A Q
Many horses,
but not so many
Saddles?
By Jochen Schleese,
CMS, CSFT, CSE
©2018 Saddlefit 4 Life® All Rights Reserved
I am a trainer with lots of horses to ride but I cannot
afford a saddle for each horse. I start a a lot of young
horses – some of which will presumably leave within
a year or two. How do I manage to do right by all these
animals (and for myself) by ensuring I have and use a
saddle which works for me and works for all of them?
Obviously, ideally, it would be great to have a
saddle that has been made and fied for each
horse’s conformation, but the reality is that this
will seldom be the case. So, you get a saddle that
fits you absolutely wonderfully, is comfortable,
works with your anatomical requirements (male
or female), and makes sure that at the very least
you won’t let any discomfort from the rider’s end translate down
to the horse. That’s the first step. Then, you have it fied to the
largest horse you have, because it’s always easier to fill in the
gaps and make it fit for horses with narrower shoulders, lower
withers, etc. (just like it’s easier to fit shoes that are too large with
insoles and extra socks; the other way really doesn’t work that
well.)
The only issue may be that the saddle support area on a larger
horse may be somewhat bigger than for a smaller horse – which
is then difficult to accommodate – but for the panel size of the
horse you size the saddle to fit your shortest-backed horse.
It’s a compromise all around, but that is my suggestion. It’s a
workable compromise – while keeping in mind the fact that
horses were never actually meant to be ridden! So let’s look at
the individual reference points concerning saddle fit and the
why behind these suggestions.
Specifically for young horses, or ‘remontes’ as they are known
in Germany, it can seem difficult to justify spending money on
a custom saddle because they are definitely going to change.
However – even this is somewhat counter-intuitive; if you have a
saddle that is truly adjustable (not just by reflocking, but also in
tree width and angle), you can accommodate your horses’ changing
conformation as he ages. Well-known clinician and veterinarian
Dr. Gerd Heuschmann approached us with exactly this
dilemma: he oen trained very young horses and then sold them
– and wanted a saddle that would work on several different
body types at a time. So with his input we designed a “Remonte”
saddle which has proven very effective for exactly this purpose.
This is a saddle designed specialized for young horses, following
the philosophy and the principles of the German cavalry hand
and instruction book the “H Dv. 12 German Cavalry Manual:
on the Training of Horse and Rider” wrien in1932, and now
available in English. (hps://www.amazon.com/H-Dv-German-
Cavalry-Manual/dp/0933316518)
Gullet width too narrow for horse
Conformational changes
Keep in mind that the horse will change its conformation most
drastically between the ages of 3-5-8. Even a saddle which fits
perfectly at age 3 – correct in tree width, tree angle, gullet width,
and length – may no longer work at age 8. The withers have
come up, the shoulders have come up and back – which effectively
shortens the saddle support area (which is between the
base of the withers and the 18th thoracic vertebra) and means
that this saddle will now impinge on all sorts of reflex points,
resulting in unwanted behaviour, such as bucking, stumbling,
refusal to go forward, etc.
Conventional wisdom states that three years is the optimum age
to be ‘broken’. A horse should not really begin serious training
until around age 5. By age 8 a well-trained horse’s muscles and
conformation should allow training to begin in earnest.
Concern for the back health and care for a young horse is very
important – I don’t think anyone would argue that point. Why
then do we still hear, “When my young horse proves themselves
I will get them a good saddle.”? This is kind of like “When my
child learns to play soccer properly I will get him a pair of running
shoes that fit.”
There is a correlation between poor saddle fit and tense/unhappy
behaviour. Much of it is anecdotal, but aer having seen 150,000+
horses in the 35+ years we have been in business, I think we can
call ourselves educated experts. Your horse has two systems of
suspension in its body which are not held firm by the skeleton of
the horse. By changing the muscling and the horse’s way of go-
56 www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com
/www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com