These photographs show one huge reason to have a truly adjustable saddle. This is a Schleese saddle belonging to a wonderful client in Mexico City who had the unfortunate experience of her horse flipping over on top of the saddle (no rider). She had the saddle x-rayed and there was no damage to the saddle […]
Tag Archives: Saddle
Step 1: Balance
This first step will explain saddle fit and what you can do to protect your horse. We’re going to review how you can help your horse and check your own saddles. So lets start the 9 point check by looking at your saddle’s balance.
Step 2: Wither Clearance
Now lets talk about the wither clearance, a very misunderstood concept. What we all learned in Pony Club, was that our saddles should have 2-3 finger clearance, which was always measured on the withers. Nobody told me that it had to be measured on the side as well.
Step 3: Gullet Channel Width
Channel width is also known as the gullet width. It is important to have no contact on the horse’s spine, which is made up of a middle bone and a couple of small spinal transfers.
Step 4: Full Panel Contact
To test for Full Panel Contact, put your saddle on the horse and place your right hand under the stirrup bar area. Slightly hold your saddle in position with you left hand. Go very slow…
Step 5: Billet Alignment
Now I would like to talk to you about billet alignment. Make sure you place the saddle in the right spot behind the shoulder. Look at your billets, if they hang perpendicular to the ground in the right area, the girth area, you can be sure that your saddle won’t be dragged forward or backward. […]
Step 6: Saddle Length
Now I am going to talk about saddle length. Before we do that, grab a piece of chalk and draw the edge of the shoulder blade. Then come to the last rib and follow the line, or find where the hair line comes together and draw a line straight up. You will see the last […]
Step 7: Saddle Straightness
Now lets talk about saddle straightness. Put the saddle onto the horse’s shoulder and slide it back into position. Then step carefully behind your horse and make sure he doesn’t bow out to the left or right. What you should see is the horse’s spine aligning with the center of the saddle. So the saddle […]
Step 8: Saddle Tree Angle
Now I am going to talk about how you can check your saddle’s tree angle, and whether or not it fits the horse’s shoulder angle. We as saddle fitters use a device that measures the shoulder angle. You put the device behind the shoulder and what we want to see is that the upper arm […]
Step 9: Saddle Tree Width
Now we checked our saddles for balance, straightness and tree angle (which is making sure that the saddle has the matching angle to the horse’s shoulder), so now we are going to talk about tree width. Saddles come in different widths and it’s important for the horse’s shoulder to go through. As riders, we want […]