Sometimes a rider will have perfectly good saddles and get a new horse. Wouldn’t it be great if the old saddles fitted the new horses. Do they? I have Stubben jumping saddle that I bought especially for my high withered thoroughbred mare. She was not happy with the saddles that other horses used. She was pretty happy with this one, but I doubt that the next horse is going to have just the right shape of back to permit this great saddle to be a great saddle for the new horse. She will be named “Glory Halleluiah” by the way.
Whitey’s back is clean after a ride by the girls. What can they tell from the sweat marks as to how well his saddle fitted? Do you know? Let’s learn how to get the right saddle for the right horse and rider (YOU!).
There are many ways we riders can figure out how well our existing saddles fit and whether we need to replace them with one that fits even better.
Can you imagine having to play basketball or tennis or ride even in a pair of shoes or boots that don’t fit right? What is it like for the horse to have every stride create discomfort or even pain? How will that effect his happiness, performance, and desire to see you come out to saddle him out?
I felt it was most important that Joy have a saddle which fitted her. Her new one did. However, I bought the saddle for me to use on Joy, not for Anya to use on Joy. You can see there is quite a bit of saddle behind Anya’s seat. Too much?
A lack of a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. We want each of our rider participants to know how to tell if a saddle fits a particular horse. We want them to know how to get the right saddle for the right horse and for themselves!