The Philosophy of Saddle Fitting

Q1 – Why has saddle fitting become such a mainstream issue in the last few years?
Q2 – Who says it’s so important?
Q3 – What is the logic behind it?

It’s only common sense – from the recreational to the Olympic rider, it is an important element in the health and well-being of your horse. Watching the Olympics in Rio right now and seeing what’s going on with some of the saddles and tack being used, it is sometimes to the point for me personally where I find it difficult to watch. Saddle fitting has become a popular topic at many levels at many conferences in the last couple of years – all the way from legal issues arising from contentious fittings to inclusion in the curriculum of veterinary training in order to allow the medical community more insight into potential causes for symptomatic lameness and other issues arising from this close interaction between man and beast.

The question each rider must ask him or herself:

1. What am I trying to get out of this sport or hobby?
2. Do I want equipment which interferes with me and my horse and hurts us, or
3. Do I want equipment which lets me show off my horse’s best abilities and illustrates our potential without incurring long-term damage to my partner?

Horse (1), rider (2) and saddle (3) are key elements of this team. The Team can only reach its goal if all three team members work optimally together.

Team member #1 will change its conformation through training, health, conditioning, age, and nutrition. Team member #2 will change through improving ability, riding in different disciplines, adhering to various trainer expectations, changing horses, or gaining/losing weight. Team member #3 can change through shifting flocking, leather condition, settling seat foam, billets stretching, or even the tree twisting due to the uneven musculature of horse and/or rider.

Besides having fun, what is the true goal of riding?

You want to ensure safety, no spinal injuries to yourself or the horse, no soft tissue damage, no nerve damage, no dermal abrasions in the coat, regular blood flow, you want to sit over the center of gravity, and basically create harmony between horse and rider.

Says Who?

The professional who makes a living with horses in some capacity: veterinarian, trainer, saddle maker, chiropractor, physiotherapist, judge and clinician; all of these are key components in the ‘Circle of Influence’ to your horse.

What is the logic and common sense behind it?

In every sport, and in day to day activity, the decision-making humans follow their instincts, if it makes sense to them, and if it is logical and easily explained. If this is the case, we follow our feelings and explain it to ourselves as common sense to go forward and reach our goal to create harmony between horse and rider.

These are some of the main points of consideration in the saddle and its fit to create harmony between horse and rider in the Team:

HORSE	RIDER	SADDLE
Gender and conformation	Gender and body conformation	Softness of panel
Size and shape of Saddle Support Area (SSA)	Seat size, width, twist, comfort, cantle height and seat foam support (depth)	Softness of leather
Withers and shoulder shape and angle	Flap width, length, angulation	Tree condition
Saddle style and shape	Stirrup bar type and length	Stitches
Saddle pads required	Seat depth	Billets
Spinal clearance (proper gullet channel width)	Weight bearing surface	Seat foam and seat balance
Panel contact	Leg support	Saddle style
Girth length and style	Saddle flex and rigidity	Saddle pads

 

Riding is a beautiful albeit unnatural sport.  Horses were not meant to be ridden by nature. Over centuries, the horse has been a human companion to pull and carry weight.  The horse’s strength is in pulling weight because of the horizontal spine position, whereas the rider’s strength lies in carrying weight due to the vertical spine position. For the horse to become strong and afford many years of service, weight needs to be carried over the center of gravity of the horse.

Without the saddle, the rider’s seat bones can very easily result in sore back muscles. Without a saddle tree, the spines of both horse and rider will tire quickly and get sore for a long period of time. The saddle tree allows the weight of the rider to be carried over the center of gravity without serious repercussion, if the rest of the saddle is fitted properly.

The rider’s pubic bone and the tail bone are free. The total contact from the lower leg of the rider all the way through to the other side can be made possible with the saddle tree, without hurting or injuring the spinal processes or dorsal ligament system of the horse.

I guess what I am really trying to say is that if all three elements of the team work together properly, the result will be something beautiful and harmonious – to feel, to watch, and to experience.

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