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author of the article, and that he is continuing to follow in the philosophy which he originally learned from Jochen Schleese about 10 years ago. It is always important to hope that many horses and


riders will benefit from the educational information that was presented in this article; too much in saddle fitting is still based on opinion rather than fact. Danny has obviously been able to accomplish much in the field of saddle fitting research that takes the results out of the field of speculation and into the realm of pure fact. There is really only one point [in the article] that we would


disagree with. We still find that a wool/synthetic mix is the optimum stuffing for most saddles, although admittedly it does take considerably more skill to adjust than Flair. We have found that while Flair worked relatively well for jumping saddles, it generally caused too much bounce for the rider when doing dressage—with exceptions of course—which was why we have reverted back to pretty much 100% wool flocking. It just seems to be more forgiving for the rider, good for the horse’s back, and has better adjustability on the whole with less problems such as leaking or bounciness. Sabine Schleese, Schleese Saddlery, Holland Landing, ON


We received a variety of questions from our readers in


response to the article “Saddle Fit for the 21st Century” which was an interview with Danny Kroetch that ran in September/ October. Danny has responded to these follow-up questions.


Q: How do you determine [as the saddle fitter] what the air


pressure should be that is comfortable for both horse and rider? DK: Determining how much air to use is the same process


as determining how much wool to use. There is certainly a minimal amount. You don’t want the tree to come in contact with the horse. He should never feel the tree of the saddle. There is no maximal amount. People ask me all the time how much air, or how much wool, should be used. My answer is whatever it takes to fit the horse correctly. You always want to use the least amount of air possible to do the job it is designed to do: cover the tree while allowing the panel to stay soft and flatten out as much as possible to cover the greatest surface area, thereby allowing the muscle to move freely underneath it. If the saddle is balanced correctly from front to back and side to side, whether air or wool, then the saddle is fit properly to the horse, ensuring the comfort of both horse and rider. Remember that horses are not symmetrical; the air or wool will not be the same on both sides. There has been a tremendous amount of independent research comparing the pressure of air panels to wool panels over the muscles of the horse’s back. Studies have been conducted using new wool flocking as well as wool flocking which has settled. The horses were evaluated


14 November/December 2012


under saddle at all gaits. The results unanimously concluded there was far less pressure with the air filled panels. Air will never become hard as does wool. We recommend our clients have their saddle fit checked one or two times a year. At that time we check and adjust the air if necessary.


Q: How wide, or narrow, does Danny recommend the channel of a saddle should be? DK: The channel of a saddle should never be less than four fingers wide. This will ensure that the spinous processes on the vertebral bodies [that make up the spine] and the dorsal ligament are never pinched or damaged. The wider the horse’s back, the wider the dorsal ligament. On a very wide horse the channel should be six fingers wide. On a narrower horse the channel should be four fingers wide, but never less. The width of the saddle channel should be the same from front to back. Some saddles start out wide at the front then become narrow, which is incorrect. The dorsal ligament becomes wider as the back becomes rounder, so you need the channel to stay wide all the way to the back of your saddle.


Q: I've heard that a small amount of "bridging” is good [for


wool stuffed] to allow the back to round up under the saddle. Is this true? Can you explain the concept of "bridging" and will an air-filled saddle bridge? DK: Bridging is a terrible concept. Bridging means that


all the pressure is exerted on either end of the tree; all the pressure is on the scapula of the horse and on the lumbar of the horse with no panel contact over the strongest part of the horses back—the thoracic 9-12 vertebrae. Actually, the pressure needs to be equally distributed from front to back on a standing or walking horse, in order to allow the horse to round up under the saddle during work when we ask him to pick up [his back]. When you first get on your horse and start working him, he’s working with a dropped back. If you have a bridging saddle you force your horse to hollow more. How can he pick up his back with all the pressure on his scapula blocking the shoulders and the pressure on his lumbar? Furthermore the panels of the saddle need to have contact with the horse’s back along the entire length of the saddle on both sides for him to “round up under the saddle.” Many, many years ago the thought was that you needed a slight amount of bridging in order to allow the horse’s back to come up. However, due to advances in veterinary medical research it has been proven that this theory is incorrect. The nice thing about an air-filled saddle is that the air moves to the areas of least resistance, ensuring full panel contact at all times. So, even if your saddle goes to a bridging position the air will never bridge.


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