinch, then the rear cinch. The saddle is cinched principally with the front cinch. The rear cinch should be only sufficiently tight to hold the particular load. Connect the breast collar and straighten out the breeching.

After cinching be sure to see that the saddle is, "centered" right and left; if it inclines to one side, place a forearm on the proper bottom bar and, with the hand of the other arm on the hanger bar, move the saddle to place.

Final adjustment of cinchas is made after, the load is placed upon the saddle, as the weight of load bears down the saddle and this naturally releases the cinch pressure.

To Operate the Cinching Device-To Cinch

If necessary to lengthen the running strap in order to hook the cinching device to the cinch ring, pull downward on the metal square and loosen the running strap. With the cinching device hooked to the cinch ring, take up the slack of the running strap in the same manner as when cinching the McClellan saddle, and when tight, pull the free end of the running strap until the metal square is snug against the buckle. This latter operation positively locks the straps. For neatness, place the free end of the running strap through the square and fold the strap back upon itself.

To Uncinch

If the end of the running strap has been passed through the metal square, remove it. Release the running strap by pressing downward upon the square, keeping the hand close to the animal's belly; with one hand under the lower bar of the cinching device, pull outward which releases the straps; lift the hook off the cinch ring. New straps should be worked back and forth until they operate smoothly.

Adjustment of Cinchas

After the animal is on the road for a few miles its belly draws up and the saddle, under weight of load, settles in place. These two movements usually require a further adjustment of cinchas, generally at the first halt.

At each halt, when practicable, the cinchas should be loosened and afterwards tightened before resuming the march.

At every halt see that the cinchas are properly adjusted before resuming the march. Never cinch with either front or rear cinch any tighter than necessary. Always have the rear cinch looser than the front cinch. Always see that the saddle is "centered" after cinching.

Although a saddle may be correctly designed and placed in its proper position, faulty cinching may cause injuries. An excessively tight rear cinch will invariably cause injuries. Adjustment of cinchas is a simple operation with the cinching device.

To Test the Cinching Device

The settling of the saddle and the contraction of the animal's belly cause a looseness of cinch pressure, without movement of the cinch straps. After the saddle is cinched, draw a pencil line across the running strap under the lower cross bar of the buckle, and if the position of this line moves, the cinch straps have slipped. This cinching device was tested under all service conditions, with straps both wet and oiled and always passed a satisfactory test. The device is especially valuable for rapid adjustment of cinchas during halts. The straps should be kept clean and lightly oiled.

To Unsaddle

Release one side of the breast collar before releasing the cinchas, and throw the collar on the saddle. Release the cinchas by operating the cinching device and throw them over the saddle from the off side. Move the saddle slightly toward the rear to free the breeching. Raise the breeching up over the animal’s croup and place it upon the saddle. With a trooper on each side the saddle is lifted and removed over the croup. Remove the mohair pad, fold it once with the wet side in and place it upon the saddle.

If coronas are used in place of mohair pads, they should always be folded with the wet side in. If the wet canvas of the corona is exposed to the sun in drying, the canvas dries hard and rough.

The Breeching

The breeching issued with the Model 1924 saddle carries a modification of the breeching formerly used. The lower or pulling straps now incline slightly downward from breeching to saddle. This modification insures the breeching remaining in place at all times and, if properly adjusted, prevents the possibility of the breeching pulling the saddle downward over the kidneys.

To Adjust the Breeching

Place the breeching upon the animal's croup so that the croup piece will find a comfortable resting place a few inches above the dock. Attach the hold up straps (top straps attached to saddle) and the lower or "holding" straps to the saddle. The lower straps are then adjusted to allow an easy and free movement of the animal's hind quarters in travel.

The top straps are adjusted to hold the breeching up and in place; they do not hold the saddle in place. These straps should be looser than the holding straps.

The breeching "lead up" straps in rear are adjusted to hold the breeching body horizontal. The metal buckle covers on these straps prevent the mule's tail getting caught in the tongues of the buckles.

