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Saddle Fit

5 Ways Your Seat Can Screw Up Your Horse Without You Even Noticing

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In this Guest Post, the UK’s ‘Classical Seat’ trainer Heather Moffett looks at how the rider’s seat can make movement harder for the horse. It’s something that saddle fitters know about, but it’s often the last thing riders think of: the riding position as much as the saddle fit affects their horse’s back and movement. 

Heather Moffett has over 40 years’ instruction experience. Chiefly following the French school of classical equitation, which focuses on dressage as an art form rather than competition, she is best known as an authority on the Classical Seat. Recently, she launched The Online Riding School, a library of videos suitable for everyone from complete beginners to advanced riders – visit now to benefit from the introductory offers.

 

We all keep hearing about ‘connection’.  It’s a current buzzword and usually means connecting with your horse on the ground, either through loose or in-hand work.

Many riders assume this will enable them to achieve the same connection once mounted.

There is nothing wrong with that. However, they often then wonder why they lose that connection – sometimes literally, complete with the saddle(!) – once they start riding. The fact is that they are, in ignorant bliss, impeding the horse!

 

The Disconnected Seat

If the rider is out of sync with the horse’s movement, the flow and harmony will always be disrupted as the horse struggles to balance the rider as well as himself.

Or, he endures the discomfort of a rider sitting like a lump of lead, driving with the seat against his sensitive back, or bouncing stiffly in the saddle.

The horse has only one way to show his discomfort or pain, as he is mute, and that is by behaviour that is then construed as ‘misbehaviour’.

I often ask riders who kick and hit their horses if they would do the same to their dog. The dog is able to cry out in pain. The horse cannot, and it is his muteness, throughout history, that has led to his downfall and still does to this day.

 

What Gets My Goat is This

I’ve been a specialist trainer/teacher of the Classical seat for 46 years. In that time, there has been little interest in increasing knowledge of the seat and refinement of the aids.

So many teachers and trainers say that it is necessary to ignore imperfections in the seat until “the horse is going well”. Then they wonder why the horse never progresses, or why force must be resorted to, in order to make the horse submit!

Yes, there is that word submit (or submission) that’s a requirement in a dressage test.

My own teachers soon found that it worked far better to encourage my cooperation in school rather than forcing me into submission! And a horse is no different.

I would like to see the word submission in tests replaced with willing cooperation.

How different would the expression be on many a horse’s face, if he were trained as a partner, and not as an adversary?

So, are you screwing up your horse with your seat, without even noticing? Here are the 5 top points I’d like you to think about.

 

1. Saddle Fit Woes (Yes, Again)

Poor saddle fit can cause the seat to tip back.

No surprises for this one. Saddle fit is probably the most obvious thing that needs to be right, but many saddles are a long way from perfect. That’s true even in my home of the UK, where saddles are most often professionally fitted.

But, what amazes me is the number of saddles I see with clients coming to me for lessons that have faults that make it damn near impossible for the rider to sit either straight or in balance!

Here are the worst offenders.

The saddle is too narrow. This is still one of the most common faults – it pinches the horse and tips the rider’s pelvis backward, aiding a chair seat rather than the ear/shoulder/hip/heel line which is the only position of balance.

Try walking with your butt stuck out behind you and knees up, as though sitting on a chair! It’s hard enough to even remain upright! Your weight will be over the cantle region, making it difficult for the horse to lift and round his back, and causing him to go hollow.

Stirrup bars are, almost without exception, even on many dressage saddles, too far forwards. This is why the rider is constantly being nagged by instructors to “get that lower leg back”!

I do wonder why instructors and even top dressage trainers, never seem to notice that all of their students are not anatomically challenged and there might just be something wrong with the saddle design and balance!! (Don’t get me started!!)


2. An Insecure Seat Sucks (for Both Horse and Rider)

7yo Oldenburg x Irish Sport Horse. 1st day to 2nd day of HM course.

Here’s what I mean by insecure. Riders are not taught to absorb and sync with the horse’s movement.

We hear:

“Sit deeper!”

