ARTICLES BY DON WEST
DEBBIE'S DILEMMA, FINDING THE RIGHT SADDLE
DEBBIE E-MAILS ME
Dear Don,
Thank you for your reply. Hope your speaking tour and exhibits at the trade shows were exciting and profitable. I want to find a trail saddle that comfortably fits my horse and won't sore him in any way (I'm discovering this is easier said than done).
Here's my problem, I own a 4 1/2 (soon to be 5) year old Rocky Mountain gelding. With his mutton withers and wide, short back it has been difficult to say the least to find a saddle that doesn't pinch, rub or hinder his gait. He's a real gem (I've raised him since he was 8 months old) and I don't want to ruin his sweet disposition and willingness to learn by riding him in an ill-fitting saddle.
As I mentioned in my previous e-mail, I've tried several used saddles without success. These carried a high price tag even though they were used and I was only able to sell them for a fraction of what I paid. My saddle search has not only proved to be costly, but frustrating as well. There was one new saddle I found that was supposedly made strictly for gaited horses regardless of their build. The gentleman was kind enough to send me the bare saddletree to try on my horse before I sunk more money into a new saddle that didn't fit. The saddletree was so narrow, it dug into my horse's shoulders the moment I put it on him. Fortunately, I was only out the cost of shipment (to and from) of this saddletree.
I have been saddle-less for two months now and am at a real loss as to what to do. For the used Synergist saddle, I even used an EquiMeasure and sent the mold to them along with the saddle to have it refitted to my horse. This proved to be another waste of money. After all that the saddle pinched his shoulders and severely hindered his gait. This is my first gaited horse and I never dreamed finding a saddle would be so discouraging.
Your
suggestions on how I can determine if one of your saddles would fit are most
welcome. Thank you. Debbie
Dear Debbie,
Sorry to say, but your problem with fitting a saddle to
your Rocky Mountain Horse is in no way unique. Everywhere I travel around the
country, doing my Training for Trail Riding and Saddle Fit for Trail Rider
Clinics, I am encountering frustrated folks (like you) who love their horses and
realize that the saddles they are using are not serving them (or their horses)
well. One thing that you have apparently already learned is that it is much
easier to buy a saddle than it is to sell one. Each mistake (learning
experience) is expensive…and discouraging.
Before we can look for an answer to your problem, you must
know what you are looking for. Let me outline for you what I believe are the
priorities, in order of their importance: First and foremost the saddle must be
comfortable for your horse. Why? A comfortable horse is a happy horse, and a happy
horse makes for a happy rider. At the heart of every good saddle is a good
fitting tree. The saddletree is the frame upon which the saddle is built.
When we are talking about western type saddle trees, they
are usually made out of wood, covered with
rawhide, plastic, or some other waterproofing material. If the tree fits
properly (mirrors the shape of the horse's back when it is moving straight ahead
in it's natural working position) the saddle will be comfortable for the horse, unless stiff leather
skirting or incorrectly placed rigging or stirrup leathers causes problems too.
Each tree has two bars, the long pieces of wood that
straddle either side of your horse’s spine, from front to rear. The bars sit
on the longissimus dorsi muscles. To fit comfortably these bars must mirror the
shape of the horse’s back, from front to rear (pommel to cantle) when the
rider’s weight is placed upon the bars through the saddle seat and the horse
is standing in its natural working position, with head held straight ahead at
its normal working height. The pommel and cantle are the front and back pieces
of the tree, respectively. They hold the bars in place. Provided that they do not touch the spinal processes,
they will not affect saddle fit, except that the width of the gullet (the
opening in the front of the pommel) will effect how level the saddle sits on the
horse’s back.
In order for the bars to fit properly they must have enough
“rock”, the curvature of the bottom of the bars that changes from front to
back. They must also have the right amount of “twist”, the shape that twists
near the mid-section of the bars to change the bar angles from the angle of the
horse’s shoulder to the angle of the horse’s back. And, the bars should have
the right amount of “flair”, the tapering out of the bar ends that allows
for the comfort of the horse’s movement, and prevents (or lessen) digging
and/or pinching.
Obviously, no two horses’ backs are shaped the same.
