How to Fit a Saddle
on a Horse

The How to Fit a Saddle page provides information and advice on saddle fitting and a video tutorial.

How to Fit a Saddle Video

Fitting the saddle:
1. First place the saddle on the horse’s back without a numnah. Check that the saddle is not too big or small, you can see this by whether it looks ridiculously to large or too small for the horse.
2. Secondly, you should be able to see light through the gullet of the saddle, this being the hollow part going along the underneath of the saddle. If there is no light, then the saddle is sitting too low on the horse’s back.
3. You should be able to place about four fingers in between the pommel and wither. The saddle flaps should rest snugly against the horse’s shoulder. It is important you check that the saddle flaps do not cause restriction to the shoulder whilst the horse is moving.
4. Lastly, apply pressure onto the seat of the saddle and see whether the pads and lining either side of the gullet are resting evenly along the horse’s back. If not, this could cause pressure points, creating painful areas on the horse’s back.

Ill-fitting saddle

The saddle is probably the most important piece of tack that will be used on a horse, mainly because of the fact it can do the most damage. If you ride with an ill fitting saddle, the back problems it causes for the horse can be tremendous.

The symptoms range from:
• Weak pressure points
• Back ache
• Causes of nerve damage
• Rub marks
• Saddle sores

Any of these symptoms with a horse will cause a great deal of pain and mental trauma.

I’m sure many will have seen the tell tail sign of white marks or white circular shaped patches on the back or wither. This is a simple case of an ill fitting saddle putting too much pressure on the horse’s back or certain points, thus causing the hair to die and turn white.

As stated, this can cause many long term effects if gone for a while unnoticed, there can be short term effects as well. These may be an unwillingness to work, an unwillingness to go into an outline, even bucking and rearing.

This is a simple way to check that the saddle is not causing any pain and is sitting correctly on the horse. Note that if you are unsure, ask someone with more experience to check and fit a saddle correctly.

Ideally you should hire a saddle fitter to check the fit for you.

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