Some
Helpful Comments on Evaluating Saddle Fit
NOTE:
THERE IS ADDITIONAL INFO WHICH WILL ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT
SADDLE FIT ON THE PAGE CALLED "MEASURING YOUR HORSE"
WITH HELPFUL PHOTOS.
One
of the very best ways to determine if your saddle fits is
to stand to the side of the horse and take a good look at
its balance on the horse's back. Here are some common problems
which will tip you off if your saddle doesn't fit.
REMEMBER:
saddle
fitting is only partly about horse comfort. It is also about
your comfort, and about making it possible
for you to ride correctly.
Have you ever felt like you can't
get your legs underneath you when you're riding? Have you
felt like you're sitting in a chair seat, or like you're
tipping back too much?
If your saddle is too narrow, the front will not
be able to fit down on the back/shoulders of the horse,
and the whole saddle will tilt back. You'll be able to tell,
because it will be hard for you to ride correctly. You may
also have this feeling of being unable to pull your legs
back underneath you if the saddle seat is too big.
When
you ride, do you feel like you're tipping forward? Does
the pommel feel low? Your
saddle may be too wide.
When
you ride on a well balanced saddle (a proper fit for the
horse), do you feel like the cantle is pushing you from
behind?
The seat may be too small. If the
seat is too small, you won't be able to move back far enough
in the seat and you may feel the cantle is crowding you.
When
you ride, are your knees poking out in front of the saddle
flap, or do you feel like you can't put your stirrups up
as much as you'd like? If you do put them up, are you pushed
back against the cantle?
You either need a different style
of saddle, with a more forward flap, or else you need a
bigger seat that allows you to move your body back. You
may have a long hip to knee measurement.
Things
You May Not Have Heard Before
Some
quick information about saddle fitting; it is really not
as complicated as some would have you believe.
About
the Saddle's Construction
A
saddle is built on a tree, either wood or plastic. DUETT
saddles are built on a conventional saddle tree: metal-reinforced
laminated wood, with "spring tree" - webbed seat
for rider comfort. The measurement of the width of a saddle
is taken by a manufacturer on the raw tree, before any leather
or other materials are added. The tree itself consists of
a wood "frame" which provides the seat for the
rider; from the pommel arch two metal "arms" extend;
these are the bars of the tree.
When
the measurement is taken, it is on a "raw" tree,
straight across the bottom, from bar tip to bar tip. The
more angled the bars are, the wider the measurement will
be. However, there is no absolute standardization in the
industry, so some bars are shorter than others. Therefore,
two saddles with bars at the same angle could measure quite
differently if one had shorter bars than the other one.
Therefore, you can't always translate directly between saddles.
Saddle X in 32 cm may fit your horse differently than Saddle
Y in 32 cm.
About
the Fit of the Saddle
The
bars should lie parallel to the angle of your horse's shoulders,
give or take about 10%, according to the Society of Master
Saddlers in Britain.
Remember,
apart from the tree seat, which does not touch the horse,
since it sits over the stuffed panels, and apart from the
metal bars, everything else on a saddle is flexible leather
and stuffing.
When
you put a saddle on your horse, check the shoulders to make
sure there is no pinching. Run your hand between the shoulder
of the horse and the saddle to be sure your hand is not
squeezed. Look at the pommel and the withers. There should
be space over the withers - never should the saddle sit
on them.
However,
many people believe that if there is lots of space between
withers and pommel the saddle is too narrow. This is not
necessarily true!!!
On
horses with low or no withers, there will always be a space
under the pommel. This does not hurt your horse. Furthermore,
whether there is space, or how much, will depend on the
shape of the pommel arch - for example, some saddles have
a low pommel arch while others have a high arch, and often
the high arch is created in order to create seat depth,
as in many dressage saddles.
The
shape of the pommel arch is independent of the width of
the tree.
Note
about Duett Rondo and Trail models
These
are designed with a wider than usual pommel arch in the
wider trees ... not JUST wider bars. In this way, the panels
are spread further apart and will better fit your broad-backed
horse. This will make the saddle more comfortable for your
horse as well as more stable on his back.
So
don't worry unduly about that space. Rather, after making
sure the angle of the bars is correct, check two more things:
1.
The balance of the saddle on the horse ... make sure it
is level and does not tip either backward or forward. The
cantle should be as high as the pommel or higher, but not
lower than the pommel.
2.
Check for bridging ... lift the flaps and make sure that
the panels make contact all along their length with the
back of the horse. Do keep in mind that the way the saddle
sits on the horse will change when their is (your) weight
in the saddle. Thus, some slight bridging may well disappear.
Keep
this in mind also: both slight imbalance (assuming the saddle
bars are the right width) and bridging are easily corrected
by a saddle fitter in a saddle with wool flocking.
Saddle
Rolling
There
is no great solution; non slip pads don't seem to work very
well, at least in our experience. Slippery pads ... velour,
fleece etc. will make it worse. Use saddle pads with some
grippy material (rubberized, etc.) if possible. In addition,
we find that using a breastplate helps. The Duett Rondo
has a crupper attachment. Above all, tighten your girth!!!
Saddle
Sliding Forward
Once
again, there is no good solution. This usually happens when
the horse's conformation is such that the shape of horse's
side flows into the shoulder with no "indentation."
If you run your hand along the side towards the shoulder,
you won't feel that "dip" that keeps saddles in
place. A foregirth (if you can find one) can help, and having
a fitter add some flocking to the front of the saddle can
help. A crupper attachment is an obvious solution. If anyone
hears of other remedies, email us here at Duett.
For an intelligent article on saddle fitting check out:
Saddle Fit
