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,
Girth (geometry) also equals the perimeter of the cross section. In some application areas such as shipbuilding this alternative meaning, the perimeter of a cross section, is taken as the definition of girth. Girth is sometimes used by postal services and delivery companies as a basis for pricing. For example, Canada Post requires that an item's length plus girth not exceed a maximum allowed value. For a rectangular box, the girth is 2 * (height + width), i.e. the perimeter of a projection or cross section perpendicular to its length. Girth (geometry) In three-dimensional geometry, the girth of a geometric object, in