WHAT TYPE OF SADDLE DO YOU NEED?

People come in various shapes and sizes and so do saddles. It's not surprising then, that not every saddle fits every rider. To make things more complicated, every horse has a different shape—from the high withered Thoroughbred to the round Thelwell-type pony with mutton withers. Add to that the requirements of different riding disciplines—long-distance riding to dressage work in an arena—as well as the rider’s personal preferences, and you can see that evaluating a saddle can be difficult and confusing. What are the most important considerations in choosing a saddle?

Balance

Any saddle must meet one very basic criteria in order to function as a useful tool for riding: it must be correctly balanced. This is especially true of the dressage saddle, owing to the refinement of weight and leg aids. This first drawing is an illustration we're all familiar with. In order to allow the rider to sit in a balanced position; with half of the upper body mass on either side of the vertical line bisecting shoulder, hip and heel; the stirrup bar of the saddle must be correctly placed. The stirrup leathers should hang vertically and approximately 6" or 7" forward of the deepest part of the seat. This corresponds roughly to the measurement from the ball of the foot to the heel. The relationship of these two measurements is obvious. If the deepest part of the saddle falls more than about 7" back from the stirrup bar, the rider is encouraged to carry his leg too far forward and automatically adopts the chair seat. Conversely, a stirrup bar placed too far rearward causes the rider to sit on the crotch. We'll talk more about balance when we discuss fitting the horse.

How can you be sure the saddle fits the horse?

While there are many subtleties of saddle fit you can always be sure you’re on the right track when the previously mentioned balance is present. Different brands and models of saddles may look quite different from each other when correctly fitted. Consequently, if you try to fit all saddles by applying certain rules that you've doubtless read in the myriads of saddle fit articles published in recent years, such as, cantle should be X inches higher than the pommel or, you should have X fingers’ clearance at the pommel - it becomes very confusing. Some saddles are designed to fit with the cantle substantially higher than the pommel (2" or even more) while others are designed to be nearly level, front to back. No saddle is designed to sit lower in the cantle than the pommel, though some specialized saddles for gaited horses do have flat cantles. Horses with a low back conformation will sometimes be correctly fitted when the cantle (of a typical saddle) does indeed sit lower than the pommel.

First things first - you must ascertain exactly where on the horse's body the saddle should sit. Horses having a lot of Thoroughbred blood are rarely difficult to decide where the saddle should sit - they have a pronounced indentation right behind the shoulder blade and if you try to place the saddle anywhere else it will quickly find its way to this "sweet spot." Unfortunately, many Warmbloods as well as other breeds such as Arabians and Morgans, frequently lack this clearly defined area. The saddle should be placed close behind the horse's scapula - not on top of it. To determine where the scapula is located, have someone lead your horse for you while you walk beside him with your hand on the shoulder blade. As he moves it will rotate about its axis and allow you to visualize its location. Place your saddle just behind the scapula and girth it sufficiently to hold it securely in place. Note: this saddle placement is recommended for the “ideal” horse, but yours may differ.

Keeping the rule of balance uppermost in your mind, stand to the side of your horse and draw an imaginary line through the center of the stirrup bar, perpendicular to the ground. Draw a second imaginary line through the deepest part of the seat, again perpendicular to the ground. As mentioned before, the deepest part of the seat should be approximately 6-7" back from the center of the stirrup bar. Most important, the deepest portion of the seat should be level and parallel to the ground.

The illustration on the left shows a saddle that is too narrow for the horse and consequently sits with the deepest part of the seat too far back from the stirrup bar. The illustration on the right shows a saddle that is too wide and has the deepest part of the seat too close to the stirrup bar. The former will place your legs too far to the front while the latter will tend to tip you onto your crotch.

 

The best gauge of a saddle’s fit is its balance, as described above. Imagine that a marble is placed in the deepest part of the seat, after the saddle is placed on the horse and girthed up—ideally, it should not roll back towards the cantle (saddle’s too narrow) or forward towards the pommel (saddle’s too wide.)

Bridging

"Bridging" is the result of a panel that is not contoured to fit the shape of the horse's back. When a saddle makes contact in the front and the back of the panels, but not in the middle, this is “bridging.” A wool-flocked panel will be able to be adjusted by a saddle fitter so that there is even contact, along the length of the panels, with the horse’s back.

Reflocking

When your saddle requires reflocking, be sure to chose a qualified craftsman for the job. A poorly reflocked panel will have lumps that will cause uneven pressure and discomfort for your horse.