“Relax your back!”

“Go with the movement!”

“Follow the horse’s movement!”

Well, usually if you are following something you are behind it!

Is it any wonder beginners are confused and often never learn to move in sync with the horse?

If this describes you, fear not. I have had riders here on my horse movement simulator workshops who’ve been riding 10, 20 or more years, and still they have never learned to move in sync with the horse.

 

3. Saddle Seat Glue Hasn’t Been Invented Yet

Gripping the saddle blocks movement.

If you’re bouncing around, or driving with both seat bones to achieve some adhesion to the saddle, or sitting on your back pockets and collapsing the rib cage, you will be making your horse’s life more difficult.

It is so NOT rocket science to learn this!

But until teachers are trained to teach it, the situation will not improve!!

And it is not just novice riders who block their horse through incorrect adhesion to the saddle.

Look at the nodding head, flailing legs (usually with spurs attached) riders to be seen even in the Grand Prix dressage arena…


4. Horses Have the Low Down on Our Weight Issues…

How many times do you hear it said that a horse can feel a fly land on his back? So how much more can he feel his rider, whether good or bad?

For me, my aim – both as a rider myself and also as a trainer – is to be as little burden on the back of my horse as possible.

The horse copes with the crooked rider. Day 1 of HM course.

I aim to do this by sitting lightly, but deeply, in sync with his movement.

If the rider is crooked, possibly due to a problem with the saddle, or is asymmetric due to their own physical problem, the horse suffers.

He has to cope with this and compensate, usually by going crookedly himself.

And there’s more. The use of the rider’s body as a primary aid, is so rarely taught. Yet when utilised, it is the most invisible aid of all. Combined with the seat bones moving in sync with the horse’s back, it is the secret to an elegant harmonious seat, that appears to be doing nothing.

That’s when the horse and rider glide through all the movements as though they are one being – like a Centaur.

 

5. ‘Feel’ Begins in your Backside (I Mean It!)

Hanoverian X. 1st and 2nd day of HM course.

‘Connection’ means being able to feel, and not just when working from the ground. We all have nerve endings in our backsides – if you are taught what to feel and how to feel, it is within the grasp of any rider, even beginners.

And ‘aid’ really means ‘help’. If you learn to use aids that make biomechanical sense to the horse, they do become truly invisible as the horse becomes more and more sensitive with correct training.

BUT, if the horse hasn’t been schooled to respond to specific aids, then is it any wonder he is confused and ‘misbehaves’? It’s a bit like us lazy Brits here, shouting at foreigners in the hope they will understand English then getting annoyed when they don’t!

Your seat can genuinely aid (help) your horse. This happens when you’re taught not only the hand and leg aids, but also:

  • the weight aids for turning,
  • the seat aid for collecting and for downward transitions,
  • the precise positioning of the torso in lateral work and circles/ bends, etc.

At this point, riding becomes a whole language, which almost all horses quickly understand. Why? Because it is working with, not against, their own body.

Moving in sync with the horse allows the rider to learn ‘feel’, that term that often seems to imply that only a favoured few have the ability to learn it.

Rubbish!

 

So, in closing, if you wish to have true connection with your horse, you need to:

a) Absolutely not screw up either his back or his brain,

b) Learn to ride to the best of your ability, and

c) Treat your horse as a partner and friend, and not as a tool merely to win the next rosette.

If winning happens as a by-product of good riding, even better, but if your horse is not progressing, look to your own riding and equipment before you blame your horse. Get these 5 points sorted and you’ll be well on your way to true connection with your horse!


 

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Meet Spinalis, the Forgotten Muscle in Saddle Fitting

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Spinalis Header

It’s barely mentioned in saddle fit or anatomy books, yet the muscle Spinalis cervicis can hugely impact on the spinal health and movement of the horse, particularly with poor tack fit.

Meet muscle Spinalis cervicis et thoracis, a far more important muscle than is generally realized. As a deep muscle, it’s influential in mobilizing and stabilizing that hidden area of the spine at the base of the neck, the cervico-thoracic junction, deep between the scapulae.

