If I had to pick the one discipline that puts the greatest demands and most amount of stress on a saddle, it would probably be endurance/competitive trail riding. Think about it for a minute: you’re going 25 (or 50, or 100) miles up and down hills at all 3 gaits in rain, snow, scorching heat and everything in between. In some distance riding, you must mount from the ground, and once you’re up there, you’ll sit, you’ll post, and you’ll be in a two-point. Your saddle gets wet when you’re pouring water on your horse to cool him/her at a hold. Most folks use a breastplate and many use a crupper to stabilize the saddle, and you have all that gear to carry … and you have all your conditioning rides as well. That adds up to a lot of wear and tear on your saddle. The last thing you want is to have your crupper bar pull out when you’re going down an 11% grade or have a stirrup bar let go when you’re trotting along a steep drop, so you have to be very aware of and very proactive about saddle care and safety.
Probably one of the best ways to accomplish this is to make a habit of wiping your saddle down after every ride – and this is something ALL riders should do, not just the endurance and competitive trail folks. If you take a damp cloth or sponge and run it over your whole saddle – seat, panels, billets, and both sides of the flaps, sweat flaps and jockeys – you’ll not only remove the dirt and sweat that can compromise the leather and shorten the useful life of your saddle, you’ll also have a great opportunity to do a comprehensive safety check.
1) When you wipe under the jockey, grab your stirrup bars and give them a tug. They should be rock-solid, no movement at all. If you feel any give or hear a click, creak, crunch or squeak, have that saddle checked out before you ride again, because it could mean that your stirrup bar isn’t securely attached to the tree. Check your stirrup leathers for cracks, stretched/torn holes or thin spots. And while you’re in that area, grab your breastplate dees and give them a healthy yank, too, even if you don’t use them. They’re attached to something called the falldown staple, and that’s one of the major components that hold your saddle together. Again, you don’t want any give or movement.
2) When you’re wiping your billets, make sure that the stitching that holds them to the girth webbing is intact and tight. Check the webbing itself for signs of weakness or fraying, and give the billets a good pull to make sure they and the webbing are secure. Check the billets themselves for cracks or stretched/torn holes – either indicate that it’s time to have new billets installed. If your saddle has short billets, make sure the buckle guard is in good shape and protecting the underside of your flaps from the girth buckles.
3) When you’re wiping your panels, check them for symmetry and softness. If they’re uneven, or if they’re really flat or really full and hard, it’s an indication that the flocking should be checked.
4) When you’re wiping the seat, check the crupper bar/dee if you use one. There should be no give or movement.
5) Give your dee rings a tug to make sure they’re solid. While a loose dee isn’t always a sign of a safety issue, it would be pretty irritating to find that one had let go and that your water bottle or sponge was somewhere back down the trail.
6) Clean your bit and give your bridle a wipe-down, too, even if you use a synthetic like Zilco or Biothane. Not only does it give you a chance to do a safety check, clean equipment is more comfortable for your horse. The same goes for your breastplate, girth and crupper.
The final thing to be aware of is how the saddle fits you and your horse – that falls under the “safety” heading, too. Comfort is paramount, and a little glitch that might not bother you (or your horse) on an hour’s casual trail ride can turn into a major disaster three or four hours into a competition. If your saddle is wearing the skin off the insides of your knees, you’re not only going to be in a lot of pain, you won’t be aware of possible hazards on the trail or issues your horse may be having. And if the saddle’s causing problems with your horse, s/he won’t be paying attention to the trail and footing, and will be more likely to misbehave.
If you notice any safety issue with your saddle (or any other piece of tack, for that matter), get it taken care of as soon as you can. As with most things, it’s better to address an issue as soon as you notice it, rather than waiting until it breaks to fix it.