While the adjustment of the breeching is very simple it should be care-fully made. A poorly adjusted breeching may cause a saddle to ride out of place and perhaps cause a saddle injury. In no case should the breeching be too tight.

The Breast Collar.

The breast collar has been found useful on animals of poor conformation and also when moving up steep hills or at the gallop. It is adjusted for extension of the animal at the gallop, consequently it is comparatively loose at the walk and trot.

Breaking in the Saddle

The Phillips Saddles are designed to fit all mules and horses that measure up to or approach the specifications prescribed for pack animals, without adjustment of pads. For extremely large animals the pads may be adjusted. There is a tendency in some organizations to use very broad horses for pack purposes; this type of animal is not suitable for pack transportation.

In the handling of a pack saddle it is very important to see that the saddle does not tilt towards the rear. Tilting toward the rear may be caused by: faulty position of the saddle upon the animal's back; excess weight of load on rear of saddle; too tight rear cinch.

Detaching and Attaching Saddle Pads

The Model 1924 saddle is equipped with newly designed features for attaching and detaching saddle pads. The pads of this saddle are equipped with open aluminum pockets at the bottom of the pads and bronze staple fasteners at the top of the pads, in place of key fasteners as used on earlier models. No tools are now required either for attaching or detaching pads.

To Detach the Pads

Press downward upon each brass locking pin in turn, and revolve it to the left until the lug on the pin springs through the keyway in the aluminum pocket. Remove the pin. Take hold of a cinch ring with one hand, and with the other hand near the outer edge of the pad, push the pad away from the frame. Swing the pad to the middle of the arches of the frame and remove it by lifting it off the staple hooks of the frame. (Note: The pad cannot be detached until it is swung to the middle of the arches.)

To Attach the Pads

Turn the saddle frame over on its "back," put the canvas saddle cover in place, leaving room in the four openings of the cover for attaching the pads. Attach the staples of a pad to the staple hooks of the frame by holding the pad near a line through the middle of the arches-away from the bottom bars-and engaging the hooks, lifting upward to secure them. Hold the pad engaged and bring it against the bottom bar. (Note: By holding the pad against the bottom bar the pad cannot become detached.) Repeat for the opposite pad. Turn the saddle "right side up" and smooth out the canvas cover. The cover may easily be smoothed out by swinging the pads toward the center of the frame to release the pressure between pads and the frame. Swing the pads back against the bottom bars and snap the bottom bars Into the pockets of the pads by a gentle pressure of the foot. To complete the fit of bottom bar and pocket, hold one hand against a foot-rest of the pad and press the pad outward with the other hand. Insert the brass locking pins in the holes of the pockets and engage them by pressing down the spring and turning the lug on the pin to the right one quarter turn when it should snap Into place.

Injuries

The report of the six months' test of the Phillips Saddle by the 1st Cavalry Division states: "No tail sore, side sore or bunch occurred on any animal during the entire period of the test." Pack saddle injuries are generally caused by excessive pressure or by friction. Injuries are sometimes caused by defects of design of material and infrequently by improper gaits. A faulty position of the saddle or cinchas too tight, especially a rear cinch, may cause an injury. A very loosely cinched saddle will move about on tile animal and cause the pad to wrinkle and by friction rub the skin. Excess weight on one part of the saddle for several hours may injure the animal.

The withers may be compressed by too much material between the articles, such as two blankets, etc. Hangers that do not properly position or balance the load; a poorly slung load; lumps of hair in the pads or rough canvas coronas may cause injuries.

Rapid gaits, such as the extended trot or gallop, may injure the pack animal as well as the riding animal. The condition of both riding and pack animals will be conserved by regulating gaits on the pack animals. An over extension of gaits can quickly be detected by observing the pack animals.

