Storey Publishing - Superior Saddle Fitting: A Step-by-Step Guide

Jessica Jahiel

Saddles are big-ticket items, and because a good-fitting saddle ensures the comfort of both horse and rider, its important to choose a saddle wisely and well before you buy. A good saddle, carefully selected and well maintained, will last a lifetime.

Educate yourself, be clear about your preferences, and choose a saddle that will meet your riding needs and fit your horse. Understanding the purpose, design, and advantages and disadvantages of the various saddles you are considering will help you make an informed decision. Your safety, comfort, and showring success all depend on proper saddle fit, so take your time.

The first factor to consider in choosing a saddle is the type of riding you will do. If you are interested in casual trail riding, there are numerous saddles from which you might choose. If you plan to become a skilled rider in a specific discipline and intend to compete, however, youll need to choose a saddle style appropriate for the particular discipline.

Deciding whether you will ride English or Western is a help, but there are so many specialized saddles available for each style of riding, you also need to understand the purpose of the specific saddle and decide how you intend to use it. Specialty saddles are available for all possible purposes, including polo, racing, and trick riding, among others.

Once these preliminaries are taken care of and you know what kind of riding you want to do and the type of saddle you should buy, you will need to refine your choice even further, because most saddle types are available in a broad range of materials, designs, and prices.

English saddles are smaller than Western saddles and have no saddle horn; they also are lighter and easier to lift than traditional-style, leather Western saddles. Close-contact models tend to be extremely light, and synthetic saddles are even lighter, with some weighing as little as 10 pounds. Generally, English saddles are designed to enable the rider to sit close to the horses body, to help the rider stay balanced over the horses center of balance, and to allow the rider to communicate with the horse easily and directly through seat position and leg aids.

Like Western saddles, English saddles are available in a variety of styles, designs, materials, and prices, and are tailored for specific purposes. Whether your main interest is dressage, eventing, jumping, trail riding, endurance, saddleseat, or sidesaddle riding, there is an English saddle for you.

The form of an English saddle follows its function.

Dressage saddles are designed for balance and communication, with the rider remaining in an upright position with a long leg, similar to the position of a Western equitation rider. Dressage saddles have straight-cut flaps. Many dressage saddles have deep seats, and the stirrups on dressage saddles hang almost directly below the seat. Some dressage saddles are equipped with padded knee rolls that help to keep the riders legs in the correct position.

The gullet or spine of an English saddle holds the weight of the saddle off the horses spine; note its straightness and symmetry.

Jumping saddles are designed to enable the rider to sit lightly with a pronounced bend at the knee and hip. Riders who jump need to be able to change position easily and must be able to lift themselves off the horses back during the jumping effort. Jumping saddles have flat seats and more forward-cut flaps to accommodate the riders knees.

The jumping saddle is designed to support the forward-riding position required for jumping events.

The stirrups on jumping saddles are hung in a more forward position, to allow the rider to stay in balance with the horse.

Eventing saddles, also known as all-purpose saddles, are meant to allow the rider to participate in dressage and jumping without changing saddles. Eventing saddles typically have a slightly flatter seat than most dressage saddles and a slightly deeper seat than most jumping saddles. The flaps are more forward-cut than those on dressage saddles but less forward-cut than those on jumping saddles. Many eventing saddles feature soft, padded seats and padded knee and thigh rolls to limit the riders movement in the saddle. All-purpose saddles can be quite comfortable for trail-riding and fox-hunting, whereas a simple, unpadded, close-contact jumping saddle would be uncomfortable for both rider and horse in these situations.

Saddle Flaps

The saddle flaps on the various types of English saddles are designed to match the proper angle of the riders thighs and are essential for balance and safety. Riders bend more or less at the knee depending on whether they are jumping and, if so, how high they are jumping. Ridersthighs slant forward at a greater angle if they are jumping and at a lesser angle if they are doing dressage.

Saddleseat saddles (often called Lane Fox saddles after a prominent brand) are used in saddleseat riding a specialist style of riding for showing gaited horses and park horses and are best limited to use in the showring. They place the rider too far back for the horses comfort, and the design and stirrup positioning make it difficult for the rider to make effective use of the legs for balance and communication.

Sidesaddles are designed for a specialized and elegant form of riding, and these too come in different styles; some are designed for work on the flat, and others for jumping. Many breed and show organizations include sidesaddle classes at competitions. Its a surprisingly comfortable and secure way to ride.

Dont let childhood memories of unwieldy, too-heavy Western saddles stop you from enjoying Western riding. Western saddles are popular at rental stables and for trail riding precisely because their design and size offer a comfortable, secure seat for the novice rider. True, there was a time when traditional Western, or stock, saddles tended to be large and heavy, difficult for children to lift onto ponies and for short riders to lift onto tall horses. Old-style Western saddles also isolated the horse and rider from each other with many layers of thick, stiff leather. Today, Western saddles are being manufactured from lighter materials, with synthetic saddles weighing as little as 15 to 20 pounds. Leather saddles also are available that place a minimal amount of leather between horse and rider, resulting in improved communication.

Western saddles come in many different designs and styles, each suitable for a particular purpose. Whether you are interested in reining, roping, cutting, showing, equitation, trail, endurance, or sidesaddle, there is a Western saddle for you.

A classic Western saddle

The Western saddle was originally developed for sturdiness, comfort, and utility and was used for work and travel by ranch hands who spent long days on horseback. The saddle had to be comfortable enough for horse and rider to put in a full days work and designed in such a way that it could pack all essential gear, distributing the loads weight evenly across the horses back. Though there are many variations on the Western saddle, all hearken back to the classic design.