Shoulder Clearance
The saddle must allow room for the horse’s shoulder to move freely and comfortably.
The tree inside the saddle should at no time interfere with the shoulder movement of your horse.
In the photo above, if Sandra picked up her horse’s leg and moved it as far back as it would comfortably go, then the tree would not interfere with that shoulder movement – and that is as it should be.
The Saddle needs to fit the Rider Too!
There are two important considerations for fitting the saddle for the rider:
1. The location of the mounts for your stirrup irons – there is a fashion in some modern saddles to have them too far back, forcing your leg into an unnatural position that puts tremendous strain on your lower back and pelvis. Only the very young, very flexible pelvis gets away with those saddles. And it puts them out of a good riding seat, so I think they’re not useful for anyone young or not. Aussie understatement there too!
2. The second important consideration for the rider is the balance of the saddle on the horse – the saddle either tipped forward or tipped back will have you struggling for a good seat.
Of course we also have the “does my butt fit in this saddle” question (much more important than “does my butt look big in these jeans?”) 🙂
Saddle blankets
A good saddle blanket is a good saddle blanket, but is no substitute for a properly fitting saddle. Having said that, you can get away with minor adjustments of saddle fit with a good saddle pad, but that is about it.
When we were preparing this lesson, Sandra commented that she likes wool next to the horse’s skin and uses soft Kersey wool cloth. Sheepskin is also nice for the horse.
Stay away from gel pads if you ride for longer than errr… maybe 1/2 an hour at a time. They build up heat on the horse’s skin and have been known to blister with the heat generated by them if you are riding for long enough – so trail riders and endurance riders should stay away from them. Shudder at the thought of blistering a horse’s back.
Cotton saddle blankets can go hard and bunch up. Funny that – you would think being a natural, breathing fibre that it would make a good saddle blanket – but not so.
My personal favourite is the Rydair saddle pad. I can feel the difference under my butt, so I can only imagine how much more comfortable my horse feels. It doesn’t heat up underneath like some synthetic materials, it allows air circulation on the horse’s back, it is seriously “cushiony” (another new word), and you just hose off the sweat.
Click here to have a look at Charlie Evans’s Rydair saddle pad. You can email Charlie sales@rydair.com.au or even talk on 0427 068 268 – he just loves to talk about his wonderful product which is available right now.
They aren’t called Ryd…air for nothing. They are like riding on air.
Tell Charlie that I sent you – he is going to make a donation to our scholarship fund every now and again with the referrals.
Later addition – an excellent article on saddle fit for the Arabian horse from The Horse’s Back