Poor Tory had been getting more and more crabby. When being ridden, she was less inclined to move forward, and when she did, she moved hollow, with a roach in her back. She was moving so inverted that the muscle under her neck was growing far thicker and stronger while her crest flattened away to nil. When she started bucking, her owner sought advice from a horse trainer.
What they found was that Tory’s saddle didn’t fit. Her close contact saddle (an English hunt seat saddle) actually sat lower in the front and higher in the back. The front collapsed down and appeared to pinch the horse around the withers.
Some horses just seem to have luck fitting every saddle their owners put on them; but others, like Tory, can suffer under a poor-fitting saddle.
When fitting a saddle, you should place it on the horse’s back without a saddle pad beneath it. You should be able to see sunlight through it as you look through the back of the saddle along the tree to the front as no part of it collapses down on the horse’s backbone. Looking at the saddle from the side, it should appear level, with the deepest part of the seat clearly level. In other words, if you imagine letting a pencil roll down from the top of the pommel, it would rest in the deepest part of the saddle. The cantle (back of the saddle) shouldn’t appear to be tipping up. At the front of the saddle, you should be able to fit four fingers lengthwise between the pommel and the horse’s wither.
When working horses, one needs to keep in mind that their bodies change shape when they go from being young just started horses to moving into more advanced training. A new saddle may be necessary. Also horses whose training has advanced dramatically and now have marked muscle development may require reflocking or a new saddle.
If you’ve switched saddles and your horse shows the same signs of soreness in her back, switch back to your old saddle.
To see if your horse’s back is sore, run the pads of your fingers along each side of her spine with some added pressure, as though you were massaging someone. If her back ducks down from under your fingers as she moves away from pain, if she pins her ears or swishes her tail or if you feel a spasm jump under your fingers, your horse may have pain in her back.
Tory’s owners had to try several different saddles and finally found two that fit. Still recovering from years of soreness, Tory is beginning to carry herself in a more relaxed and rounder frame. At the end of her ride, she now stretches down through her back into a soft long and low stretch—something she never did with the poor-fitting saddle.
Hope this helps you with thinking twice about proper saddles and fitting. Take a moment and visit our award winning horse forum.
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