the rider to be thrown free should the horse fall. The vast majority of sidesaddles are designed so riders sit with both legs on the near (left) side of the horse, though occasionally a sidesaddle is found that is reversed and allows the rider to sit with their legs to the off (right) side. In spite of having both legs to the side of the horse, properly positioned riders sit on the horse facing forward, with their spine centered in the saddle perpendicular to that of the horse, with weight balanced equally on both buttocks. The seat must be wide enough to accommodate the rider's offside thigh as well as buttocks. A sidesaddle is comparatively flat from front to rear. Many have a small curved pommel and a long, raised cantle on the off side to support the offside thigh and to help riders keep their spine squared on the horse's back. On some designs, the seat of the sidesaddle is angled away from the side on which the legs lie to help the weight of the rider remain centered over the horse's back. The near-side flap is commonly cut forward to keep the rider's right leg and foot from touching the horse's left shoulder. The girthing of an English sidesaddle is usually a three-buckle system, with a usual full-length girth and an additional balancing girth. The stirrup of a sidesaddle is much shorter than in a conventional saddle, so that the rider's knee is placed close to the leaping horn, and it buckles midway down the leather rather than close to the tree. Racing saddle The flat racing saddle is designed to not interfere with a running horse and to be as lightweight as possible (including the stirrup irons). The racing saddle has a very long seat without a dip to it, combined with extremely forward flaps that accommodate the very short stirrups and extreme forward seat used by jockeys. It also has a flat pommel and cantle so nothing interferes with the rider. Flat-racing saddles are built on a half-tree to reduce weight; because the rider spends most of the time up over the horse's withers, there is no need for the protection to the horse's spine that a full tree provides. The stirrups, instead of being looped over stirrup bars, are generally looped directly over the wooden bars of the half tree to prevent the loss of