Master Saddle Fitters International

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Would you be interested in a Saddle and Rider interaction live workshop?

🌟 how your saddle affects your posture
🌟do you have pain when you ride
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If you have anything you wish to know please comment below.

Following on from our previous posts...

We now have our wooden leaves or layers that will be glued ontop of one another to form a "ply" form on a mould. This is then baked in an oven to set the glue.

Once the form is set it is ready for sanding and cantle attachment we shall talk about this more tomorrow.

Remember if you would like to know anything saddle fitting related please let us know.

Remember that Beech ply tree we shared yesterday?

Here is the start of a little tale of how one is made.

Patterns of trees have been developed by tree makers and saddlers for years.

There are many changeable elements of a tree. Change just one and it alters the fit and feel of the saddle for the horse and/or the rider.

With these changeable elements there are some 3500ish (maths is not my best point) tree options out there. Probably many many more.

The point is that trees are quite variable. Simply choosing a tree based on one element is not the basis for clever saddle fitting.

Any questions or other subject matters you'd like to learn about please do comment or message us.

Do you know what is in your saddle?

This is a beech ply sprung tree, this is a commonly used tree type across many brands of English saddles.

We shall be sharing plenty of info about all things saddle and saddle fitting, be sure to follow us so you don't miss any info.

If you have anything you would like to know please comment below or pop us a message.

The Pelvis

You are going to find us talking about the pelvis quite a lot over the coming months.

The pelvis is the centre of balance for the rider.

If the pelvis is not balanced and supported both longitudinally and laterally then the rider will subconsciously use their postural muscles to try and correct the imbalances.

This rider above is sitting in a saddle that does not suit her pelvis shape. This is causing her pelvis to tilt anteriorly, this in turn causes the back of the rider to hollow, remember this is subconscious, this is the brain trying to avoid pain, discomfort and imbalance.

We will talk about this more soon but no its not all about the twist!

So yes this is a common topic for us! However it still amazes us how many saddles are simply placing the rider out of balance!

When the saddle is out longitudinally (front to back) then the riders pelvis and upper body will be affected.

Has anyone told you how riding is all about your pelvis? NO!? Then they should have. If the pelvis is not able to sit in balance on the saddle it will affect the rest of your body.

There are many contributing factors that effect the pelvis of the rider. In this post we will keep it simple. If your saddle tips forwards or back then your pelvis will too. This will cause you to compensate in your body elsewhere!

Horse riding is hard!

We spend our hard earned cash, our time, often our blood, sweat and tears having, owning and riding horses.

We make sure they have everything they need. The right hoof care, the right nutrition, the body worker, all the right equipment and anything that we feel can make their life a better one.

When it comes to our riding, we buy the breeches, the boots, we find the best trainer, we get the saddle fitter (of course) .

Yet somehow with all of that care, patience, knowledge and financing. We seem to forget that we are placing our neglected bodies on top of them.

How many of you do yoga or pilates? Go see a body worker, whether that be Osteo, chiro, physio, or massage? How many take note of our own postures and movement patterns?

Horse riding is about taking 3 elements, the horse a living breathing being with his own patterns of movement, asymmetries and compensation patterns. Placing a rider on top with all the same yet individual patterns, asymmetries etc. Place an object between the two that is supposed to solve of the two beings problems.

Let's look at this rider. This riders does do pilates on a regular basis. Yet when we assessed her posture she couldn't believe the asymmetries. Her left shoulder is lower, because of this her left hand hang lowers. There is more of a gap at the right elbow over the left. Her pelvis was tilted with the right side being more forward that the left.

It is so hard to show this in a 2d photo but there were many other things and we shall cover those in more detail over the coming posts.

Let's take more note of our bodies and our horses bodies and see what they are doing. It will help you I promise!

So many times we see saddles advertised using the dee to dee measurement to give an indication on the width of the saddle.

The dee rings, as seen in our previous post, "Glossary; Dee Rings" posted on the 12th April, explains how the dee rings are attached in various spots on the tree of the saddle for the purpose of attaching items.

Dee rings are in no way placed in a consistent position on each saddle of the same brand or model, let alone across different brands.

As you can see in the graphics attached, the dee rings can be positioned within an 1" to 2" area up the side of the point depending upon its length.

Left had top section of the graphics; if the dee rings are position an inch or so lower on the same saddle the width between the dee rings will be a very different measurement.

In the top right hand corner you can see two very different tree shapes and "width" or angles of the point. The dee could be in the areas of the white dots, on both of these trees and yet they are very different shapes and "widths".

This is a lengthy subject, as is many subjects when it comes to saddles, we shall touch on this subject again.

Please remember DEE RINGS DO NOT DENOTE THE WIDTH OF A SADDLE.

