Saddles: design, functions and disadvantages

Why do we need saddles?

And really, why? To stay on horseback? Spare her back? For comfort? You can answer “Yes” to each of the questions. There are many reasons to use saddles.

Beginners know very well why they need saddles at the beginning of their training. In most places where riding is taught, a saddle is a must. Before training, the rider receives a horse under a saddle, which he subsequently clings to at a trot so as not to fall … In the Spanish Riding School, everything is different – students learn the secrets of a balanced seat from two specialists: an experienced trainer and a trained training stallion that does not have a saddle. On the lunge, without a saddle, they search for balance until they find it. These riders never fly out onto the horse’s neck through the pommel of the saddle, do not sit in it, as in an armchair, do not fall forward or backward, do not rest against the stirrups. They learn to constantly accompany the moving center of gravity of the horse.

Saddle to “stay in the saddle”

The pillows against which the knees rest are held in the saddle.

High bows (back and front) allow the rider to sit in the saddle much “safer” than on the horse’s bare back. The higher the bows, the tighter the landing. The position of the rider is “fixed”, as a result of which his position only deteriorates, and the controls are blocked to a certain extent. Some saddles also have oversized blocks to help keep the leg in the correct position.

Large knee pad locks the hip.

It’s no surprise that these saddles are very popular as they give the rider a strong and secure seat. However, it is impossible not to pay attention to the fact that they lose the ability to freely move the leg back and forth to give the necessary signals. In addition, the length of the stirrups will be difficult to play with, especially useful for riders whose hips are not yet flexible enough to sit with almost no bend at the knee. The rests push the hip too far back, which forces the rider to ride sitting on the crotch.

The correct fit we are aiming for cannot be obtained with stops, just as collection cannot be obtained with sliding reins. It is achieved through relaxation and balance and nothing else.

Huge stops fix you in one position.

Stirrups serve not only for landing in the saddle. They help the rider maintain balance and lighten the horse’s back during the posting trot. The rider’s weight is in the air and is cushioned by the knees as they rise and fall. The actual weight on the back is the same, but we save it from impacts.

In dressage tournaments, stirrups are not needed for anything else, except for the sake of tradition and for safety.

In young horses or horses in need of correction, gaits are so abrupt and jerky that even an experienced rider cannot always ride calmly.

In more subtle riding, a signal called “step on the stirrup” is used, but riders at the starts are unlikely to use it.

Lifting the heel up, standing on the toes.

For many new riders, stirrups can become a source of bad habits. One of them, straining the leg when we press the wide part of the foot on the stirrup and try to lower the heel down, is very common. Before learning how to relax the leg by placing it on the side of the horse, allowing him to simply stand in the stirrup, riders try to hold the stirrup by lowering their toes. If all beginners worked without stirrups until their legs were in the correct position, many problems (such as clinging to the horse with the knees or straining the calf muscles) could be avoided.

The rider presses the heel down, the leg goes forward, behind the pommel of the saddle.

Another problem is heel squeezing down. This happens when the rider has learned to hold on to the horse with his legs, straining them. The legs should be relaxed and hanging down, so we try to straighten the leg. This pushes the leg forward and we end up with a “chair” seat with the seat on the pommel and the toe of the foot on the horse’s shoulder.

Such a position interferes with the rider, who jumps over the saddle with every step, and hurts the horse’s back. When the rider pushes off the stirrups, he leans back towards the pommel. The rider’s weight falls on the back of the saddle and is concentrated on a small area of the horse’s back where the horse is weak. Add to that the imbalance of the rider and the fact that he constantly knocks on the back of the horse … How to avoid injuries?

The rider is constantly “rescuing” himself with stirrups when centrifugal forces push him out. He transfers up to 75% of the weight to the outer stirrup and clings to the lifebuoy – the inner rein. Without the stirrups, the result would be different – the fifth point of the rider was beaten off and the horse was surprised. Slipping outward is one of those problems that can only be solved by riding without stirrups.

holding stirrups is another thing to learn. And, as usual, the focus is on the symptom, not the cause. I saw how they try to solve the problem by taping the feet to the stirrups with electrical tape, extremely shortening the stirrups, etc. – all in order to get the stirrup stuck on the leg! But the problem is not in the stirrup, not in the foot, not in the lower leg, but in the thigh!

When the horse is standing, the leg looks correct – the heel is down. Everything changes dramatically at a trot.

As long as the horse is not moving, the rider can relax, his legs calmly “flow around” the horse’s body, the foot is in the stirrup, and the weight goes down. But once the horse starts to move, the rider cannot relax the leg. He either tries to “grab” the stirrup, or slows down the horse to make it more comfortable, or simply “processes” while riding.

