Some Helpful Comments on Evaluating Saddle Fit - These tips are mainly for the Duett Saddles but can be applied to most all brands, English and Western
NOTE: THERE IS ADDITIONAL INFO WHICH WILL ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT SADDLE FIT ON THE quesstion CALLED "MEASURING YOUR HORSE".
One of the very best ways to determine if your saddle fits is to stand to the side of the horse and take a good look at its balance on the horse's back. Here are some common problems which will tip you off if your saddle doesn't fit.
REMEMBER: saddle fitting is only partly about horse comfort. It is also about your comfort, and about making it possible for you to ride correctly.
Have you ever felt like you can't get your legs underneath you when you're riding? Have you felt like you're sitting in a chair seat, or like you're tipping back too much?
If your saddle is too narrow, the front will not be able to fit down on the back/shoulders of the horse, and the whole saddle will tilt back. You'll be able to tell, because it will be hard for you to ride correctly. You may also have this feeling of being unable to pull your legs back underneath you if the saddle seat is too big.
When you ride, do you feel like you're tipping forward? Does the pommel feel low? Your saddle may be too wide.
When you ride on a well balanced saddle (a proper fit for the horse), do you feel like the cantle is pushing you from behind?
The seat may be too small. If the seat is too small, you won't be able to move back far enough in the seat and you may feel the cantle is crowding you.
When you ride, are your knees poking out in front of the saddle flap, or do you feel like you can't put your stirrups up as much as you'd like? If you do put them up, are you pushed back against the cantle?
You either need a different style of saddle, with a more forward flap, or else you need a bigger seat that allows you to move your body back. You may have a long hip to knee measurement.
Things You May Not Have Heard Before
Some quick information about saddle fitting; it is really not as complicated as some would have you believe.
About the Saddle's Construction
A saddle is built on a tree, either wood or plastic. DUETT saddles are built on a conventional saddle tree: metal-reinforced laminated wood, with "spring tree" - webbed seat for rider comfort. The measurement of the width of a saddle is taken by a manufacturer on the raw tree, before any leather or other materials are added. The tree itself consists of a wood "frame" which provides the seat for the rider; from the pommel arch two metal "arms" extend; these are the bars of the tree.
When the measurement is taken, it is on a "raw" tree, straight across the bottom, from bar tip to bar tip. The more angled the bars are, the wider the measurement will be. However, there is no absolute standardization in the industry, so some bars are shorter than others. Therefore, two saddles with bars at the same angle could measure quite differently if one had shorter bars than the other one. Therefore, you can't always translate directly between saddles. Saddle X in 32 cm may fit your horse differently than Saddle Y in 32 cm.
About the Fit of the Saddle
The bars should lie parallel to the angle of your horse's shoulders, give or take about 10%, according to the Society of Master Saddlers in Britain.
Remember, apart from the tree seat, which does not touch the horse, since it sits over the stuffed panels, and apart from the metal bars, everything else on a saddle is flexible leather and stuffing.
When you put a saddle on your horse, check the shoulders to make sure there is no pinching. Run your hand between the shoulder of the horse and the saddle to be sure your hand is not squeezed. Look at the pommel and the withers. There should be space over the withers - never should the saddle sit on them.
However, many people believe that if there is lots of space between withers and pommel the saddle is too narrow. This is not necessarily true!!!
On horses with low or no withers, there will always be a space under the pommel. This does not hurt your horse. Furthermore, whether there is space, or how much, will depend on the shape of the pommel arch - for example, some saddles have a low pommel arch while others have a high arch, and often the high arch is created in order to create seat depth, as in many dressage saddles.
The shape of the pommel arch is independent of the width of the tree.
Note about Duett Rondo and Trail models
These are designed with a wider than usual pommel arch in the wider trees ... not JUST wider bars. In this way, the panels are spread further apart and will better fit your broad-backed horse. This will make the saddle more comfortable for your horse as well as more stable on his back.
So don't worry unduly about that space. Rather, after making sure the angle of the bars is correct, check two more things:
1. The balance of the saddle on the horse ... make sure it is level and does not tip either backward or forward. The cantle should be as high as the pommel or higher, but not lower than the pommel.
2. Check for bridging ... lift the flaps and make sure that the panels make contact all along their length with the back of the horse. Do keep in mind that the way the saddle sits on the horse will change when their is (your) weight in the saddle. Thus, some slight bridging may well disappear.
Keep this in mind also: both slight imbalance (assuming the saddle bars are the right width) and bridging are easily corrected by a saddle fitter in a saddle with wool flocking.
Saddle Rolling
There is no great solution; non slip pads don't seem to work very well, at least in our experience. Slippery pads ... velour, fleece etc. will make it worse. Use saddle pads with some grippy material (rubberized, etc.) if possible. In addition, we find that using a breastplate helps. The Duett Rondo has a crupper attachment. Above all, tighten your girth!!!
Saddle Sliding Forward
Once again, there is no good solution. This usually happens when the horse's conformation is such that the shape of horse's side flows into the shoulder with no "indentation." If you run your hand along the side towards the shoulder, you won't feel that "dip" that keeps saddles in place. A foregirth (if you can find one) can help, and having a fitter add some flocking to the front of the saddle can help. A crupper attachment is an obvious solution. If anyone hears of other remedies, email us here at Duett.