 

Where to Find this Muscle

As part of the deeper musculature, Spinalis is as hidden in books as it is in life. Usually, it’s a single entry in the index.

Spinalis StandardAt best, it has no more than a bit part in anatomical illustrations,  usually as a small triangular area at the base of the withers. This is also where we can palpate it.

The reality is quite a bit more interesting. It’s actually a muscle of three parts – dorsalis, thoracis and cervicis. These names denote its many insertions, for it links the spinous processes of the lumbar, thoracic and cervical vertebrae.

  • Bradley_2.1Further back along the spine, it lies medially to Longissimus dorsi, and in fact integrates with this larger, better known muscle, attaching to the processes of the lumbar and thoracic vertebrae.
  • When it reaches the withers, it becomes more independent, attaching to the processes of the first half dozen thoracic vertebrae (T1-T6). Here, the cervical and thoracic portions overlap and integrate to share a common attachment. (The part we palpate, at the base of the withers, is the thoracic section.)
  • Heading into the neck, as Spinalis cervicis, it attches to the last 4 or 5 cervical vertebrae (C3/C4-C7). Only the lamellar portion of the nuchal ligament runs deeper than this muscle.

Dissection 2Its integration with other muscles is complex, and its close relationship with Longissimus dorsi partially explains why it doesn’t get much consideration as a muscle in its own right.

It is the more independent section, Spinalis cervicis, between withers and neck, that we are interested in, although its influence is present along the entire spine.

© All text copyright of the author, Jane Clothier, https://thehorsesback.com. 

What Does Spinalis Do? 

In his 1980s’ Guide to Lameness videos, Dr. James Rooney, first director of the Gluck Equine Research Center, University of Kentucky, referred to Spinalis as part of the suspension bridge of muscles supporting the spine (Longissimus dorsi achoring from the lumbosacral vertebrae, Spinalis thoracis et dorsalis from the upper thoracics). He also refers to this extensively in The Lame Horse (1988).

In fact, the suspension bridge analogy only really makes sense if Spinalis dorsi is considered.

Spinalis cervicis is usually credited with a role in turning the head to left to right, and raising the head.

Bradley Spinalis-1Older texts, such as Bradley’s 1922 veterinary dissection guide, Topographical Anatomy of the Horse, mention its role in stabilizing the spine.

This creates a point of interest. Given that the nuchal ligament (lamellar portion) doesn’t attach to C6 and frequently only weakly with C5 (see the findings of anatomist Sharon May-Davis, in this earlier article ), Spinalis cervicis suddenly appears pretty important in stabilizing and lifting the base of the neck, particularly as it does so at the point of greatest lateral bending.

 

Spinalis and Poor Saddle Fit

Anyone who has been involved in close examination of the horse’s back will recognize Spinalis thoracis where it surfaces close to the skin, on either side of the withers.

When a horse has been ridden in an overly tight saddle, this small area of muscle can become pretty hypertrophic – raised and hardened. Typically, the neighbouring muscles are atrophied. When Spinalis is palpated, the horse often gives an intense pain response, flinching down and raising the head.

GerdHeuschmanWhat often happens is this. An overtight saddle fits over the base of the withers like a clothes peg, pinching Trapezius thoracis and  Longissimus dorsi. However, it frequently misses Spinalis thoracis where it surfaces, wholly or partially within the gullet space. Often, the muscle is partially affected.

It’s as if the neighbouring muscles are under lockdown. Free movement of the shoulder is restricted and the horse’s ability to bear weight efficiently while moving is impeded. In response to the surrounding restriction and its own limitation, this muscle starts to overwork.

Result? The horse, which was probably already moving with an incorrect posture, hollows its back even further, shortening the neck and raising its head.  As this becomes even more of a biomechanical necessity, all the muscles work even harder to maintain this ability to move, despite the compromised biomechanics.

Working harder and compensating for its neighbours, Spinalis becomes hypertrophic. It is doing what it was designed to do, but it’s now overdoing it and failing to release. We now have a rather nasty vicious circle.