It is possible that the leg was incorrectly positioned from the very beginning. It is possible that the rider is being pushed up by tense hips (the effect is like cutting an orange with blunt scissors), or also due to the tension of the hips, the leg rolls over the saddle, as the muscles are hard and rounded. The muscles of the inside of the leg must be relaxed to provide grip on the horse’s side.

A tense hip bounces off the surface of the saddle and wobbles as you move. The same thing happens with the clamped shoulders – they enslave the arms, the joints become clamped, the hands begin to bounce. Why is this happening?

When you try to relax tight hips, most of the muscles relax and become flat. And only one muscle can remain tense – the one that pulls the thigh in the forward / upward direction. At the walk, when the horse is moving forward/up, these muscles help the hips move with it (forward and up). But when the horse starts to go down, these muscles keep the hips from moving forward. The “weightlessness” that is felt as the horse comes down makes you feel light in your hips/arms. The muscle pulling up/forward suddenly loses resistance and the hip moves even further forward/up. This gives so much extra movement to the rest of the leg that the foot flies out of the stirrup and does not necessarily return to it when the foot goes down.

When the hip joint is relaxed, the weight of the leg from the middle of the thigh goes into the stirrup. Horse, rider and stirrups move up and down without unnecessary hesitation, and the foot rests in the stirrup, perhaps not applying the same pressure during each phase of the stride, but still with a certain downward pressure.

If stiffness in the hip area is not removed, the heel will never go down. Shortening the stirrups will only cure the symptoms – you just won’t give your leg room to wobble. But in this way you block the leg, not allowing it to take the optimal position in which the rider can feel and influence the horse the best!

Correct leg position

Stirrup at your fingertips

Most riders place their foot in the stirrup at its widest point (behind the toes). Perhaps, in order to “step” on the stirrup when riding at a drill trot. But this is not the optimal position for training trot. When sitting down, the weight of the leg or part of it should go into the stirrup, and this is not very much. In fact, you can just put your fingertips on the stirrup and get a beautiful, properly laid foot with a dropped heel. If you look at the top dressage riders, you will see that this is how they ride.

Saddle for comfort

Comfortable seat.

Below I will describe the traditional English type of saddle used by most dressage riders.

Such a saddle is a relatively simple structure, at the base of which there is a tree that works like a skeleton:

The shape of the saddle largely depends on the shape of the tree. Of particular importance is the angle between the two points in the front – they determine the width of the saddle, and most often it cannot be changed. The exception is saddles, the manufacturers of which provide for the possibility of adjusting or replacing the tree.

Girth attachment.

The angle between the points, as well as the location of the fasteners (shnellers) in most old-style saddles are fixed. In more modern saddles, you can change or move both the width of the tree and the location of the shneller. On some saddles, you can do it yourself.

The Schneller is usually attached to the steel part of the tree. In older saddles, it is usually brought forward. The location of the shneller should suit you personally, so pay attention to it!

Removed panels.

The prirugi are also fixed on the tree. If the pruning needs to be replaced, the saddle will have to be disassembled (this is not cheap).

For the comfort of the rider, the tree is covered with fabric and a layer of wool. Leather top and bottom.

Under the tree are two panels that look like long rolls of leather filled with padding. They are attached front and back and are symmetrical to each other. The channel between them is a place for the horse’s spine. The panels continue down, in the direction of the arcs of the tree. In the photo you can see the pockets where the edges of the tree go. Then come the fenders and fenders and the saddle is ready.

The shape of the saddle seat must fit the person anatomically. The rider’s body weight is distributed around the sitting bones. The mass of the buttocks and thighs weighs down the seat of the rider, adding their weight to the weight of the sitting bones. Much more comfortable in the saddle than without it. The spinous processes of the horse’s spine are rather narrow. When you ride bareback, male or female, you sit right on these 2,5-5 cm wide bony structures. A good muscular back or fat helps soften them, but…

Saddle, bottom view.

But for us, the comfort of the horse is much more important. The rider in most cases can stop if they feel pain or discomfort. The horse, on the other hand, cannot tell us when discomfort turns into pain and provokes injury. The discomfort experienced by the horse makes his work unproductive.

One way to create discomfort is to focus the weight on one small area of the horse’s back. Your sitting bones, under the weight of your body, will press on the horse’s back in two rather limited points. The saddle, on the other hand, distributes your weight more efficiently, dispersing it over a much larger area.

The bottom of the saddle is extremely important to the horse. She lies on her back, weighed down by the weight of the rider. The saddle is a rather rigid piece of ammunition, a structure that the horse needs to adapt to, and yet the horse’s shoulders move, the chest bends left and right, the part of the back under the saddle drops and rises.

