Principles of Correct Saddle Fit

Saddle Fit: Understanding the basics - Tree, Panels, and Motion

The basic principles of saddle fitting are relatively easy to understand. The primary principles of saddle fitting are analogous to fitting your foot correctly in a pair of supportive athletic shoes. A well-fitting saddle spreads the rider's weight-per-square-inch evenly over the panels, avoiding excessive or uneven pressure under any part of the tree or panels. The saddle must also be correctly balanced so that neither the back nor front is either perched too high or wedged too low.  

Front and back gussets enable the panel to be shaped for even weight distribution and correct balance.

The purpose of the tree is to distribute the rider's weight as evenly as possible over the broad, strong, muscular surface of the horse's back. The tree is also designed to protect the crucially sensitive spine and central nervous system from impact shock or pressure.  

In order to achieve correct balance for the rider and even distribution of weight for the horse, the tree must be the correct width, and of vital importance, the tree must be the correct shape for the horse. The panel that the saddle sits on cushions the tree, helps to balance the saddle, and provides a close, stable purchase between the saddle and the horse's back.

Saddle Fiting: Straight talk about saddle trees

It is critical to grasp that (1) a correctly-fitting tree is the foundation of good saddle fit; (2) nothing that can be done with flocking will overcome an ill-fitting tree that does not conform well to the shape of the horse's body in one or more aspects of its shape; and (3) the fit considerations of every tree are determined by the tree's overall shape, not simply by its width at the tree points.  

  It cannot be stressed too much that the entire shape of the tree is critical to good fit, not just the tree's nominal width or size.  Among other critical fit considerations that are often ignored are the shape of the head, its horizontal diameter, the length of the tree points, the angle and spacing on the rails, and whether the front-to-back shape of the rails is flat or curvy.  There are many types of trees on the market, and a tree that may seem quite suitable by the obvious criteria of adequate wither clearance and a level seat may be very unsuitable and painful to the horse in some less obvious aspect of fit that might not be taken into consideration.  

Like shoes for humans, some trees are more "forgiving" in their shape, more versatile to fit, and a bit more tolerant of minor changes in the horse's condition.  These types of trees would be comparable to sensible, functional walking shoes one would wear for a long journey rather than fashion footwear chosen for style.  Unfortunately, in the opinion of this writer, there has been something of a trend in recent years toward designing a good number of saddles on trees that are ergonomically bliss for riders but may be less than generous in fitting certain types of horses.   

Many riders on wide horses - or horses who are fairly thick at the base of the withers where the stirrup bars lie -want very much to avoid having to adapt themselves to the full width of the horse they are riding.   There are many, many saddles on offer to facilitate them in this avoidance, at least until the consequences to the horse kick in.  What complicates this situation is that such saddles may appear superficially to be a reasonably good fit.  It is not always easy to identify underlying problems with the shape of a tree once the tree is covered by a seat on top and a thick panel below.  This is why we feel it is so important to have a clear understanding of the fit considerations of a particular type of tree and whether it is suitable in all of its dimensions for a particular type of horse. 

It is immensely helpful if the fitter has some familiarity with the overall shape and dimensions of the particular tree in question to be confident that the structural contours of the tree are a close match for the contours of the horse's body.   Again, it is analogous to fitting a running shoe.  If the length and width are perfect for the athlete's foot, then by all superficial measures, the shoe appears to fit.  But any specialist in sports medicine will confirm that an athlete who persists in wearing shoes that are unsuitable in other, less obvious ways that are not apparent superficially is likely at some point to become a major underwriter of an orthopedic surgeon's golf club membership.  

One aspect of tree fit that is relatively easy to assess is whether the tree points are a reasonable match for the angle of the horse's shoulder, and often the investigation delves no deeper than this. What is harder to discern is whether the other dimensions of the tree are equally well-matched to the shape of the horse's body.     