 

Spinalis photo

Here, Spinalis thoracis stands out due to atrophy of the surrounding musculature. In this TB, a clearly audible adjustment occurred in the C4-C5 area after the muscle was addressed. 

 

 

Vicious CircleThe Inverted Posture and Asymmetry

Of course, saddle fit is not the only cause of an inverted posture. However, any horse that holds its head and neck high for natural or unnatural reasons is more vulnerable to saddle fit issues, thus starting a cascade effect of problems.

Are there further effects of this hypertrophy? Consider the connections.

  • When saddles are too tight, they’re often tighter on one side than the other. This can be due to existing asymmetry in the horse, such as uneven shoulders, uneven hindquarters, scoliosis, etc.
  • On the side with greater restriction, the muscle becomes more more hypertrophic.
  • With its attachment to the spinous processes of the lower cervical vertebrae, there is an unequal muscular tension affecting the spine.
  • Without inherent stability, the neck and head are constantly being pulled more to one side than the other, with the lower curve of the spine also affected.
  • Base of neck asymmetry affects the rest of the spine in both directions and compromises the horses ability to work with straightness or elevation.
  • There is also asymmetric loading into the forefeet.
  • We haven’t even started looking at neurological effects…

This isn’t speculation. I have seen this pattern in horses I’ve worked on, many times over.

 

So, How Do We Help?

In working with saddle fit problems, the saddle refit may be enough to help the horse, if the riding is appropriate to restoring correct carriage and movement. Obviously, the horse’s musculoskeletal system is complex and no muscle can be considered in isolation. As other muscles are addressed through therapeutic training approaches, with correct lateral and vertical flexion achieved, M. spinalis will be lengthened along with the surrounding musculature.

I hold with a restorative approach:

  1. Refit the saddle, preferably with the help of a trained professional,
  2. Remedial bodywork, to support recovery from the physical damage,
  3. Rest the horse, to enable healing of damaged tissue and lowering of inflammation, and
  4. Rehabilitate the horse, through the appropriate correct training that elevates the upper thoracics while improving lateral mobility.

This is particularly important where saddle fit has been a major contributor to the problem. I have frequently found that in these cases,correction will take longer to achieve, as the debilitating effects of poor saddle fit (especially long-standing issues) can long outlast the change to a new, better-fitting saddle. In bodywork terms, the hypertrophic M. spinalis cervicis is often the last affected muscle to let go.

It’s as if Spinalis cervicis is the emergency worker who will not leave until everyone else is safe.

 

Bodywork Notes

I am fortunate, in that my modalities enable the gentle release of joints through a non-invasive, neuromuscular approach.  The responses I’ve had from horses when M. spinalis cervicis et thoracis has been addressed in isolation have been hugely informative.

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Appendix: Spinalis in the Textbooks

I’m going to add Spinalis references to this post on a regular basis, as I come across them. It’s interesting to see how much, or how little, the muscle is referenced in various textbooks.

 

Equine Back Pathology

This image, from Equine Back Pathology, ed. F Henson 2009, shows acute atrophy of Longissimus dorsi due to neurological damage. It’s still possible to see the raised attachment/origin of Spinalis cervicis et thoracis – the highlighting is mine. Spinalis does not appear in the book’s index. (added 23 Dec 2016)

 

nuchal and spinousI have also altered this image, in order to show M. spinalis cervicis more clearly. This is Fig 2.16 from Colour Atlas of Veterinary Anatomy Vol 2, The Horse, R Ashdown and S Done. Spinalis cervicis is within the bounded area and it’s possible to see how it overlies the lamellar part of the nuchal ligament, lamellar portion. (added 23 Dec 2016)

 

S&GThe muscle is tinted green in this image from Sisson and Grossman’s The Anatomy of Domestic Animals, Volume 1, fifth edition 1975.  Here, it is labelled Spinalis et semi-spinalis cervicis. This anatomical figure is credited to an earlier text, Ellenberger and Baum, 1908. (added 23 Dec 2016)

 

 

