SADDLE FIT
Heavier Rider
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Continued...
TRAINING & Showing
and the
At the risk of offending any our readers,
this is a topic which does need to be addressed
again in all honesty. The issue of
proper saddle fit is not by any means limited
to heavier riders – all riders and all horses
can and will benefit from a correctly fitted
saddle! However, heavier riders bring with
them a whole different set of challenges.
Before anyone gets their knickers in a knot
about possibly ‘arbitrary’ designations of
weight – I absolutely recognize that someone
who weighs 180 pounds and is sitting in
a gender appropriate saddle may ride more
lightly and more balanced than a 120-pound
beginner rider who is sitting in a saddle that
doesn’t fit her properly.
My point is that – supported by a recently published study
by Dr. Sue Dyson* who examined the effect of light, moderate,
heavy and very heavy riders on the horse’s back
– heavy riders should (more than anyone) need to be cognizant
of their impact to the horse. (Up for further review is
her statement that saddles extending past the 18th thoracic
vertebra all the way to the 2nd lumbar may be acceptable
in the industry – our experience and general anatomy
dictates that this is going to cause the horse pain and will
result in bucking regardless of rider weight).
When a heavier rider chooses a horse, it should really be
key to have a horse with a large enough saddle support
area/weight bearing surface to accommodate a bigger
saddle which will fit this rider’s conformational needs. (Think
large warmblood type rather than thoroughbred!).
It is important, always, that the saddle fit the rider first – because
if it doesn’t then no matter how well the saddle fits
the horse, the rider’s discomfort due to poor rider saddle
fit will always translate down to the horse. This limits both
the horse and rider in attaining optimum performance. Of
course, there are certain things that need to be considered
in saddle fit to the rider – not least of which is that the
saddle accommodates the gender of the rider!
There are several areas where the saddle needs to fit the
rider (just briefly outlined here – and remember that these
are ‘in general’ – there are always exceptions!):
• Seat size to accommodate the butt cheeks
• Seat Width to accommodate the wider seat bones
• Seat Waist – the seaming in the crotch area which needs
to wider for women so that discomfort in the female geni-
tals can be avoided (and rubbing on the underwear line)
• Stirrup Bar Placement (women generally will need ex-
tended stirrup bars since their upper legs are usuall long-
er than their lower legs, which affects where the leg
hangs)
• Twist (women generally need more narrow twists than
men – this is the area of the saddle between the upper
inner thighs). This accommodates their hip articulation
and angle of the hip socket. Particularly in heavier riders
this needs to be super narrow since the thighs may be
fairly thick.
• Seat Foam – women (with shorter tailbones and higher
gluteus muscles) generally need more support from be
hind so that they don’t ‘fall back’ in the saddle.
Sometimes heavy riders tend to be on horses that are
questionable in their load bearing capacity. Rule of thumb
seems to be that the rider should be no more than 20% of
the horse’s weight, but these riders will absolutely need a
saddle that accommodates a bigger butt – let’s say 18
½” – while also having to accommodate a relatively short
saddle support area on the horse’s back (let’s say with a 17
½” panel) – IF the weight ratio is within acceptable limits.
A saddle which is too long for the horse’s back (because
most 18 ½ – 19” saddles, which accommodate the heavier
rider, likely will be!) can cause bucking, stumbling, rearing,
and so on – because the length will be past the saddle
support area (which ends at the 18th thoracic vertebra)
and onto the ‘bucking reflex’. It will impinge on the kidney
area, or the ovaries in a mare. In any case, the horse will
react reflexively and instinctively. The back won’t come
up; it will be reluctant to move forward. It simply hurts – and
horses react to pain by trying avoidance. On more stoic
horses, the back will sink into a swayback, effectively doubling
the rider`s weight as the rider is unable to swing with
the movement of the horse using the natural four curves of
her spinal column.
Saddle fit should be checked regularly, regardless what
the rider weighs. The horse’s conformation will change over
time – regardless of the weight of the rider. With a heavier
rider, the padding will compress faster – and once the balance
is compromised, the rider starts to `clench` and loses
the softness of the seat, sitting harder and heavier into the
horse`s back.
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