If, for example, the space between the rails of the tree is too narrow for a horse with a short, dome-shaped wither, the saddle will pinch and pivot over the stirrup bars. One clue to this might be that the back of the saddle tends to flip up and down in rising trot. In this instance, if the spacing of the rails is too narrow or angular for the width and spread of a particular horse's back, the narrow area under the stirrup bars forms a sort of stricture where the contour of the tree deviates significantly from the contour of the horse's back. As the rider weights the stirrup bars, this becomes like a fulcrum, levering the back of the saddle up and down when the horse is in motion. The visual effect may be somewhat disguised either by thick gusseted panels or by trying to level the back panels with a riser pad, but nothing can compensate for the underlying problem of a tree whose shape is a poor match for the horse under the stirrup bars, even if it the fit appears to be a fine through the tree points.  

Another confusing factor in making a visual assessment of the shape of a tree inside a saddle is that the spacing of the panels frequently obscures the features of the tree and can in some instances give a misleading impression of how wide or narrow the spacing is between the rails.  Just because there is a generous channel or spacing between the panels, it should not be assumed that this mirrors a tree with similarly generous ease in its angles and proportions. What is crucial when evaluating a horse for saddle fitting purposes is not really whether the saddle looks like a good fit when the horse is standing in the cross ties, but what happens when the horse is in motion under a rider. The saddle must be stable and well balanced through the entire range of equine bio-dynamics in order to perform its two critical functions of protecting the spine and distributing the rider's weight comfortably and evenly. There are many factors that can affect whether a particular saddle remains stable on the horse through the horse's full range of motion, but the first question to ask is: Does the shape of the tree in this saddle conform well in all its dimensions to the shape of the horse's back?

Saddle Fitting: A primer on panel design

A correctly fitting tree is vital, but so are correctly fitting panels. In general, the larger, broader and more level the weight-bearing surface (as opposed to curvy and dome-shaped), the more comfortable the horse will be in his saddle and the more stable the panel will be when the horse is in motion. From the horse's standpoint, a stable, yielding panel makes the prospect of rounding and engaging the back for correct athletic movement a great deal more inviting.

This gusseted back panel distributes the rider's weight evenly over the horse's back muscles.

Panels are cut on many different patterns with different fit characteristics. What is important to maintaining good support, correct balance, and even weight distribution is that the entire surface of the panel must conform in shape and angulation to the contours of the horse's back when the horse is engaged and on the aides. The saddle fitter's challenge is to choose a panel pattern that will complement the shape of the back while accommodating the changing contours of the horse as he moves through the full range of motion under saddle. This is why it is impossible to make a full and definitive evaluation of correct saddle fit with the horse standing in the aisle.   

An expressive, big-moving horse may put considerable dynamic stress on the stability of the saddle. As he engages the large muscles of the back and rounds up under the saddle, he transmits the enormous power of the hindquarters through the spine into forward momentum.   

Regardless of how well a saddle may seem to fit when the horse is unmounted and at rest, the picture may be quite different when an athletic horse is engaged and on the aids. Even a saddle that appears to fit quite well may end up pivoting and surfing all over the back when put to the acid stability test. In some instances it is obvious in the course of a ride that the saddle has inched forward over the shoulders and therefore is not stable. This is a situation that frustrates many riders on wide, barrel-shaped horses with expressive gaits. Admittedly this type of horse provides the saddle fitter a challenge in stabilizing the saddle, though starting with the best possible shape in the tree is a crucial first step. There are auxiliary design features in the panel type and material, and the girthing configuration that can also be helpful.  