James Roony dedicates two pages to the ‘suspension bridge’ theory of the vertebral column in The Lame Horse (1988). His interest is in Spinalis dorsii section of the muscle and its effect behind the withers, in conjunction with  Longissimus dorsii. (added 4 Jan 2017)

 

 

 

Schleese diagramMaster Saddler Jochen Schleese refers to Spinalis dorsi and its function in stabilizing the withers in Suffering in Silence, his passionate book about saddle fitting from 2014. “This muscle area is especially prone to significant development – especially with jumpers – because it is continually contracted to accommodate the shock of landing”. The surface area of the muscle is indicated in the anatomical figure, reproduced here. (added 23 Dec 2016)

 

In his seminal text addressing issues of modern dressage training, Tug of War, 2007, Gerd Heuschmann includes Spinalis cervicis in the triangle formed by the rear of the rear of the cervical spine, the withers, and the shoulder blades, “… an extensive connection between the head-neck axis and the truck… it explains how the position and length of the horse’s neck directly affects the biomechanics of the back.” (added 31 Dec 2016)

 

Debunked: The Lie That’s Told About Adjustable Gullet Saddles

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adjustable-header-2

One of the best innovations in the world of saddle making has been the interchangeable gullet plate in the synthetic saddle tree. I mean, there’s no getting away from it, it’s brilliant. With the removal of a few screws, every horse owner can adjust their own saddle in minutes. Easy.

saddleWhy so good? Well, they can be fitted to a lot of horses. They can accommodate the changing shape of a growing young horse, as well as seasonal weight gain and loss, or the development of back muscle through training.

So what’s my problem with them?

Unfortunately, such saddles are often accompanied by extra inventions,
this time originating in the marketing department.

Before I go on, I must declare an interest here. I fit saddles. What’s more, I fit saddles with interchangeable gullet plates. I’m not going to say which brand, because that’s not what this post is about. I say this simply to demonstrate that I’m not against adjustable saddles.

My problem is very much with the misleading statements that are made in order to sell them, and in particular the notion that these saddles can be adjusted to fit any horse. Not just a single weight-changing or shape-changing horse, or a few horses in the same yard, but any horse.

They can’t. It’s not true. They simply can’t.

 

Back to the horse’s back

XchangeLet there be no doubt that many horses experience a lot of pain from ill-fitting saddles that are too tight, or too wide, at the front of the tree. Most people are familiar with the sight of horses with white hair behind the shoulder blade, and areas of mild to profound muscle wastage.

The so-called wither profile is incredibly important for this reason. Gaining a correct fit across the gullet (and I mean gullet in the Australian sense – referring to the front of the saddle tree only, rather than the entire channel) is a highly important aspect of saddle fitting.

Yet it isn’t the only aspect. Astonishing as it may seem, horses are 3-dimensional organic structures. Yes! And they have many profiles in that area where the saddle sits.

S/W Ver: 96.66.76RThink about horses’ backs. The gullet plate matches the profile across the withers. But what about the profile along the withers, as well? Withers have different heights and lengths…

There are other profiles, too. There’s along the spine. There’s across the back at the rear of the saddle area, close to the last ribs. All of these profiles have both lengths and angles.

This is one of the reasons why many experts in the world of saddle making and fitting refer to the 9 points of saddle fitting. Several of these points involve the length and angle of the profiles I’ve just mentioned.

genesisGoing back a few years, the common view was that there are 5 points. Times have moved on, anatomy and biomechanics are better understood, and saddle design has evolved dramatically to reflect more recent ideas about how a saddle should interact with the horse’s body and movement, as well as the rider’s. And yet…

Fitting saddles isn’t like buying a pair of socks

Going by a single measurement might be OK for some things, but it isn’t for saddles. There’s more than one measurement involved, and I’m not just talking about the rider’s seat size. Think again about horses’ backs.