Bunches

As a "bunch" may occur through excessively tight cinching and as this type of injury generally requires removal of hair, it will be discussed here. A "bunch" is a puffy swelling caused by excessive pressure which interferes with the free circulation of the blood. When it occurs it usually appears about twenty minutes after unsaddling and, unless promptly attended to, it will become hard and finally break into an open sore. As a precautionary measure to prevent bunches as well as to avoid the risk of scalded backs, all loads should be removed from the saddles when the command arrives in camp, cinchas loosened, but saddles left on for twenty or thirty minutes. This measure admits a gradual resumption of normal blood circulation and drying of backs.

When a bunch appears it should promptly be relieved by first working it down by a rotating movement of the palm of the hand, being careful not to break the animal's skin. After rubbing for about twenty minutes apply a cold patch and leave it on over night if necessary. If the swelling disappears It generally is not necessary to remove hair from the pad unless the swelling was caused by a lump in the pad.

Prevention of Injuries

Careful saddling and proper balance of loads are the two most important means of preventing injuries. Loads riding out of balance should be corrected immediately. Never allow a saddle to incline downward toward the rear. Do not wait until the regular halts to correctly position a pack saddle, as an injury may occur during an hour's march that would take a week to heal. No organization Commander would allow a soldier to lounge in his saddle during an hour's marching.

Keep. the hair on the animal's back under the saddle clipped. Long hair curls and knots and these knots frequently are pulled out leaving a sore. The animal's back should be well groomed and free of sand before saddling. The mohair pad should be clean and free of dirt.

Adjustment of Saddle Pads.

The pads of the Phillips Saddle are molded to shape, and hair should not be removed or added unless actually necessary. Hair may be removed to relieve pressure or. to fit an animal of abnormal size or shape; or added to build up a saddle for an animal that has lost flesh In campaign. In either case, the correct shape of the pads should be renewed as the animal regains its normal condition.

Before deciding to adjust the pads determine whether or not the injury may be corrected by other means. An injury likely to become serious generally requires removal of hair from the pad over the injured spot. A minor bruise would ordinarily not require removal of hair; nor would removal of hair be necessary for a swelling which has subsided, unless the swelling was caused by a lump of hair in the pad. It is often possible to relieve pressure. of a pad by tightening a thong instead of removing hair. When an animal has lost flesh in campaign it will generally be necessary to add hair to build up or level up the saddle.

As all adjustments of pads are through the hand-holes on the, outside, the original smooth contact surface may be retained. The leather slips covering the hand-holes may easily be pulled out of place. Any suitable material handy may be used to build up the pads if curled hair is not available, such as hay, grass, pieces of sacks or even paper.,

The exact part of the pad requiring adjustment for an injury may be determined by wetting or marking the injury and then carefully saddling without the mohair pad to transpose the marking to the saddle pad. Or, the saddle pads may be detached from the frame and held in place on the animal's back, where the adjuster may determine the fitting required.

To retain the original shape of the pads as far as practicable when adjustments are made, only the actual number of thongs necessary should be loosened at one time or in one part of the pads. When a thong is untied do not remove it, but tie a loose knot near its ends so as to avoid the necessity of using the awl to replace it. Thongs must be tied tight after adjustments are made. Before attaching pads to the frame after adjustments, place them on the animal for observation of fit. And also observe the fit of the saddle after the pads are attached to the frame.

The awl is used for pulling thongs through the pad. To use It: push the awl through the proper hole in the leather back of the pad, insert the point of a thong through the eye and then pull the awl out, bringing the thong with it. The iron stuffing tool is used for replacing hair. The hair should be loosened before stuffing, and it should be firmly compressed into place, being careful not to push the tool through the contact material of the pad. The hair hook is used for pulling hair out of the pad. It is easy to remove only a small amount of hair with each handling of the hair hook.

A saddle tool kit is issued with each lot of ten saddles, or smaller number of saddles shipped to separate organizations. Each tool kit contains:

1-Awl, for thongs.
1-Hair hook, for pulling hair.
1-Iron stuffing tool, for compressing hair into place.
24-Thongs.

Part I: INTRODUCTION Part III: PACK LOADS