Nor do they remain the same shape as the horse moves over the terrain, bends,
and changes it's gait or it’s amount of collection. You are putting a rigid piece
of wood on a fluid horse’s back. Consequently, you are not looking for a
“perfect” fit, like a surgeons rubber glove pulled over her hand. You are just looking for a “good enough” fit,
like a cowboy's leather work glove –
something that is sadly far too often missing in today’s production western
saddles. So, why do so many saddles fit so many horses so poorly?
The reason is simple. In today’s western saddles form
does not follow function; not when they are used by trail riders. Most modern western saddles are built
to fit the widest shouldered Quarter Horses on a format that I
will call “arena roping” saddles. If you were designing a saddle whose primary
function is going to be roping cows in a rodeo arena event you'd need a horn, anchored in a strong
(thick) pommel. You'd want the horn to be far enough away from you, so
that it would be functional (and safe). To accomplish this you'd have to extend the bar
length in the front…by many inches, to keep that horn away from your belly. But remember, to keep a horse comfortable those same bars must always sit on the
horse’s back behind its shoulder blades – not sitting on them, or riding up on
them.
Given the extra bar length built into today's
western arena roping saddles, the bars are too long for pleasure-trail riders.
Because of this, the saddle usually ends up being placed up on
(instead of behind) the shoulders, at least when it's first put on the horse.
But, because that’s not where it's meant to fit, it tends to
slide back off the horse’s shoulders as the rider rides, thus placing the
rider too far to the rear…behind the balance point (what I call the sweet spot). This almost
always tips the rider forward, concentrating the riders weight on the front ends
of the bars. If the bars are too straight, which they almost always are in these
saddles, the
tree will "bridge", making little or no contact under the rider's seat
bones. The
excessive weight, loaded on the bar ends, will make the horse more and more uncomfortable over
time. Eventually, this will make the horse push it’s back up into the saddle,
to get away from the pressure. When it does this it
can't
carry it’s head up in a natural working position, and, consequently,
especially in gaited horses, the
gait quickly goes away.
This brings us to the next most important issue in saddle
selection. Remember, the first is comfort for the horse – good bar shape. But
the saddle must also place the rider in the correct place on the horse’s back.
This correct place I call “the sweet spot”, the place where you would sit
naturally while riding bareback. That can only be achieved if the bars are short
enough, especially at the front end, to sit comfortably behind the
horse’s shoulders, but still seat you in the saddle in the sweet spot. Most
western saddles simply don’t do that. Why?
I think by now you already know.
As I've already pointed out, most production western saddles have bars that are too long
and too straight. Most western saddles don’t have enough flair at the bar
ends, either. Most western saddles have bars that are set too flat, at too wide an angle
in the front, and consequently sit only on the top half of the bars in front
(where you always see the white hair developing, due to excessive pressure). To
make matters worse (for trail riders or gaited horse riders) most western
saddles are double rigged. They have the front rigging placed right under the
pommel. That's to secure the horn when you rope something. The back cinch is
there to hold the saddle down on the
horse’s back, so you (the roper) don’t get ejected out of the saddle when the
cow hits the end of the rope!
But double rigging turns the saddletree into a back brace,
interfering with the horse's ability to bend and turn, at least if both front
and back cinch are on tight. If the back cinch is allowed to hang loose (as most
people do), it is an open invitation to every sharp stick along the trail to be
pulled in and stuck into the most vulnerable portion of the horse's anatomy. Is
that what we trail riders really want? Of course not. The rigging's job is to keep the
saddle from turning over on the horse’s back, while letting the horse move as
freely as possible under the saddle. Trail saddles should be single rigged, with
the rigging set in the skirting, well back, under the rider’s leg, with the
latigos angling forward into the cinch's d-rings. That will let the horse move
it's freest, and prevent cinch sores.
Now, the other important issues to be considered with
saddles are these. The saddle should be as comfortable and as secure for the
rider as is possible, but still allow the rider to do the type of activity the
saddle was bought and intended for. The saddle should place the rider’s weight
in the center of the tree, where the horse can carry it the best. Therefore, if
you are a speed rider (like endurance riders) or if you are using the saddle for
sports like polo or roping, the stirrups should be hung over (or nearer to) the center of the
bars. That’s because you’ll be standing above the horse’s back, with most
of your weight in the stirrups, most of the time.
