JULY 2012 THE RIDER /53 Saddlefit 4 Life: Saddle Fit from the Horse’s POV


Saddle pinching in the withers area is one of the most common problems – this is the area where the stallion bites the mare to immobilize her during mat- ing, so that if the tree is too tight here, the result will be an unwillingness to move forward. This is simply instinctual, but it is also the result of simple discomfort. In addition, most wooden English spring trees have forward facing tree points, which, if the saddle is placed too far forward, can continuously ‘bang’ on the shoulder blades – causing at best, pain, and at worst, bone chips!


By Jochen Schleese. CMS, CSFT, CEE


Correct saddle fit is one of the most crucial aspects of comfort and pro- tection for your horse. So many of the symptomatic issues which arise can often be attributed back to something as seemingly banal as an incorrectly fit- ting saddle – tongue prob- lems, swishing tail, cold- backed, ‘girthiness’, lame- ness, etc. just to name a few! Every horse is an indi- vidual, and as such, should have a saddle which is fit specifically to him. Although all horses have the same bones and mus- cles (obviously), there will be a difference in the way they develop and grow – perhaps due to food, train- ing, general health, new shoes and so on. Each of these external influences will have a bearing on the final outcome, and can actually influence saddle fit from one day to the next!


we can; meaning trying to keep pressure points to a minimum. So what we really want to feel when we run our hand down the same spot is an even feel- ing from top to bottom with the tree a little more loose or free at the top. (See diagram B). Now why do we want this? Diagram B provides much more even and well dis- tributed pressure down the length of the supporting tree, therefore the muscles in the neck can relax and drop and we can work our horses into a relaxed true engagement


In order to make the horse and rider as effective and comfortable as possi- ble, we have to have a communicator or interface between them. The saddle is always the communica- tor however, a well-fit sad- dle is the interface which allows the team to feel each others actions and get peak performance. We cannot help causing a degree of pressure when we put a for- eign object onto a horse’s back. The most important thing, however, is that we do the best for them that


Olympic Profiles continued from page 49.


mare, Aerial. Later that year, the duo finished third in the Olympic Selection Trials, producing the only double clean performance and winning the final leg of the trials. In 1997, aboard Til Tomor- row, Jill claimed the Chrysler Leading Canadian Rider Award at the Spruce Meadows Masters and in 1999 was a member of the Pan American Bronze Medal Team, which qualified Canada for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.


Henselwood won the coveted Canadian World Cup League in 2001, with her long time partner Toyzrus. That same year, the dynamic partnership became champions of both the Jump Canada and Audi Classics series, confirming Jill’s position as the country’s undeniable top grand prix rider of the year. In 2004, Jill achieved a personal best of six grand prix victories, and was also a member of the bronze medal Nations Cup team at the CSIO Spruce Meadows.


Jill’s career continued to skyrocket in 2005 as she was crowned Canadian Champion for the first time at the prestigious Royal Horse Show in Toronto. Together with earning her second con- secutive Spruce Meadows North American Cham- pionship and leading the Canadian World Cup League, 2005 saw Jill remain as one of Canada’s top show jumping athletes with career prize money earnings in excess of 1.5 million dollars. Jill has been steadily adding to that prize earnings total, especially after kicking off the 2006 season with a win in the $150,000 Grand Prix of the Desert, at the Desert Circuit VI, in Indio, CA. In August, Jill traveled to Aachen, Germany where she represent- ed Canada at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games.


In 2007, she won the individual gold medal and a team silver medal at the Pan American Games, becoming the first woman in 24 years to win the individual Pan American Games gold medal in show jumping. She was also only the fourth woman in history to do so. At the 2008 Olympics, Jill was part of the first Canadian show jumping team to win a medal in 40 years. She was part of the silver medal winning team at the Beijing Olympic Games, for which the equestrian events were held in Hong Kong. It was her first Olympic


When you are trying to assess proper saddle fit, we suggest you examine these areas specifically to determine whether or not there are problems:


Today’s sport horses are bred differently than even 50 years ago – their backs are generally much shorter – which leads to problems when saddles are too long in the panel area; they can put pressure on the kidneys and cause stumbling or tripping and transi- tion errors from one gait to the next.


