01/25/2019
Saddle Fit can be such a complex issue and I found this to be a very informative explanation. This really gives many horse owners a better understanding and is worth sharing š š“
It may be time to have a frank discussion on saddle fit. I can hear your collective groans. What I have to say pertains specifically to the western world, although some of what I believe may apply to other disciplines as well.
If we imagine that saddles are like our own shoes, it is easier to understand that one size cannot fit all. ONE SIZE CANNOT FIT ALL! Many socks or blanketsāor no socks or blanketsāwill not make ill-fitting shoes or saddles fit better.
Very, very roughly, a saddle that is too wideāno matter how many felt pads are underneath itāwill still be too wide and will press down on the horseās spine or withers, too unstable to use. It will tend to sit 'downhill' and can wag from side to side at the jog. A saddle that is too narrowāno matter how many felt pads are underneath itāwill still be too narrow and will press down along the edges of the bars, too unstable to use. It will tend to sit 'uphill' and may look as though it sits too far above the horse.
Like Goldilockās porridge, we want one that is just right. Where saddle fit is most important is the underneath, the part we canāt see, because it is the interface between the rider and the horse. Key to this, then, is in knowing the shape of your horseās back. There are various ways to do this.
We can haul our horse to a place selling a variety of saddles and try them on, work our horses a little bit, and see the sweat patterns and if the saddle moves around on the horse. We will do this best without a breast collar. An overall even sweat pattern without dry spots gives us an idea that the pounds per square inch pressure is fairly even. This is good. It is also the only way to buy a saddle, while taking into account how much the horse's shape changes while he is working. Horses, especially those well-ridden, will 'let down' while standing and 'round up' while moving, changing the shape of their backs.
We can use saddle fit cards, such as the Dennis Lane Horse system, to get an overall three-dimensional assessment of the width, length, and dip to the horseās back. This is a really good way to buy saddles online or sight unseen and know if they stand a chance of fitting. The drawback is that both the buyer and seller need to use the same system of evaluating the horseās and saddleās shapes. Both must know how to correctly use the cards.
We can make a withers tracing using a bendable curve and transferring it onto a piece of paper. This method will show us what saddles will NOT fit more readily that it will assure us which saddles WILL. Drawbacks are that the bendable curve is difficult to manipulate to get a really positive read. Worse, there is no set point where any two people will take the tracings in the same spot. A withers tracing will not show us what is going on further back on the horse.
What nobody will tell you is that when selling saddles, a withers tracing can be an easy thing to manipulate in order to get a saddle sold.
People will tell you that they love a certain brand of saddle because āit fits everythingā. I am highly skeptical. These saddles may all fit the same because they are all built on trees that are the same but horses vary. Remember the fit of our shoes. All size eights are not created equal. I ride custom-built saddles, whether this is because I donāt like to spend my saddle time in off-the-rack, production gear or perhaps Iām just a saddle snob. I know that few people buying ready-built saddles have any idea of bar set or angle, flare, rock or length behind the seat, for starters.
Everyone is worried only about this notion called the āgullet measurementā. Then, they want to know if the saddle is āfull quarter horse barsā (FQHB) or āsemi-quarter horse barsā (SQHB).
Letās say that Iām selling a saddle. āWhat is the gullet measurement?ā Iām always asked. āWhere would you like me to measure it?ā I reply. āWell, between the conchas!ā I'm told.
Okay. I can hold up my ruler near the top of the conchas and it might say 6ā. I can move my ruler lower down towards the bottom of the conchas and it might say 7ā. Which one is right? Worse, I can have a buyer say that she needs a measurement of 6.5ā and with very little effort, I can manipulate my ruler to tell her what she wants to hear.
We need to get away from gullet measurements. They tell us nothing of value, particularly when you understand that the saddler picks a random, eye-pleasing spot to set conchas in when heās making the saddle. There is no rule of thumb for their placement. It is the angle that the tree is made at that tells the tale!
As far as FQH and SQH bars go, these are two very general parameters given for selling production-line saddles. The first, as a rough guideline, was made to fit rope horses of a fairly stocky and powerful build. The second, again as a rough guideline, was made to fit cutting-type horses of a slighter, narrower build. Yes, these terms can be a big help to thinning the field of what may or may not be suitable for individual horses. Unfortunately, these terms are the āColes Notesā of saddle fit. They do not tell the whole story in nearly enough detail.
āRockā is another grey area that nobody seems to care about or understand. Letās say your horseās back is like your living room floor. If it is a very flat, level backāas is the case with many young horsesāa saddle with a highly-curved underneath will rock back and forth on the horse like a rocking chair. If your horseās back is shaped like the inside of a bowlāas is the case with many older or incorrectly-ridden horsesāa saddle with an ordinary amount of rock will ābridgeā this grand canyon by putting pressure only on the front and rear points of the tree. Such a fit has a huge gap where the riderās weight will be. Worse, it will have crushing pressure in only four points on the horseās back. Saddle trees are built with varying amounts of ārockā or curve underneath them. Horses are, as well. It is up to us to decide how much of this is necessary and comfortable for our individual horses to do their jobs.
Caution is needed when fitting saddles. It is a good idea to take enough instruction on fitting that you can spot when a dealer or seller is simply trying to get one of his saddles on your horse. Pros can spend years perfecting their knowledge in this very complex area, so this is beyond the scope of a quick video or a weekend course. Still, I wish more riders would take the time and trouble to learn as much as they can about fitting their gear.
āHey, I canāt afford to buy a different saddle for every single horse I ride!ā You donāt have to. By riding similarly-built horses, you can probably get by with a middle-of-the-road fitting saddle. I say that very guardedly. If you ride a horse with a particularly exaggerated widthāeither very wide or narrowāor a particularly exaggerated outlineāeither very flat or swayedāit behooves you to shop for a suitable saddle. Pads are a whole other discussion when it comes to what is good, better and best.
You will notice that I havenāt once mentioned the size of the seat, the cut of the skirts, the colour of the leather, the amount of bling or how the saddle feels to the rider. Are these not important, too? Perhaps (and particularly the latter). But fitting the underneath of the saddleāthe part that we canāt seeāto our horse is an issue that is much more pressing. Pardon the pun.
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For those interested, here's a link to a hugely educational video made by my friends Rod and Denise at Rod Nikkel Saddle Trees. Take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWoORDN8_R8
