When you evaluate the fit of your saddle, be sure that you girth it up and get up and ride. Don’t ever buy a saddle from a dealer who won’t allow you to ride in it, since your weight may change the fit fairly dramatically. This is especially true in saddles built for table-backed horses. When you girth up and get on board, the saddle may lower substantially. In addition, plan for any wool flocked saddle to continue to lower (by about one finger under the pommel) within the first couple of months of riding, as the panels also flatten and conform to the horse’s shape. Don’t bother to buy a saddle that you are not allowed to ride in during a trial period, because you won’t be able to gauge the fit.
Always check saddle fit with no pad on the horse. Veterinarian Marc Holman of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, advises against the use of fluffy pads or too many pads, which he sees frequently. If your saddle fits well, you shouldn’t require more than one dense foam pad; extra pads will actually interfere with the fit of the saddle and create movement, rubbing and possibly soreness and thus the development of white hairs.
What about the length of your saddle? If you have a horse like a Fjord, Haflinger, Icelandic or other small or short coupled horse, should you worry about the saddle being too long? It is true, as some believe, that a saddle shouldn’t extend past the horse’s last rib? Again, Dr. Holman sees no evidence for this concern. The entire length of the saddle does not need to be postioned above the bony structure (rib cage) of the horse. In addition, you should be aware that fleshy horses, such as drafty Fjords or Haflingers, have more protection over their backbones than do skinny Thoroughbred types.
And finally, what about keeping that saddle stable on a rotund equine? Of course, the better your saddle fits, the better it will stay in place. However, on really round horses, it’s not always possible to keep the saddle from sliding or rolling. Both conditions result from the horse’s conformation. Saddles on horses that are shaped like barrels, with no withers, will roll from side to side; the best fix for this problem is girthing tightly. You can try non-slip saddle pads, which we’ve not found to work very well. A breastplate can help with this problem. On horses with no indentation between side and shoulder, or who travel very heavy and low in front, saddles may slide forward towards the neck. A saddle fitter can add a little wool in front, and that will help, but in some cases the only solution is the use of a crupper.
How do you know if your horse’s bad performance or misbehavior is the result of poor saddle fit? Robert Schmidt, DVM in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, has made the following very interesting statistics available. Of all the visits he makes to horses, only 10% involve back pain. Of that 10%, the vast majority of back pain is caused by lower limb problems, such as lameness, hock problems, abrasions and other injuries. The small number of back problems directly attributable to the back are usually the result of kissing spines, itself caused by trauma. It’s important to try to be objective about your horse’s performance, because if you assume the saddle is to blame, you may overlook issues having to do with training, riding or medical problems.
Proper saddle fit is good for the horse, because it avoids discomfort and soreness. It’s also very important for the rider, because only a well fitting saddle will allow the rider to sit correctly and in comfort. Nothing is worse than trying to ride in saddle so poorly balanced that the rider can’t position her legs, deliver the aids correctly or follow the horse’s movement—and even worse, the rider ends up with a sore back, too!
*Nancy Temple is the Owner of Duett Saddles for Wide Horses