Horses in warfare of today's English saddle. Both the Scythians and Assyrians used pads with added felt attached with a surcingle or girth around the horse's barrel for increased security and comfort. Xenophon mentioned the use of a padded cloth on cavalry mounts as early as the 4th century BC. The saddle with a solid framework, or "tree", provided a bearing surface to protect the horse from the weight of the rider, but was not widespread until the 2nd century AD. However, it made a critical difference, as horses could carry more weight when distributed across a solid saddle tree. A solid tree,
Tree girth measurement known to approximate the measurements: 1) distance of the camera from the tree, 2) distance from the camera to the scale, and 3) size of the object to be used as a scale. An Excel spreadsheet can be used to determine the rate the apparent size of the scale changes with distance, and that value can be used to calculate the diameter of the tree given that the tree is circular in cross section and the distance to the front side of the tree is known. Girth then is calculated by multiplying the diameter by pi. The method may be