However, if you’re a gaited horse rider or a
pleasure-trail rider, you’ll want the stirrups to be hung further forward.
That’s because you’ll be carrying most of your weight in your seat most of
the time, something I call “sit-down equitation”. For this form of riding
the stirrup leathers should let your legs hang naturally, in the “rider’s
groove”, the narrowest place at the sides of the horse. Naturally, the stirrup
leathers should be free swinging and easy to turn… not those three-inch wide
things found on almost all western saddles.
In this style of riding (my style) you do not line
up your shoulders, hips, and heels. You sit on your pockets – not on your
crotch. Your feet are flat and relaxed in the stirrups – not pushed down, with
leg muscles tight. "Sit-down equitation" brings out the best gait in gaited horses,
but it requires a saddle that is designed and built for it. Most western saddles make this
sit-down position almost impossible to achieve. Consequently, most horses
don’t gait very well (for very long) in these western saddles.
One other quality a good saddle must posses to please me
is…quality. That’s right. You don’t put a cheap plastic and cloth interior in a Mercedes
Benz or BMW. And, you don’t saddle a fine horse in plastic and synthetics
either. The
smell and feel of genuine leather makes me aware of a sense of pride in my
horse, and connects me
with the horseman’s traditions, thus enhancing my pleasure in riding.
And my attitude (pride) is reflected in my riding, and, consequently, in my
horse’s performance.
So, how do you find such a saddle? Well, after buying and
trying a dozen other saddles, and asking the same question that you are asking,
I decided the only answer was to design my own saddle… a long and arduous
process that has resulted in today’s Don West “Signature Series”
Pleasure-Trail Saddles. They're made and sold by Have Saddle-Will Travel, Inc. To
accomplish this I took what I felt was the best of English, Western,
Australian, Spanish, and South American Saddles, and incorporated them into one
Pleasure-Trail Saddle. But the most important part is still the tree.
If the tree doesn’t fit the horse’s back correctly (comfortably), none of
the other issues will matter.
To tell if a tree fits properly you need not take
measurements, make casts, etc. etc. In today’s saddle world, very few custom
saddle makers make their own trees. If and when they do, they are very, very
expensive. Tree makers, who make a living by making trees, won’t build bars to
you measurements. They just guess what tree they have that comes closest to your
gullet measurement. That leaves the curve of your horses back out of the
formula. The curve of your
horse’s back is more important than gullet width.
So, unless you just happen to get lucky, all you’re measuring has probably accomplished nothing.
In today’s world the best way to see if a saddle fits is
still to take the bare tree and put it on your horses back…before the saddle
is built on it. Put the ends of the
bars (in front) behind the shoulder blades – snuggled up to them if the tree
has good flair at the bar ends. Now, look to see, does the tree bridge? Do the
bars make good even contact from pommel to cantle? Does the tree rock back and
forth – a little for light riders, and more for heavier riders – to
accommodate the rider’s weight (as that weight lowers the horse’s back)?
Does the saddletree put the rider in the sweet spot? Does it look like the tree
sits balanced, not leaning the rider forward or backwards? If the tree meets all
these tests (while the horse is standing with its head straight ahead and in its
natural working position) it will almost assuredly be O.K.…good enough.
If the saddletree looks like it is riding too high in
front, opening up the gullet width might well solve the problem.
This is something that tree makers can do fairly easily. If it is too
low, you might need to narrow the gullet width a bit. Remember, this isn’t
rocket science. There is only so much you can do with pieces of wood placed
against muscle and bone. Good enough is usually good enough. Problem is that so
many production trees fit so poorly. That’s because they were all originally
designed for Quarter Horses, and arena roping.
Most horses are very tolerant, but even they can only stand so much discomfort for so long. If we don’t pay attention to the subtle signs they give us at first, they are sometimes forced into using stronger means to tell us. Some folks don’t get the message until they get hurt. In your case, it sounds like you are already listening to your horse. That's great! I hope you will try one of my trees on hour horse’s back and see for yourself if it won’t work. That’s still the best way. I hope it will work, and that you’ll join the growing group of gaited horse trail riders who “ride with pride” on a Don West Pleasure-Trail Saddle. Good luck and happy trails, Don West
Copyright © 2004 by Donald Parker West
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Last Updated: November, 2004