  • We have high withers, middling withers and rangy tabletops. High withers can extend way back into the area of the saddle.
  • Looking along the spine, we can see dippy backs, straight backs and bumpy backs.
  • Looking across the spine, we can spot angular A-frame backs and smooth, flat and pudgy backs.
  • It’s easy to spot uphill and downhill backs.
  • Not to mention short backs and long backs (or, to be more accurate with saddle fitting, rib cages).
  • And spines may have wide spinal processes or narrow ones.
  • And how about round rib cages that spring out nearer the spine, or narrow, flat-sided rib cages that drop sharply away, and everything in between?
  • This is before we even look at damaged backs, uneven shoulders, laterally curved spines, and all manner of physical issues affecting the horse, rider and the saddle in between.

Horses have a combination of these features. Many horses have one or two that can make saddle fitting a bit tricky.  Some have combinations that make saddle fitting an utter nightmare.

The saddle’s tree must reflect all those variations. It’s what makes saddle fitting such an interesting challenge, and occasionally a very hard one.

 

More on this Topic

Exclusive posts on Saddle Fit are available on The Horse’s Back Patreon, including The Deep, Deep Pain Caused by a Poor Saddle Fit and The Princess and the Pea… or, the Saddle and the Ding in the Back. Join today and have access to 25 archive posts straight away. Membership from US$ 7.50 per month.

But what about adjusting the flocking?

images6

Well, what about it? Adjusting flocking is the saddle fit version of fine-tuning. It is not changing the overall fit of the saddle.

Adjusting the flocking when the tree is the wrong shape is like (ahem) whistling in the wind.

It’s like adding an extra hole to your belt in an attempt to make a pair of jeans fit, despite the fact that the waist is a size too narrow and the legs 6  inches too short.

Adjusting the flocking only works when the tree is already a fundamentally good fit. The same goes for any flocking substitute, such as risers or wedges inserted into the panels. It is not enough to make a saddle fit the horse, when the tree is the wrong shape.

The message is being massaged

screwdriver

Adjustable gullet plates are now free of the original designer’s patent restrictions and a number of companies are now using them.

As already said, that’s great, providing the saddles are fitted well.

And who determines that? It can be hard to be sure when certain departments continue to make this ongoing, inaccurate claim about their brand of saddles being adjustable to all horses.

It’s marketing at its worst. It’s not just misleading, it’s plain untrue. Worse, it’s willful mis-education that leads horse owners into the mistaken belief that because they have the right gullet plate, then their saddle fits and their horse can’t possibly be in any pain. 

It bugs me that people are being misled. It bugs me far more that horses end up being the silent incumbents of a problem with so much potential to lead to back pain. (And I have worked with the results first-hand.)

As I said earlier, when the saddle fits, FANTASTIC. In fact, FANTASTIC with bells on.

And when it doesn’t, it’s the horse who suffers, no matter how many professionals are saying that black is in fact white, and that with the right ‘system’, an adjustable saddle can be made to fit any horse.

It can’t.

June 2019 update: 5 years after publishing this article, I received the following message from the Ruiz Diaz company in Argentina:

“I am part of the team producing Pessoa, PDS and Anky saddles. I just want to let you know that we have been working on our saddles for better fitting on the rest of the body and not only the withers. Thanks for your article once again, it was really nice to read your words and realize that with a wrong concept we have been saying that the x-change system was fitting every horse but there is much more apart the horse withers.”

 

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10 Ways to Seriously Mess Up When Buying a New Saddle

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Not long ago, I was having a think about the reasons that people buy saddles that so obviously don’t fit their horses. This is a regular spell of head-scratching that occurs when I’ve worked on a few horses with back and postural issues stemming from saddle misfit.

Now, in my view, a saddle fit session is a pretty critical part of buying a saddle.

It goes without saying, surely, that there’s a living, breathing horse out there in the paddock or stable and that the new saddle needs to fit onto his back – and that this suitability really does need to be established before the saddle is purchased.

Yet, many people still buy a saddle and only afterwards try to establish whether it will fit their horse or not.

It’s all a bit of a gamble – not only with their money, but with their horses’ comfort and back health.

All text (c) Jane Clothier, https://thehorsesback.com No reproduction without permission. Thanks!

