In Part I of this series in July, we met a gaited mule named Isaac, evaluated by Kerry Ridgway, DVM, and a Quar- ter Horse mare named Lilly, evaluated by Kit Hazleton. In Part II in September, Joyce Harman, DVM, evaluated a Missouri Fox Trot er mare named Tess. In Part III this month, Peggy Cummings and Linda Tellington-Jones check out a pair of Quarter Horse mares and off er solutions. We hope their stories will help you to sharpen your eye and expand your awareness of saddle fi t for your own horse.
Case Study #4: Precious EVALUATION BY PEGGY CUMMINGS
Precious has a “downhill” build—her withers are lower than her croup. T is type of conformation presents a very specifi c and sometimes diffi cult saddle-fi t ing challenge.
1
2 I rescued a Quarter Horse/Paint mare named Precious at an auction. She is 15.1, about 975 lb and seven years old. Our goal
is trail riding. I purchased a western saddle said to be a roping saddle. It seemed to fi t her okay, but as I began riding her more, she started get ing antsy and breathing hard on the trails. I tried diff erent saddle pads with no luck. I thought it might be her feet (she’s barefoot), so I bought her trail boots and she started get ing bucky. I had the vet come out, and the diagnosis was that her back indeed was bothering her. So I gave her a couple of months off , then tried an Aussie saddle on loan f om a f iend. Again she tried to buck me off , and now I am scared to ride her. Please help!—Susan Barter Scot , Connecticut
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irst, as I look at Photos 1 and 2, I see that this horse is built downhill. So the most critical aspects that need to
be addressed are: » T e saddle must allow for freedom of shoulder movement, and the saddle and pad must be up off the horse’s withers.
» T e saddle must be level, as it is presently sit ing downhill. In Photo 3, you can see the saddle is not fi t ing level.
» T e saddle needs a rear cinch in order to prevent it from fi shtailing and causing friction on the horse’s back, espe- cially as the horse turns.
» T e saddle is too long for this horse’s back. T ere needs to be at least a hand’s width from the point of the hip to the back of the skirt.
28 | November 2012 •
WWW.TRAILBLAZERMAGAZINE.US In Photo 4, with the rider in the saddle, it seems the saddle
is really sit ing down on the horse’s withers and again it is not level. In addition to appearing to fi t pret y tight in the front, it is not making good contact in the rear. Place the saddle on the horse’s back without the pad and if
the front swell (pommel) just sits down and makes contact on the horse’s withers, it is too wide, especially if at the same time the area from the back of the seat to the rear of the skirt is not making good contact on the horse’s back. If this is oc- curring, the saddle is too wide. Shims in this case could really be helpful. Additional photos would be needed to assess this, but I suspect the saddle you have does not have enough fl are at
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