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 if a tree branches below breast height, that the girth of the largest branch should be measured at breast height ignoring the other branches. However, if a good portion of the trunk volume or cross-sectional area has been split from the total by measuring above a significant branching, then this is not giving a full and fair measure of the trunk's girth. If the pith of the branch does not intersect the pith of the main trunk above ground level, it is not a branch but a separate trunk and this tree should be considered a multi-trunk tree. If the