Saddles & Saddle Fitting

• Dressage Saddles
• General Purpose Saddles
• Jumping Saddles
• Pony Saddles
• Showing Saddles

Saddle Fitting

• Equine welfare
• The comfort of both you and your horse
• Your combined success

• The size and width of the tree must be suited to the horse being fitted
• The angle of the tree must correspond to the angle of the horse’s shoulder
• The size of the saddle must be suitable for both horse and rider. Generally speaking, the small rider and large horse do not present a problem providing care is taken to ensure that the flap of the saddle is not so long that the small, short-legged rider cannot adopt a correct leg position. Equipping the large rider on a small horse can occasionally pose insuperable problems. As always, the horse remain’s the Saddle Fitter’s priority and, in extreme cases, there may not be an alternative to suggesting the horse or pony is exchanged for an animal more suited to the rider’s proportions.
• The saddle must provide total clearance of the horse’s dorsal spinal processes.
• The saddle must not interfere with the backward rotation of the horse’s scapula
• The saddle must be balanced and the deepest part of the seat should encourage the rider to sit in the centre of the horse’s movement.
• The bearing surfaces of the saddle should be as large as possible. They must make even contact with the horse’s back without creating any pressure points.
• The saddle must remain centrally located at all paces and free from excessive movement such as swinging, swaying,rocking and rotating. (NOTE:there will always be limited,acceptable movement in the saddle. This may be exaggerated and harmful if the rider fails to locate centrally or is unbalanced)
• The tree,the foundation on which the saddle is constructed, must be entirely symmetrical.
• The panels of the saddle must be completely symmetrical. (NOTE:there will be rare occasions when the Saddle Fitter recommends adjusting the flocking to correspond with irreversible one-sidedness sometimes demonstrated in older horses as a result of past injuries.
• The flocking in the saddle is intended to cushion and act as a shock absorber. It must be entirely free from lumps and should never be hard.(NOTE:flocking a saddle requires great skill and considerable knowledge. Only Qualified Saddler's should make adjustments to the saddle.)
• The girth should lie within the girth groove and,when adjusted, should not pull the saddle forward.
• Horses change shape for a variety of reasons.Therefore, the saddle that fits well today may require adjusting in a matter of just a few weeks.