Choosing the Right Saddle for the horse(s)
Get the performance you need, the fit your animal requires and the comfort you want. Expert saddle makers explain how to choose the correct style for you.
67 topics in this forum
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- 25 replies
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Hello All, I'm new here, and am hoping you can give me some help with deciding on a new saddle. I'm looking to buy a new saddle for a young horse I'm planning to start this summer/fall. Because he's only two years old, I'm only going to introduce him to the saddle and maybe put a half dozen rides on him. After that he'll go back to pasture until next spring when I'll put a few more rides on him. He'll start real work when he's four. I need to buy a saddle for this colt, but am thinking that it may be better to wait until next year when he's three to have a better chance of fitting him properly. I have a saddle I can use to start him this year, but it may not fit hi…
Last reply by HannahT, -
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Jennifer. I found the point of hip and base of neck and connected them. I have put in a black line on your drawing to show you where the yellow line came from. To find the base of neck on your horse find the where the neck gets wider go down to where it narrows again and that will be the base of the neck. I have also put in some colored areas on the drawing that represent the areas of streangth on the back. The blue area is where the spine has the most elements supporting it. The purple area has fewer and the red area has only one muscle to help stabalize the spine so it is the weakest part of the back. If you follow the currently popular line of thought …
Last reply by californianinkansas, -
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Saddle Fit: An Enduring Western Myth A popular topic among both leatherworkers and horse owners today is saddle fitting. Perfectly fitting a saddle to an individual animal is one of those things in life that sounds good in theory but in the real world simply does not work and in highly impractical. There are too many variables, both short term and long term, which are constantly changing. The “saddle fitting†advice should come from those who have spent years studying the art and craft of saddlemaking and who have a better than average knowledge of riding styles and equine anatomy. This background is essential to understand what can and cannot be done with…
Last reply by californianinkansas, -
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Hopefully this is the correction section. Anyway, I ended up here because ultimately, I'd like to make my own saddle. Currently saving up for that My biggest issue is not fitting my horses, I can usually find a saddle fairly quickly that fits whatever horse I'm riding. My biggest headache is finding a saddle that fits me, the rider. I've probably gone through 8 or 9 saddles in the last 10 years. I've had everything from old economy saddles to an old custom-made. I've ridden Western, English and stock. Usually to the same result, after 2 or 3 hours in the saddle, I'm in enough pain to cry. I've walked home because I hurt that much. I've ditched my saddles and rode home b…
Last reply by oltoot, -
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Saddle fit has generated a lot of questions and responses on this forum, with many expressing frustration with the validity of the information available and the so called "experts" on the subject. On this forum we are preaching to the choir, as they say. To give us a voice with the general riding public on this subject, the ASMA board has initiated the SADDLE FIT PROJECT. The general purpose of the SADDLE FIT PROJECT is to develop a consensus as to what factors and/or areas need to be considered to achieve a positive saddle fit. The general riding population then can add this information to their decision process. As with saddle fit itself, this project will be ongoing.…
Last reply by ASMA, -
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My mom, who is 5' tall and about 100 lbs is looking for a western saddle for her Arab gelding, who is just over 15 hands. He is a fit horse, not overweight or too thin. She rides him a lot. The last saddle was too heavy for her, and fit him poorly. Email me at holly@wrcleather.com if you can give me some leads on how to help. She'd take a used one if it was in good shape.
Last reply by wildrose, -
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This tree fits him pretty good, but a little too much rock.would you add leather to bottom of bars before starting, or leave it with the rock? I have more pics if needed
Last reply by stef73433, -
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Hi all, At the request of She Who Must Be Obeyed, I'm looking for info on fitting Arabian horses for both Western and English saddles. Our mare wears a 20/22 cut-back English (she's broad across the withers, 15.2 hands) and we're trying to find the right size Western. Thanks,
Last reply by twinchester, -
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am starting yet another post on downhill horses. I am still very much a novice horse owner and still trying to learn, and I have a question. A woman I know who is a pretty good horsewoman asked me to download some pictures for her from her last training (her computer wasn’t cooperating). She had spent a month learning to work cows on a ranch in Texas. Looking at the pictures I noticed that almost all of the horses there looked downhill as I have interpreted the definition, including the stallion Smart Little Lena. I may not know much, but I recognized the name as one of names that is considered quite desirable on a pedigree in the qh world. These horses d…
Last reply by Traveller, -
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I'm looking for a new Western saddle for my 10-year-old Paso Fino gelding. Unfortunately, I can't afford a custom-built one. I had been looking at the Tucker trail saddles, but I'm not sure about the trees on these, since I'm wary of anything that says "flex" or "fit-form." I'm not very knowledgeable about saddle fitting--after reading through some of the posts on this site, I realize I know even less than I thought. Basically, I was wondering if those of you who have studied this much more thoroughly than I have could recommend any name brand saddles (Tucker, Circle Y, etc.) currently on the market that are still making quality trees. Thanks for any direction you ca…
Last reply by thenrie,
