How To Saddle A Horse

1. Groom your horse. While it's best to give your horse a full grooming before every ride, at the minimum, it's essential to groom the area where the saddle will sit. Make sure there's no mud or other debris in the saddle or cinch area, and check for sores.

2. Check your saddle, pad and cinches. Make sure there aren't any burs, dirt, straw, or anything else on the underside of your pad, saddle and cinches that might cause an irritation or saddle sores.

3. Place the saddle pad. Gently place the saddle pad on the horse's back, forward of the withers.

4. Prepare your saddle. A western saddle has a number of straps that can get in the way of saddling. Prior to placing a saddle on a horse, make sure that all of the straps are secured. While some folks simply throw the straps over the seat, we recommend securing each strap. Make this a routine each time you unsaddle and your saddle will stay nice and tidy and you'll be all ready for the next ride.
Latigo - We like thread our latigo through the leather slot just above the cinch. You can run it through a couple of times or just once depending on the length of your latigo.
Cinches – Hang your flank cinch buckle on the buckle tongue of your front cinch buckle as shown. Thread the saddle keeper under the cinch buckle and hook it on the buckle tongue.
Breast Collar - Lay the breast collar over the seat of the saddle. Or we like to hook it over the saddle horn.

5. Place the saddle.

6. Adjust the saddle and pad. Slide both the saddle and pad backwards into place by holding on the horn and jiggling the saddle from side to side and back. It should settle into the correct spot. As a rule of thumb, the correct spot will leave a space between the horse's elbow and the front cinch of no more than three finger widths.

The saddle should be centered on the pad with the same amount showing on both sides. There should be at least an inch showing in front of the saddle. Make sure none of the saddle strings are caught underneath the saddle.

7. Connect the cinches. Walk around to the off-side and gently let down your cinches. You can let down your breast collar if you have one. Walk back around to the near side and let down your latigo strap. Reach under the horse's belly with your left hand and grab the front cinch. (Using your left hand rather than your right puts you in a safer position should the horse kick or move suddenly.)

When we do up the front cinch we like to tie it so that it doesn’t come loose as easy. As a rule of thumb you want your front cinch tight but still able to put two fingers in between the cinch and your horse. If you are going to be roping or speed events make sure that you check your cinch and it is tight.

When the front cinch is connected, you can than connect the flank cinch if you have one. Reach under the horse's belly again with your left hand and grab the flank cinch. Buckle the flank cinch so that it is snug but not tight. You should just be able to slip your hand in between the horse's belly and the cinch.

8. Connect the breast collar. From the near side, reach around to the breast collar that was let down in the earlier step. Connect the near side rig (or tug) strap to the D ring on the front of the skirts or the front rigging rings. It should go without saying that you must connect the rig straps to the same rings on each side. Next, feed the center tie-down strap through the horse's legs and connect it to the front D ring on the center strip of the cinch.

When you're riding with a breast collar, it's very important that the center strip of the cinch fall in the center of the horse's belly. If it's off center, the breast collar won't be as effective and the breast collar tie-down strap can rub on the inside of the horse's leg.

Now you're ready to ride!

Use this technique to saddle your horse the same way every time. Establishing a routine will ensure that you don't miss a step and it will create a positive partnership with your horse. He'll know what to expect and he'll know it will be a positive experience.