REAL LIFE RIDER:
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60 www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com
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TRAINING & Showing
Not Quite Right
We recently worked with our client, Lydia, to fit her
horse and herself to the perfect used saddle. Stewart
is a 7 year old Quarterhorse who participates
in Hunter Under Saddle and Equitation. Lydia had
bought a saddle from another shop and it wasn’t
quite right. Turns out, Lydia had the right size for her,
but the wrong fit for Stewart!
In the first photo, Lydia is sitting in a 17” Devoucoux
Oldara with a 2A flap. She was concerned that the
seat was too small and felt like the flap was wrong.
Initially it does appear that she has limited room
behind her seat in the saddle. However, upon closer
inspection, the stirrup leather isn’t hanging vertically
and the saddle is forcing her leg forward - she lacks
the straight line from hip to heel - and her seat backwards.
Doing a little more research, I had Lydia send me the
second photo of the saddle on Stewart’s back. Incorrect
saddle fit on Stewart was forcing Lydia out of
position. Note how the saddle sits higher in the pommel
than the cantle, most likely because the saddle is
too narrow. This is pushing Lydia’s seat back and her
leg forward.
After looking at some photos of Stewarts back I sent
the Lydia the saddle in the third picture. This is a
CWD SE02 with a 17” seat and a 2L flap. Same seat
size, equivalent flap size. You can see the dramatic
change in her position because the saddle now fits
her horse and allows her to have a balanced position
where she is not fighting the saddle. She how has a
vertically aligned stirrup leather and there is a straight
vertical line from knee to toe and another from the
hip bone to the ankle. She now appears to have
more room behind her seat, since she is not being
forced to the back of the tack by a too high pommel
on a too narrow saddle. Finally, not to leave Stewart
out of the equation, our final photograph shows the
CWD on Stewart. You can see the saddle sits horizontally
level from pommel to cantle.
Lydia was close but not quite right with her first
saddle choice. Initially, she picked a saddle that had
the potential to fit her well, but because it didn’t fit
her horse correctly, it didn’t fit her correctly. Now she
has a saddle that works for both of them!
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