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 higher on the tree and likely will include less of the flare at the base of the trunk, and when measuring extremely large trunk on a slope the upslope side of the girth loop will always be above ground level. Measuring the girth from a reference point at midslope also has advantages. Consider, the tree started as a single sprout and grew upward and outward from that point. This is the point where the pith of the tree would intersect the ground surface supporting the tree. This is the logical base point from which to measure the height of the