POINT OF VIEW By Jochen Schleese, CMS, CSFT, CSE
Saddle Fitting 101
A master saddler shares advice on the practical science of saddle fitting.
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our horse’s conformation will change many times over the course of his life. Think of a circle surrounding him (or her), one divided into equal pieces with a minimum
of eight at any given time. Only one of these pieces repre- sents the rider; other components include the trainer, the vet- erinarian, other body workers, nutrition, the blacksmith, the horse’s age and condition and the tack—including bits, bri- dles, girths, saddles and pads. The saddle and the work of the saddle fitter must never
be considered in isolation, since all of the pieces of this circle of influence are interdependent. If the training methods or the horse’s nutrition are altered, the horse’s conformation will change. It follows logically that the saddle will no longer fit – and the reason is not because the saddle fitter did a bad job but because the shape of the horse’s back has been altered. Occasionally I hear riders say, “I have been using my saddle
for a number of years. It fits me perfectly and fits every horse I use.” I have to really bite my tongue on that one but usu- ally just manage to smile and say, “Lucky you.” Unfortunately, some people are just not open to facts that have been sub- stantiated in recent years through MRIs, thermography and fi- bre optic cameras, and they simply do not realize the possible damage they are doing to themselves and their horses. Saddle fitting is an attempt to prevent long term dam-
age to the horse’s back by alleviating pressure on the reflex points and distributing the rider’s weight optimally. Keeping the horse sound and happy as well as the rider healthy should be the ultimate goal for everyone in the circle of influence. All need to work together cooperatively to achieve this. Any change in one of the pieces of the circle (positive or negative) will have a consequence on the others—with the simple re- sult that the saddle may no longer be balanced properly or fit correctly.
Conformational Changes It is a given that over the course of a horse’s life he will change his three-dimensional back shape many times. All things be- ing equal, the shape of the horse’s back and especially the
The Circle of Influence clearly shows the amount of external influ- ences to the well-being of the horse.
length of the saddle support area (from the base of the wither to the last thoracic vertebra) will change most significantly at ages three, five and eight. This can cause frustration for the rider as it will definitely require a saddle fit adjustment to ac- commodate wider shoulders, higher withers and more mus- cling on the back. Also, over time the shoulders will likely have muscled up and physically moved further upwards and backwards—which means that placing the saddle behind the shoulder (as usual) puts it further back by a couple of inches—and now it encroaches past the last thoracic verte- brae to press on the kidneys or ovaries. This is the area that we call the ‘bucking reflex’ —a common and undesirable result! I suggest annual saddle maintenance check-ups and tune- ups as a minimum; this frequency should increase if there are extenuating circumstances or changes in that circle of influ- ence, such as increased training or changed nutrition. One of the problems with buying a custom saddle is the
Over the course of the horse’s life the most radical conformational chang- es will take place at ages 3, 5, and 8. These are cross-sectional illustrations of wither and shoulder areas.
expectation of an inexperienced or uneducated rider that this saddle is going to fit ‘as is’ for the rest of the horse’s life. This seems a bit silly, though, if you consider that a car—a hunk of steel that doesn’t even work as an ongoing interface between two living beings—needs regular servicing and maintenance. Even a saddle which has been regularly maintained and ser- viced, which was purchased for a young horse a few years
Warmbloods Today 55
Kathrin Hester
Michelle J. Powell
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