What on earth is going on here?

Good question. Either people are genuinely unaware of the reasons for fitting saddles, or they do know but are marching to a different, louder drumbeat when they go shopping.

To make more sense of this, I decided to apply the psychology of consumer buying behavior. At the simplest level, there are five stages involved in a purchase:

  1. Need recognition (we feel the need for a new saddle),
  2. Product research (we learn what’s out there),
  3. Evaluation (we consider everything learned through our research),
  4. Purchase decision (we carefully select the most suitable saddle), and
  5. Post-purchase behavior (we react positively or negatively to our choice).

english-saddlesWell, how tidy is that? Too tidy, maybe. The problem is that we all behave erratically when shopping, being influenced by our  personal biases.

These are preferences, beliefs and thought processes that hold up our personal view of the world – and our illusions. Biased behavior includes:

  • Cherry-picking information by being selective over what we see, hear and read,
  • Yielding to peer pressure,
  • Favoring someone’s viewpoint because we like them (whether we know them or not – take celebrity endorsement),
  • Supporting our self-image (actually how we think other people see us),and
  • Being totally inconsistent in our behavior, just because we do that.

We’re none of us exempt from this. Being emotionally charged, biases are very motivating.

What happens is that they can leapfrog us from need recognition straight to purchase decision, making us ignore the research and evaluation findings or leave them out altogether. (And this forms the basis of every advert you’re ever likely to look at.)

10 Emotional Saddle-buying Decisions

Here are 10 ways that you can succumb to biases that skew your saddle purchase decisions.

"I could be that good too...where's my credit card?"
“I could be that good too…where’s my credit card?”

1. Your instructor or trainer uses that saddle

Whoah… this could cause some shouting, but instructors, trainers and clinicians don’t always know all there is to know about saddle fit, even though they know HUGE amounts about riding and training.

No offence meant, honestly, but some riding instructors give their students terrible advice about saddles. They say one fits, when it doesn’t. Horse owners just follow this well-meant advice, because they really believe in and admire their instructor.

Some trainers and clinicians even use a favorite saddle on all their own and their clients’ horses. It suits the rider, so… Some of these cause damage and the clients often don’t realise until someone else points it out at a later date.

(There’s a variation on this one, too: attend clinic or do course, then buy saddle. No further comment.)

2. Your knowledgeable friend owns that saddle

A lot of horse-related knowledge is passed between friends. When it’s good, it’s good, but when it’s bad, it can be very bad.

No matter how much you like your friend, there’s a high chance that their physique and their horse’s is likely to be different to yours. And your friend will very likely ride differently too. These three points are frequently overlooked.

Saddler who learned from his father, who learned from... Photo (c)Nicola Valley Museum
Saddler who learned from his father, who learned from… Photo (c)Nicola Valley Museum

3. There’s a local saddle maker in town who makes that saddle

He lives close by and tells the local horse community all about what he does and what he makes. He’s knowledgeable, he loves his work and, dang it, he’s such a nice guy.

It’s possible, just possible, that he may know more about producing beautiful hand-crafted saddles than equine anatomy and biomechanics, having learned more from his father and other craftsmen than from modern schools of equine thought.

And, obvious as it sounds, there’s a difference between a saddle-maker and a saddle-fitter, although there are definitely plenty of saddle-makers who are also great saddle-fitters.

But at small town level it can, and does, go either way. (You can probably tell I’m trying not to offend anyone here.)

Can the buyer tell the difference? Frequently not, as so many people buy an expensive, custom-made saddle that doesn’t fit, but which can’t then be returned. (If this isn’t the case with your locally made saddle, then brilliant – I’m genuinely pleased for you.)

A famous rider's name doesn't doesn't make this saddle fit
A famous rider’s name is on the saddle, but it still doesn’t fit

4. That saddle is named after a famous rider

There are many saddles out there named after a top-of-their-game rider – it’s celebrity endorsement with bells on.

It’s a funny thing how what works for them makes that style of saddle suitable for hundreds of thousands of other riders and their horses, of all shapes and sizes.

