Saddle Fitting: What You Need to Know, Part 1
By Dave Di Pietra
In part 1, we will discuss the basic concepts of saddle fitting, how to determine if your saddle fits properly, what to think about when purchasing a saddle and how to visually inspect a saddle for fit. In part 2, we will discuss cues from your horse that will help to determine saddle fit.
Whoever that brave soul was who first decided to climb on a horse’s back probably impressed all of his friends and neighbors by how much further he could go and how quickly he could get there. But very soon he found that for long distances that it wasn’t very comfortable for either him or the horse. In bareback riding, which is a great tool for developing balance, all of the rider’s weight is concentrated in a very small area of the horse’s back. The main job of a saddle is to spread the rider’s weight out over the length of the ribcage which lowers the pounds per square inch to an acceptable level for the horse. The other thing a saddle must do is to keep any pressure off of the horse’s spine.
While I will be referring to the Western tree, the basic concepts apply to the English saddle as well. Instead of using the bars of the Western tree to spread out the rider’s weight the English saddle uses panels stuffed with wool or foam. Another thing to keep in mind is that the heavier the rider and the harder they ride the more critical it is to have a saddle that fits. A one hundred and ten pound gal who rides a couple of hours a week can get away with a terrible fitting saddle and possibly never see a problem but a two hundred pound guy who rides twenty hours a week could sore his horse in one ride if the fit was off by much.
Two dimensions on the horse’s back must be addressed for proper saddle fit. First, the front to back curvature of the saddle tree, referred to as ‘rock’ or ‘rocker’, must match that of the horse’s ribcage. If you picture the bottom rails on a rocking chair you can see that too much rock (1) will put excessive pressure into a small area of the horse’s back, and too little rock (2) will create pressure at the front and rear of the saddle with very little in between. This would be called ‘bridging’. A saddle will also bridge if the gullet is too narrow and won’t allow the saddle to sit down properly in front. Secondly, the change in angle of the bars from the front of the tree to the back, referred to as the ‘twist’, must also match the horse’s ribcage. If you look at the bottom of a tree you will see that the angle of the bars are steeper in the front and gradually flatten out towards the back. Too much or too little twist can cause problems wherever it doesn’t match the horse’s ribcage.
When considering saddle fit you would like to see maximum contact in the middle two thirds (03) of the saddle with contact tapering off at the front and rear of the bars. If the front of the bars don’t have enough ‘flare’ in them, there won’t be enough room for the shoulder to operate comfortably or for the horse to move his neck laterally. Gaited horses, with their more animated shoulder motion, need even more flare than other breeds. In the rear of the bars there must be enough flare for the horse’s hips to alternately rise and fall.
Through the years the bars of the saddle tree have been loosely classified by various names. Some of the more popular are semi-Quarter Horse, Quarter Horse, and Arab-Morgan trees. If we divide up different horse’s ribcages into narrow, medium and wide classifications, Semi-Quarter Horse barred trees would be a starting point for your narrower horses, Quarter Horse barred trees would be for the medium range and Arab-Morgan barred trees for your wider horses. That being said, there is absolutely no standard between tree manufacturers. If we took three Quarter Horse barred trees from three different tree manufacturers there would be differences not only in gullet height and width but also in the rock and twist. That’s why one saddle maker’s full Quarter Horse barred tree might work fine and then you switch to another brand and you end up with a sore horse.
Being a custom saddler, one of the things we hear all the time is “I have a hard to fit horse.” Generally, these people have tried three to five different saddles from different manufacturers and haven’t had any luck with any of them. Production line or tack shop type saddles are built on averages. “The ‘average’ narrow horse’s back needs a gullet that is so wide and so high and needs this much rock and this much twist.” But what happens when a horse has what I call a combination back? Maybe he is narrow in the front but the twist flattens out more than the “average” narrow horse. Horses are just like people. If we take ten men who are 6’ tall and weigh 180 lbs, five of them would look fine in an off the rack suit. The other five would have varying levels of success because they aren’t “average” enough. A couple of them might have to have a tailored suit custom made for them.
Different measuring techniques have been used over the years. If you can’t take your horse to the tack shop to try different saddles or you are having a custom saddle made, the absolute minimum you should do is get a wither tracing. You can take something flexible like wire or buy a drafting tool called a Flexible Curve and mold it over the horse’s back about two inches behind the shoulder blade and then trace it on a piece of stiff paper or cardboard. You can then try your template in the gullets of different saddles or send it to the saddle maker. You will be able to at least get a saddle with the right type of tree in it. If your horse falls into the realm of average for that width tree you shouldn’t have any problems. For long distance fitting there is also a device called a Saddle Tech gauge. If there is a technician in your area they can come and take measurements and send them to a saddler. If he also has one of the gauges he can recreate certain measurements in his shop. (04)
One of the most creative ideas that has come along is the EQUImeasure Kit. It is a flat sheet of thermal plastic that you slide into the oven and heat up until pliable and then mold to your horse’s back. You can bring it to the local tack shop and try the mold in different saddles to see which is the closest, or, you can send the EQUImeasure to any custom saddler and it’s like having the actual horse’s ribcage right there in the shop.
When evaluating saddle fit I have come to believe that it can be difficult for most people to visually inspect the fit themselves. One of the other uses for the EQUImeasure form is for evaluating fit. If you place your saddle on the ground on its pommel and set your EQUImeasure into the bottom of the saddle (05), you can look to see how much contact you are getting. This is far easier for most people than trying to do this with the saddle on the horse. Once again, you are looking for good contact the middle two-thirds of the saddle with contact tapering off slightly at the front and back. If the shape of the bottom of the saddle doesn’t match the shape of the form, you’re headed for trouble.
When people talk about how well a saddle fits, the first thing I usually hear is “Check the sweat pattern”. (06) The theory says that if you go for a ride and get your horse good and sweated up, when you remove the saddle, you should see a nice even sweat pattern under the saddle that reassembles the bars of the tree. Any dry areas would indicate that the pressure was so great that it shut down the sweat glands and that the smaller the dry area the higher the pressure. The problem is that with all the advancements in technology your better pads are designed to wick away moisture or to allow air to circulate under the saddle to keep the horse cooler, so you might get dry spots only because the pad is doing what it is designed to do not because of excessive pressure.
Dry spots to me are only a call to attention. After every ride, as soon as I remove my saddle, I take a look at the sweat pattern and if I see dry areas I’ll run my hand lightly over that area to see if there is any tenderness. If Happy Jack, my horse, doesn’t try to duck away from my touch, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. If the area is tender or shows swelling then I know there is a problem.
Last year, about halfway through the summer, even though I was getting perfect sweat patterns after our rides, Happy Jack, who is Chestnut, started to show two or three white hairs on each side of his back right behind the shoulder blades. White hairs on your colored horses are caused by the cells of the hair follicle dying out because of too much pressure (07). If something is done right away, most of the time the discoloration will go away, but if you wait too long it may remain for the life of the animal. In this case I was getting a perfect sweat pattern but there was still too much pressure there. Moral of the story: Sweat patterns can indicate an area to keep an eye on but can be misleading taken on their own.
About the Author: David Di Pietra is President and CEO of Synergist Saddles. The Synergist Saddle Company has been building premier custom saddles for over 12 years, and enjoys a world-wide reputation in all disciplines for high quality and excellent service. David is a 2nd generation saddle maker, having learned the craft from his father. His family’s endurance racing background has provided the perfect proving ground for saddle innovations. For more information visit www.synergistsaddles.com or call 307.433.1008