It is important that the saddle lies flat on the back so that the pressure is distributed evenly. The horse’s back changes shape as soon as the horse starts to move. It arches to compensate for the pressure of the rider’s weight, curves laterally at walk and trot, the latissimus dorsi and other muscles moving the shoulders move under the front of the saddle. A saddle that fits well on the horse, well, allows these movements – there is the necessary space for this. A poorly fitting saddle has no such space.

Wrong saddle. “Bridge” and “Boat”

Most often, the saddle may not fit the horse for two reasons – either it does not touch the back with the middle part (“bridge”), or, conversely, it lies on the back with the middle part, and the front and back are in the air (“boat”).

A saddle that does not touch the middle of the horse’s back lies like a bridge, resting on the back with front and back, but the weight of the rider is not concentrated on them! This causes increased pressure at the withers and the center of the horse’s back and causes the saddle to move due to the smaller surface of contact with the back. This causes discomfort, pain, injures the back (sometimes around the withers and in the area with which the back of the saddle contacts, even open wounds appear). This can ruin a good professional horse.

Longitudinal saddle mismatch. “Bridge” and “boat”.

Equal pressure. “Bridge”. “Boat”.

In the case of the “boat”, the saddle is too concave, like the hull of a boat standing on a flat surface. This causes it to rock back and forth on the horse’s back and causes the same pain and injury as a bridge, but in the area under the rider’s seat.

In both cases, saddles must not be used! To save money, riders try to put something under such saddles, but it’s like putting cotton wool in big shoes – buy new, suitable boots!

Many riders ride crooked saddles. Saddles (especially economy class ones) warp with time and use. Saddlers also talk about broken trees (for this you need the saddle to fall from a height or something to fall on the saddle). Saddles can slowly wear, warp or twist, so be sure to check their current condition to see if they fit the horse.

Bulges

The biggest problem with old saddles is the appearance of filler-filled bulges on the panels. The heat and sweat of a horse cause the skin to stretch unevenly. In places of stretching, bulges form, they are filled with filler and put pressure on the horse’s back at certain points. In these areas, chafing, wounds, in most cases – hematomas appear. They are not easy to notice, but the horse will not be able to round the back, bend, show signs of buckling, perhaps try to bite.

Take a few sheets of carbon paper that leaves an imprint on a white surface with pressure. To make the print better, it can be slightly dampened with water. Lay it face down on white paper and place the whole structure under the saddle (preferably under the entire surface of the panels). Use your regular saddle pad and, if necessary, a fur coat. Do a workout, and then take everything off and look at a sheet of white paper. Depending on the location of the prints, you will be able to judge how your saddle is pressing on the horse. If you find areas of darker staining, check the saddle! If such spots are in the region of the pommel and pommel, then your saddle lies on the horse’s back with a “bridge”. If they concentrate on one side, your saddle, your horse, or yourself may be crooked!

Saddle pads – moving yourself away from the horse

Most riders use furs or gels to take care of their horses. They don’t want the saddle to crush, they hope to soften the impact of their body on the saddle, etc., but in the end this doesn’t work either.

A good quality saddle should be soft on the horse’s back in any case.

A saddle pad of equal thickness will still lift the saddle more up front.

If you have a custom made saddle, it should sit unpadded. Imagine wearing two pairs of thick socks underneath the perfect pair of shoes to make it “even softer.” Shoes will squeeze you! The same thing happens with the saddle, but here we are talking about the width of the tree, which is crucial. If you put a fur coat 2,5 cm thick, then the front of the saddle will rise, because the area that lies at the withers will become narrower.

The saddle rises in front as the gap between the panels at the withers narrows.

Raising the front of the saddle means that the saddle tilts back. Many riders tend to sit too “back”. With a thick lining, this bad habit is amplified.

The saddle is pressed under the weight of the rider, the panels flatten, expand and narrow the channel

Older, cheaper saddles tend to experience rear seating—the rear panels flatten, expand, and narrow the channel under weight. You can’t just redo the panels (stretched leather changes shape) – you have to change them (if you like the saddle so much). However, it is not a fact that you will be comfortable in the updated saddle. If it “sits” in the back because of your fit, then you want to sit at the back of the saddle. The new panels will lift the back of the saddle and move you forward.

Gel pod.

Some pads are made from gel in a plastic case. Airtight plastic will cause the horse to sweat, which can put extra strain on the skin. The soft gel allows the saddle to move back and forth and side to side. The rider is moving more than necessary. The gel increases the distance from the seat to the horse’s back and does not allow the rider to feel it, to feel relaxed when moving.