And the buyer’s riding will improve to an unfathomable degree… won’t it?

Aspirational shopping aside, some of these saddles are amazingly good, but (no naming names now) not all of them are. This is particularly true if they’re occupying what we can call the ‘value end’ of the market.

This saddle fits all arabians - and is a bargain too
This saddle fits all arabians – and look, it’s a bargain too!

5. Your friend with the same breed of horse as you has that saddle

Some people constantly draw parallels between their own horse and that of a friend or acquaintance who has a horse of the same breed.

The prospective saddle buyer sees which saddle their friend has and decides it must be good for their horse too.

This is so much the stronger if the owner is much admired or is winning in competition with that saddle.

Yes, breeds obviously have prevalent conformational traits. But it’s not a given, as horses – and their riders – can be very individual.

Images of dream-like perfection
Images of dream-like perfection…

6. You’ve seen a stunning photo of that saddle in a magazine

And it really was beautiful. The horse was beautiful, the saddle was beautiful, and the rider was stunningly beautiful. An image of dreamlike perfection… in an advert. It always works, doesn’t it?

We’ll all look just like the stunner in the paradise-like photo once you buy the saddle.

No, I don’t think so either.

7. A Facebook regular recommends that saddle

We all know them and recognize them: the person who is very vocal on Facebook, being big in their own lunchtime with strongly held opinions. A queen bee, they hold forth at the center of a community of regulars who mutually reinforce one anothers views.

To the less informed reader, this verbiage may sound like unassailable fact. So when the queen bee says a certain saddle is the best and how it’s right for certain horses, her view may be perceived as being expert opinion.

(Hey, she may indeed be right, but not above and beyond someone who is standing look and assessing fit on actual, living horse – with a rider on board.)

Big brand saddle - but the design has had its day
Big brand saddle – but the design has had its day

8. When you were a kid, everyone craved that saddle

Times change, the knowledge-base grows and designs evolve. The industry moves on (although some companies don’t) and what was great back then may not be so now.

Brand names rely on consumer loyalty, but over long periods of time your loyalty may be misplaced. Formerly great brands may now be merely good, which is OK if the price reflects that change, but…

Have you noticed that people will buy used, 25-year-old spine-pinchers just because they were made by that company?

9. Your horse went better when you tried out that saddle

What? Surely this one’s a no-brainer? You’ve borrowed a saddle and your horse went better in it than in your old saddle, which was causing problems – that means the borrowed saddle is a good fit, doesn’t it?

Nope. It’s a sure-fire indicator that your horse is showing relief at not experiencing the same old pokes and pressure points when ridden, because at last somebody has taken the offending piece of leatherwork off his or her back.

What we aren’t seeing at this stage are the new problems that may emerge from this replacement saddle that may not fit, but in a different way.

It’s like repetitive strain injury – it can take time for signs of problems to become visible (although in endurance riding, problems can show up within a single day’s ride.)

10. You’ve never seen a better price attached to that saddle

In an online world, we’ve never been more able to shop around for that super-bargain.

And when we find it, it’s all so much easier to ignore any possible shortcomings. This is even more so when time pressure is involved, for instance in an online auction.

Try to bring in reason over emotion

Oh I know, it’s hard to do. We’re never going to escape the emotional side of shopping, particularly with new – or new to us – saddles.

The bigger the purchase, the more rewarding it’s likely to be.

Yet that’s all about us. Our horses are happily unaware of the thrill of shopping. To the horse, a saddle that fits will minimize the negative effects of bearing our weight on its back – while one that doesn’t fit won’t.

We owe it to our horses to make informed and well-considered decisions.

I realize that it can be hard to know if you’ve got a good saddle fitter, but involving a trained professional in the research and evaluation stage of your buying decision will certainly decrease the chances of making a catastrophic error that will cause pain and damage to your horse.

Alternatively, in this online world where you can find those superb saddle bargains, hop onto YouTube and take look at some of the excellent videos posted by professional saddlers. It really couldn’t be much easier.

 

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