withers, so that once the horse moves and the mus- cles “engage” the tree will not pinch, over the trapez- ius as well as on top. c) Gullet width: Wide enough not to interfere with the spinal processes, the dorsal ligament system, or the musculature of the horse’s back. (ideally 3-4 fingers, depending on the breed – Arabs, for example will need a wider gullet) d) Full panel contact: should touch the horse’s back even all the way from front to back (some saddles will have the panel curved a little more at the cantle and not touching, to allow for the horse’s back to come up during movement – at which point it


e) should then contact the back evenly along its length).


f) Tree width – should be wide enough to allow the saddle to fit properly dur- ing movement (even if it looks a little wide when the horse is standing still) g) Billet alignment: should hang perpendicular to the ground so that the girth is not angled


h) Shoulder angle: panel points should be flush with the shoulder to position the saddle properly


a) Balance: the centre of the saddle (seat area) should be parallel to the floor on the horse’s back b) Withers clearance: should be 2-3 fingers for normal withers, mutton withers will have more, high withers less. What is important here is that there ideally should be enough space all around at the


i) Straightness: saddle should not fall off to one side when viewed from the back; tree points should be positioned behind the shoulder blades


Bridging occurs when there is pressure or contact in the front and the back of the saddle but no contact in the middle. In the example diagram C these four cir- cles show where those pressure points occur. So why do we want our sad- dles not to bridge? When the saddle does this it caus- es the longissimus dorsi muscle to tighten and therefore the back drops, the head comes up and the pelvis rotates up. Now we have a stiff, disengaged, unhappy horse.


over the back. This allows the horse to relax his back and therefore get his hind- end underneath him and move forward properly engaged.


j) Saddle length: shoulder and loin areas should not carry any weight – the sad- dle should sit squarely within the ‘safe area’ over the ribcage and not extend behind the last rib.


Games. She had already represented Canada in four Pan American Games and two World Champi- onships.


Jill and George were nominated in June 2012 to the Canadian Equestrian Team for Jumping at the London Olympic Games. Jill is co-owner of Juniper Farms in Oxford Mills, Ontario, where she trains top junior and amateur riders. A national level 3 coach, Jill also assists the Ontario Young Riders team, in preparation for the annual North American Young Riders Championships. HORSE George - 2002 chestnut Hanoverian gelding Owner: Brian Gingras


The best scenario is a pressure pattern like is shown in diagram D. The ribcage in your horse’s back only extends so far and we want to carry the weight of the saddle on this ribcage, more specifically at the widest and strongest section of the rib cage - the middle. So by having the saddle lying evenly on the horse’s back taking more pressure in the middle, we have now utilized the horse’s natural physiology and also distributed the pressure more effectively


It has been a seemingly easy solution to try to attempt to fix poor saddle fit by using pads of various types. In all cases, a prop- erly fitting saddle should not need any pad whatso- ever; pads should be thin, washable cotton only – to protect the leather against the horse’s sweat. Shims can be used as temporary expedients until the saddle can be properly fitted; again – once fitted to the horse, they should become unnecessary. In those cases where you have to use your saddle on more than one horse, have it fitted to the largest horse and then use pads to make it work on the others


cled accordingly) and this can often not be changed to any degree by training. It is what it is, and therefore, the saddle should be fitted accordingly. If the saddle is fitted completely straight, the result will be that because of the more heavi- ly muscled left shoulder, it will slide over to the right. The rider compensates by leaning to the left, to try and sit straight. You end up with a saddle in the wrong position, a rider in the wrong position, and abso- lutely nothing changes in the left-handedness of the horse. If on the other hand, the saddle is fitted properly to accommodate this inher- ent left-sided muscling and as a result sits straight when the horse begins to move (allowing the rider also to sit straight), there is a chance that the rider can actually do exercises prop- erly to try and muscle up the right side (instead of having to concentrate on not falling off!)


–if and only if the saddle is too wide. If the saddle is too small (ie., too narrow over the withers) adding pads is akin to wearing extra socks to make shoes fit that are already too small. You are simply exacerbating the problem. A recent subject that has come up has been the discussion of whether it is correct to fit a saddle ‘crookedly’ to an unevenly muscled horse. Firstly, most horses will be unevenly muscled (most are left-handed and mus-


where he earned a Team Bronze Medal and at the 2007 Pan American Games where he won team sil- ver and individual bronze.