This is especially noticeable in the lines of air-filled saddles. They are said to be very pleasant to the horse’s back. However, if the panels were to dissipate all the pressure evenly, how would the rider give different seat thrusts? The horse will be confused.

The air-paneled saddles I rode were over-inflated—the cushions worked like a ball bouncing up my back. They also separated me too much from the horse.

The real reason for using saddle pads is to keep the saddle from coming into contact with the horse’s sweat, as water and salt damage the leather. The saddle is quite possible to use without any padding underneath. If the horse rubs the saddle pad, you can use the saddle without it – the woven base of the saddle pad captures the hairs of the wool, they roll into lumps and rub. Regular leather is very slippery and won’t rub easily.

Half saddle pad with sheepskin.

If your horse sweats a lot, and sweat can ruin the saddle, then your option is a semi-saddle board made of tanned sheepskin. But try to pick up products thinner, with fur only under the panels. Sheep fur adds volume to the space between the saddle and the horse’s back. The fur side stays in place on the horse’s hide and the skin side moves with the saddle. The sheepskin is well ventilated. You don’t need anything extra on the sides – the extra thickness of material between your leg and horse will hurt your feeling.

Three fingers in the channel between the panels

The channel between the panels is made so that nothing lies on the spinous processes of the horse’s spine. No weight should rest on the horse’s spine – this can lead to pain that can become chronic. The saddle should rest completely on the ribs without transferring weight to the spine. The skin and ligaments that are on the spine should not be compressed and are under pressure.

The channel must be wide enough to accommodate the spine and must follow its line. A sufficiently wide canal will put pressure on the spinous processes if it is bent or if the horse is bent to one side. Remember that the saddle only flexes slightly with the horse, if at all.

The measure of canal width, accepted as the norm for decades, is 3 fingers. You should be able to put three fingers into the canal and run them along its entire length. The problem area is usually in the back, so be careful.

Recently, saddlers have been trying to expand the channel, introducing the norm – 4 fingers. I don’t really understand what this is about. Maybe saddle makers just want to sell new saddles like car or appliance makers (old things keep working and new ones don’t sell because of that). Did all the horses that worked under the saddles of the old standard struggle with pain? ..

There is another theory. It is possible that three fingers of a fragile girl who rides a huge warm-blooded horse is not a sufficient measure. But three fingers of an adult tall man is what you need, and this width will be equal to four fingers of a girl? Time will tell…

Saddle position on the back

Do not put the saddle far forward, on the shoulder blades.

Many riders are afraid to put the saddle back, perhaps due to common myths about kidney sensitivity, and this is not good for horses.

However, the horse’s kidneys are 10 cm below the surface of the horse’s back, and if the saddle is pressing there, then you need a different saddle. The lower back is also sensitive – this area is quite soft (there are no ribs). Therefore, you need to pay attention to whether your horse has a short back.

If the saddle is placed too far forward, the horse will have back problems under the rear end of the saddle. Any well-fitting saddle will lean back if placed over the shoulder blades, too far at the withers.

The lean will cause the saddle to touch the horse at the point on the shoulders and in the area under the hindquarters. This will increase the pressure at these points. Add in the rider’s weight, which will slide back and increase rear pressure, and you’ll get the idea.

Wedge-shaped panels, as a rule, add a traumatic effect.

Five centimeters behind the shoulder

The saddle has two points at the front of its tree that help keep the shape of the saddle and provide space above the withers, keeping it from pressure. The pressure is distributed along the sides of the withers, behind the shoulders. These and other parts of the bottom of the saddle are hidden under the panels and should not put pressure on the horse, but the fact remains that the shape of the saddle is constructed on a stationary dummy.

The saddle is too “forward” and blocks the shoulder blades.

If the saddle is placed on the horse so that these points are at or near the top of the shoulders. The shoulder blades will rub against the saddle with every movement of the front legs. Forward and backward movement of the shoulder girdle occurs when the muscles under the saddle are pulled back to propel the limb, and the shoulder and other muscles slide under the saddle and increase the pressure underneath. This area begins to hurt, and the movements of the horse’s shoulders become more and more constrained. This will also affect the condition of the back, in the future the horse may experience soreness and injury. The horse will begin to react badly to the saddle or try to throw the rider off his back.

Impact on the horse through the saddle

Traces of pressure of the ischial bones.

Many riders and trainers often talk about the sit bones of the rider and the back of the horse. Some are about the more conceptual “impressing the seat bones into the saddle”, some are more physical, about “pushing the seat bones into the poor horse’s back”. And it’s stupid. The saddle is a thick construction with a frame made of wood, plastic, etc., and the human sitting bones cannot be felt by the horse’s back through the saddle.

