Fitting A Saddle

By Lisa Woodland

A few weeks ago I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This led me to an experience of riding a bucking horse. In my 32 years of riding horses, I have only had this pleasure twice.

The first time I was a teenager and very cocky. I remember just wanting to get back on and prove to myself that I can stick a bucking horse. All three of my sisters got bucked off before my mom finally got on. Luckily she figured out that the saddle was the problem and she got off and fixed it before she fell victim. So lesson number 1 always check your tack before getting on it can save you a lot of aches and pains as well as your horse.

Somehow the tree in our saddle broke in half. So if you were walking the saddle didn’t move enough to hurt the horse. As soon as you started to trot, the saddle would begin pinching and irritating the horse. When you asked for a lope, that was more than the horse could take and we would get bucked off. If it is not comfortable for you and the horse, it will likely result in an uncomfortable experience for both you and the horse. Here are some steps to get started.

1. Proper positioning of the saddle is the first and most important key to a proper fit. Proper saddle position will have the saddle placed on the horse's back so that the cinch falls about four inches behind the elbow to far forward or to far back will cause saddle sores. This will in turn constrict the horse’s movement which also puts the rider out of position.

2. Check the clearance at the withers. You should be able to place 2 or more (no more than 4) stacked fingers between the withers and the gullet (with no saddle pad). The saddle gullet is the cutout or tunnel underneath the fork and rides over the horse's withers. The design of the fork and the angle of the bars of the saddle tree determine the width and height of the gullet.

It's important that the gullet have the right amount of clearance over the withers. If the gullet height is too short, the saddle will rub on the horse's withers. If the gullet width is too wide, the saddle will sit too low on the shoulders, and also rub on the horse's withers. Rubbed withers equals unhappy horse.

3. Check the shoulder clearance. You should be able to easily slip your hand between the fleece lining and the horses shoulder (with a saddle pad). Ideally, you should also be able to do this with a rider in the saddle.

4. Check the skirt fit. The skirt should follow the contour of the horse’s back and not extend past its loins.

5. Check the balance. Step back and view your horse from the side. The flat area of the seat should be level and the fork should not be higher than the cantle. When cinched, the back of the saddle shouldn’t rock up.

If your saddle has problems fi tting this criteria you can add or take away pads. If this doesn’t help then you will want to try other saddles. Because every horse and rider vary so much and saddles are expensive. Having different pads are the least expensive way to correct the problem.