WWHERE Should MY SADDLE Sit
?? The
Saddle Support Area
AQ: I keep hearing about the “Saddle support area”. How important is it really that
the saddle stays within this area and where exactly is it located?
Although there are many opinions as to where exactly a saddle should sit correctly, it may depend somewhat
TRAINING & Showing
on the discipline you are riding in. However, the fact remains that the saddle should always stay off the shoulder
and not go past the 18th thoracic vertebra. This is what is called the ‘saddle support area’ (SSA) and is
relatively simple to find on your horse. It’s sometimes surprising how small this area actually is even on what
seems a long-backed horse, and as the horse matures, it can actually grow smaller as the shoulder muscles
grow larger and move the shoulder blade further back. A saddle which goes past the borders of the SSA can
cause all sorts of problems, which will be the topic of a further article in the future.
The SSA begins about four fingers behind the base of the withers (making sure that the tree points are always
behind the back edge of the shoulder blade) and ends at the 18th floating rib. You can easily find this if you
follow the hair line up to the spine and feel where the lumbars begin and the ribs end. You can follow the 9
easy steps and determine your horse’s own SSA.
1. 2. 3.
Take your chalk and mark a straight
line top to bottom at the widest
point of the shoulder.
Mark a 2nd line where the shoulder
blade ends, parallel to your first
line.
4. 5. 6.
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Extend the foreleg and make a 3rd
line where the shoulder blade now
ends ( having rotated upward and
backward during the leg extension)
Feel where the last floating rib ends
(the 18th lumbar vertebra), or you
can see where the two hair directions
converge at the hind flank and
go up from there, and mark a 4th
line.
Behind this 4th line go back another
4 inches (10 cm) and draw a 5th
line parallel to the 4th. This is the
region where the bucking reflex
lies. When the saddle is too long and
ends in this area, your horse may
exhibit the issues listed above.
Now return to the area between
the 3rd and 4th lines and carefully
feel for the spinal vertebrae. Mark a
horizontal line between the 3rd and
4th vertical line to mark where the
transverse processes of the spine
end.
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