What can be felt is the different weight passing through the sitting bones and being transferred to the right or left side of the saddle. And this is very important for twists and bends.

You can feel the rider using his sitting bones, his pelvic tilt. When you “engage the sitting bones”, depending on how you do it, certain things can be achieved. Basically, riders move their pelvis forward so that it moves forward from an imaginary line drawn from the ear.

The pelvis remains vertical but moves towards the front pommel.

This can have a good expelling effect on the horse if his abdominal muscles are put to work. The tight muscle encourages the trunk to “move” forward with each stride of the gait, the rider moves forward in the exact phase of the stride, and this encourages the horse to move more actively on stride extensions and ascending transitions.

The same position in the saddle can have the opposite effect if the rider’s upper body leans back. This brings the weight back, which when done correctly causes a collection effect, but more often than not, it only slows the horse down or makes it arch its back. When the pelvis is rotated around its horizontal axis so that the sitting bones are pushing forward and the top of the pelvis is pulling back (as many riders do when they want to engage the sitting bones), a lot of things happen. First of all, the pelvis itself cannot rotate – it is attached to the spinal column through fused together vertebrae (sacrum). There are no moving joints. When the pelvis moves, the lower back straightens, this spring and shock absorber.

Many riders tense their backs by twisting their pelvis.

The landing becomes more constrained, and the rider begins to beat off from the saddle. The sit bones move under the rider and the pubic bone rises from the saddle. It turns out that the rider sits on the rear edge of the sit bones. He seems to be swinging on a chair, balancing on its hind legs. There is little stability, the landing is unstable.

Many riders have this position. They try to stabilize it by leaning back against the pommel and belly dancing with each step, balancing on the back edge of their sitting bones. The horse gradually gets used to this and learns to ignore these movements, as well as the increasing pushes that the rider makes to encourage him to move forward. The overworking rider and the sluggish horse…

Saddle selection

When choosing a saddle, the main thing to think about is whether it fits the horse. A horse will not perform well under a bad saddle. When uncomfortable, she will learn to ignore the rider’s signals.

However, it is also important whether the saddle fits the rider. Riding in an uncomfortable saddle is voluntary, but it will not bring positive results in the long run. A poorly seated or tense rider is not the best partner for a horse who is perfectly happy with the saddle.

Saddles are like shoes. It is impossible to ignore the size of the saddle according to the rider. Don’t try to squeeze yourself into a smaller size – humble yourself and accept your butt as it is!

If you are riding in a saddle that is too small for you, your buttocks will push your crotch forward towards the front pommel, and this can be extremely annoying. You will fight this by pushing off the stirrups and sliding onto the pommel, thereby pressing it into the horse’s back. So your problem becomes the horse’s problem.

The most common reason why a sedo may not fit a rider is the width of the “waist” of the seat. Most saddles are made for riders with wide hips, but most riders have tucked up or rather narrow hips. Or they ride big horses that only fit big saddles.

The thickness of the panels will affect the amount of time you can spend in the saddle. Many modern saddles have too much padding, both on the top and in the cushions. They actually turn into airships. Avoid them! A saddle for a wide horse doesn’t have to be wide in the seat, and just because your hips are big doesn’t mean that the distance between them is as wide.

Older types of saddles (Passiers, Stübben, some Lemetex, Kloster Schönthal and Courbette) are narrower and thinner in the seat, which will work in your favor. Today it is very popular not only to ride in saddles with very thick pads, but also to use thick saddle pads and additional pads that are not really needed. Look at the two saddles below.

The thicker Jaguar saddle suffers from excessive padding. The seat is small, and the front pommel is high. There is not much room to sit in the saddle and be closer to the horse’s back. The thinner saddle is of the well-known old style, Passier, remains one of the few companies to continue this tradition. The seats in such saddles are usually spacious, and the “waist” is narrow. Great way to get close to your horse.

I want to warn you about buying saddles that are too big. Don’t automatically buy size 18 just because there is only one. You won’t like to ride in it. If your seat is generally unstable, you will slip and move around that saddle, start grabbing the horse with your feet, and do other bad things. A rider with a well balanced seat will have no problem as he is independent of the saddle. But please be honest with yourself and really evaluate your riding skills!

Teresa Sandin (source); translation by Valeria Smirnova.

marisapfira 30 May 2020 city
right wow! gorgeous article. They helped bring together all the disparate knowledge that we managed to gather about saddles and their choice. Thanks for the info. Answer