The 3 elements of saddle fitting...

Glossary; Dee rings.

Usually at the front of the saddle, however sometimes located towards the back. These rings are for attaching things to the saddle. They should be attached to the tree when a saddle is made.

They can be added later on with the saddle being taken apart and the dee rings added by attaching to the tree for security.

You can also get hook-on dee rings as a quick fix for extra attachments at the front, these hook onto the stirrup bar.

the Dee rings at the front are for use with breast plates or saddle bags and the ones usually to the right side of the saddle are for saddle bags.

One thing to remember is DEE RINGS SHOULD NOT BE USED IN ANY WAY TO INDICATE THE WIDTH OF A SADDLE. We will be discussing this in more detail in a coming post.

Well its official, we are one quarter the way through 2021, which can mean only one thing.

The ART OF THE HORSEMAN FAIR will be live through Monday and Tuesday.

We have a couple of lectures on there along with over 60 others that have great educational material too.

Access is completely free. Follow the link to claim your free ticket. https://www.becauseofthehorse.net/

Thank you for your support to the British Equestrian community.

A passionate man, passionate about horses. A skilled horseman in his own right. Excelling in driving and representing our Country Internationally many times.

Encouraging to the equine community and to his own family members. He encouraged and supported both Prince Charles and of course Princes Anne in her career in racing and eventing.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh RIP 9/4/21

Launching today, Aussie time, the podcast that Georgie was invited to speak on "First Do No Harm". Katie and Georgie had a lovely chat about things needed to be considered with saddle fitting.

It does, it really does!

Too many times I see pictures of saddles being questioned on their fit, through various groups on facebook, so very often the saddle is too far forwards!

When the saddle is too far forwards it can sit upon the scapula. Now, there is little evidence to show whether this is a good or a bad thing, however, it is standard to err on the side of caution and not place the saddle "on" the scapula.

This "on" the scapula does differ dependent upon your panel shape as some more recent models of English and Western saddles are designed to sit OVER the scapula but NOT ON IT, it is important to distinguish between the two.

More to the point, it is a bad thing as the tree is tipped out of balance, therefore the panel does not come in to contact with the horses back quite as well as it should. This causes 2 things to happen, 1, the panel ends up not having as much surface area in contact with the back causing an increased PSI under the panel that is in contact with the horses back. 2, the panel ends up tipping or tilting into the horses late thoracic region meaning it is causing localized pressure especially when you consider the next point.

As you can see in the picture when the saddle is too far forwards it sits upon the scapula cartilage and tips the saddle backwards. This will in turn cause the riders pelvis to tip back, creating a compensation in their position. Very often this compensation results in them subconsciously riding with their legs forwards and then the shoulders will creep forwards too.

A rider not sitting in a balanced neutral position, will cause the horse to carry themselves differently, this can make it harder for them to move smoothly and fluidly.

Next time you have your saddle fitter out, please ask them to check where you are placing the saddle. So that you may avoid this happening in the future.

Georgie is presenting a webinar through Equitopia Center, if you would like to join her please follow the link below to secure your ticket.

Webinar: Saddle Fit – the essential bridge to successful outcomes – Equitopia Equitopia members: log in to your account in order to avail of 100% discount! Non-members sign up here - for $4.95/month, you will have free access to webinars in addition to a vast array of members' content including videos, webinar recordings, podcast and lots more!  

So many signs that your saddle doesn't fit happen before this does. 😱

Don't ignore the signs; ruffled coat when you take the saddle off, dry spots on a sweaty horse after work and many more signs, indicate to the rider when the saddle needs checking.

Please get your saddle checked regularly to avoid things like this from happening. 😓

The saddle is THE most important tool you have as a rider. It is the interface between you and your horse. Make sure it supports you and your horse well so that they may enjoy their work as much as we do!

We love our horse and we want them to be happy and comfortable so don't neglect routine saddle fitting check ups. ❤️❤️

Of course, saddle fit is not just about the saddle!

Have you chosen or did you allow your horse?

It really does take a team! Keeping a horse sound, athletic and, most importantly happy, to carry out the tasks asked of them, takes a selection of professionals and an educated owner. Make sure you know as much as you can.

Tree angle more commonly referred to as "width" is a complicated subject, with many having their own opinion.

For us, angle of the tree should enable free movement of the scapula, without the tree causing a lack of balance in the seat for the rider.

For example this saddle is too wide and due to this the saddle is "down" in front, while it is known that too narrow causes pressure behind the scapula, too wide does too, in fact, very often causes more pressure than too narrow.

This is due to the saddle falling forward not supporting the mass of the rider evenly. The horse then ends up with heightened levels of pressure under the section of the tree where the rail and the head meet.

We shall be covering this in more detail in a video coming soon.