The situation may actually be grimmer, however, for a horse with a more hollow contour around the withers and behind the scapula who is laboring under an unstable saddle. Rather than sliding over the shoulder, the saddle may continuously jam against the back of the shoulder, or bounce around behind on hard, round panels. If at the end of a ride the saddle is still where the rider put it, the unstable panels or ill-fitting tree may not be visually apparent to the rider. Thus a less-than-stellar performance caused by a poorly-fitting saddle is often attributed to training issues or some other cause. Bear in mind the close analogy between saddles for horses and shoes for human athletes. Imagine a top athlete running a marathon in a pair of penny loafers that are a size too small. With sufficient grit it could be done, but not particularly well. A skilled saddle fitter must have in-depth understanding of equine biodynamics and a capacity for seeing and evaluating what a horse does with his back and body with a rider aboard. In the same way that human athletes are unique and idiosyncratic in how they perform athletically, horses are as well. Many of the classic problems in fitting performance horses require understanding not only how a particular horse is put together conformationally, but how the horse in question engages his back, how straight or crooked he moves in various gaits, how well balanced he is longitudinally and laterally. However well a saddle may appear to fit when the horse is standing in the cross ties, what matters is the dynamic effect the combination of horse and rider have on the stability and balance of the saddle is when the horse is on the aids.

Custom Saddle Fit: What does this mean?

We have sometimes found that the interpretation of the word "custom" - either custom-fit or custom-made - engenders an expectation of perfection that may exceed the actual state of the art in saddle making and saddle fitting.   

  Some horses are relatively straight-forward to fit in a variety of saddles, but many are not, and while we are constantly striving for a wider variety of fit solutions, the design technology of saddles is not highly sophisticated compared to, say, digital technology.  Many horses who are fairly average for their type - for example, an extremely high-withered, steeple-backed Thoroughbred or Irish Sport Horse at one end of the range, or a mutton-withered, overweight, chunky cob at the other end - may present tough challenges in finding a perfect fit.   

  A perplexing problem we face fairly often is the horse who has dimensions that are at odds with one another.  We often see horses who are relatively wide and thick at the base of the withers where the stirrup bars lie, but are narrow and extremely hollow (atrophied) behind the shoulders.  This shape is more or less analogous to a human with a 20" waist and 45" hips.  The best clothing designer in the world would be hard-pressed to make jeans to fit this figure because there are inherent limitations in the design structure of pants.  Likewise, there are inherent limitations in the design technology of trees and panels, and more specifically, there may be a set of trade-offs to be considered in getting an optimal (perhaps not perfect but best possible) fit for such a horse.   

  In the case of the steeple-withered horse whose hollows behind the shoulders are something of a mismatch with his width at the base of the withers, a "Thoroughbred" type of tree (also known as a police spec or keyhole tree) will probably be very helpful in holding the saddle up in front and might seem superficially like an excellent solution . . . except for the likelihood that such a tree will create a severe stricture further back at the waist of the tree where the horse is thicker and wider.  

  We have been working with an enhanced panel that is very helpful in filling out the hollow bits and providing extra support to the front half of the tree, but in extreme cases, the wool panel alone may not be sufficient to support the weight of an adult rider on a steeple-withered horse without the additional support of a pad made of less compressible material.    

  Meanwhile, every "expert" from the chiropractor to the Pony Club DC is advising the customer that this is not how a "custom" saddle is supposed to fit.  EVERYONE knows that a correctly fitted saddle shouldn't need any extra padding to make it stay up nicely.   (Nor, according to this logic, should there ever have been a need to invent push-up bras or Viagra.)  

  These days some of the books and articles offering advice on saddle fitting, along with the mini-courses being offered to various equine practitioners, sometimes reduce the complex trade-offs involved in remedial fit situations to a deceptive simplicity.   I can attest from personal experience under the educational aegis of the Society of Master Saddlers in the UK, that the world's best saddle makers, the top experts in remedial saddle fitting, veterinarians who are genuinely knowledgeable about the design technology of saddles from decades of collaboration in this endeavor, and the collective expertise and experience of many qualified professionals in this field, do not always add up to a clear-cut, standard protocol for finding an optimal fit solution for every type of horse.  Hair-raisingly, the deficit of conventional solutions pertains to some of the most common remedial fit problems we encounter, just like the horse described above.