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 Converting the girth measurement to a diameter will always overstate the cross-sectional area of the trunk, therefore it is best to record the raw girth numbers directly rather than convert them to diameters. The conversion of girth values to approximate diameters can always be done later if needed for other types of analysis. Measuring tree girth directly is a common educational technique allowing students to learn about their local environment in a practical manner. It is often used in the primary setting to introduce topics such as measuring, using numbers and simple calculation. Simple techniques can be used to estimate