It was in his Olympic debut in 2008 where Eric won the Individual Gold Medal riding the great Hickstead and helped Canada capture the Team Silver. These remarkable achievements rep- resent the greatest success ever of the Canadian Equestrian Team at the Olympic Games. At the end of the 2008 year, Eric became number one in the Rolex World Rider Rankings, a feat he has since repeated on numerous occasions.


With Hickstead, a stallion small in stature but huge in heart, Eric won countless grand prix events in some of the most impressive show jumping venues in the world. At both the 2007 and 2011 editions of the Spruce Meadows “Masters” Tourna- ment, Eric and Hickstead won the $1 million CN International, the richest grand prix event in the world. Before his tragic death at the Verona horse show in November of 2011, Hickstead won several major grand prix titles including Geneva (2008), Aachen (2010), La Baule (2011), and Rome (2011). Partnered with Eric since he was seven years old, Hickstead won more than $3.75 million (Canadian) in prize money during his career and was widely acknowledged as the best show jump- ing horse of his era.


ERIC LAMAZE Birthplace: Montreal, Quebec Birthdate: April 17, 1968 Hometown: Schomberg, Ontario


Eric Lamaze was very successful as a junior and hunter rider, working with a number of top trainers including Roger Deslauriers, George Mor- ris, Jay Hayes and Hugh Graham. Just one year after entering the grand prix ring in 1992, Eric was named to the Canadian Equestrian Team. Eric has since represented Canada at five con- secutive World Equestrian Games — 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, and 2010 where he earned the Individ- ual Bronze Medal and his mount, Hickstead, was named ‘Best Horse’ after jumping clear rounds with all of his riders in the famous ‘Final Four’. He has also represented Canada at the past four con- secutive Pan American Games including in 1999


Lamaze owns Torrey Pines Stables in Schomberg, Ontario, where he operates a large training business and coaches numerous show jumping athletes. For the majority of the year, Eric is based in Belgium where he has access to some of the best show jumping sport in the world. In his spare time, Lamaze is an avid golfer and also enjoys tennis and squash. HORSE Verdi - 2002 grey Dutch Warmblood gelding by Heartbreaker x Mr. Blue Owner: Artisan Farms and Torrey Pines Stable Derly Chin de Muze - 2003 chestnut Belgian Warmblood mare by For Pleasure x Nabab de Reve Owner: Ashland Stables and Torrey Pines Stable


IAN MILLAR Birthplace: Halifax, Nova Scotia Birthdate: January 6, 1947 Hometown: Perth, Ontario


Ian Millar is


one of the most successful com- petitors in the history of Cana- dian show jump- ing.


First named


to the Canadian Equestrian Team in 1971, he has gone on to repre- sent Canada proudly. With nine Olympic starts as of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Millar


tied the world record for Olympic appearances. He has also competed in more Olympic Games than any athlete in Canadian history, in any sport. In addition to setting those records, Millar won his first Olympic medal in 2008, a team silver. If Millar’s Olympic record is impressive for longevity, his Pan American Games record is equally so for his medal count. He has earned nine medals in eight Pan Am appearances, more than any other show jumping athlete.


Prior to setting his Olympic and Pan American Games records, it was the World Cup of show jumping where Millar first broke new ground. In 1988 and 1989, he and his legendary partner, Big Ben, became the first-ever horse and rider combi- nation to win back-to-back World Cup Finals. The most decorated equestrian in Canadian history, Millar is a member of the Order of Canada, was Ontario’s Athlete of the Year in 1989, was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1996, and was awarded an honourary doctorate by the University of Guelph in 2005 Ian makes his home at Millar Brooke Farm in Perth, Ontario, just outside of Ottawa, with his children, Jonathon and Amy, who have both been Canadian Show Jump- ing Team members. HORSE


Star Power - 2001 bay Dutch-bred gelding by Quick Star Owner: Team Works


A main consideration is definitely the rider him/herself when purchas- ing a saddle. f the rider is not comfortable in the sad- dle and the saddle is not right for the rider, then it doesn’t matter how well the saddle fits the horse because the rider will be fighting the saddle and this discomfort will translate through to the horse – inhibiting performance. This however, is the topic of a whole ‘nother article, since in this one we’re con- centrating on fit to the horse.


Saddle fit is no longer Continued on Page 54.


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