I was talking to someone once who complained that her horse’s back was sore. I asked if she had a saddle fitter look at it. Her response? She’d had it fitted when she bought it . . . three years ago!
That begs the question, how often do you have your saddles fitted? Personally, I have them checked twice a year by an independent saddle fitter (someone who doesn’t sell saddles). My saddles don’t always need work, but sometimes the horses surprise me by changing shape.
Today was one of those times. When you have horses that are in constant work of a similar variety, once they are fit their shapes stay pretty constant unless they are very young (getting bigger) or very old (withers becoming more pronounced).
This spring I put off having my saddles checked because I hadn’t ridden much over the winter and the horses weren’t fit. Nothing fit right, including my clothes. However, as they got fitter, I noticed that their saddles were fitting less well . . . saddles pads weren’t staying put (I had one saddle where it looked okay from a distance but the saddle pad shot out the back like a watermelon seed as I rode), and another saddle was tipping me a bit off balance.
I’m not surprised that Zelda’s back has changed. She’s using herself better and her topline has improved a lot since last fall when she had several saddles that fit. Now they all looked a bit too narrow, perching on her back
And Freedom? One of his saddles fit fine, but the other was the one that was tipping me a bit more forward than it used to . . .
Today was saddle fitting day. Sure enough, Zelda’s saddles were too narrow, especially below the stirrup bars. Luckily, I’ve held onto my County Extreme. It was the saddle I used on my Trakehner and it was too wide . . . until now. A bit of reflocking and it will definitely do the trick. I’m happy too as this saddle is one of the most comfortable I’ve ever ridden in.
As I’d guessed, the cross country saddle that I used on Freedom isn’t fitting right any more. It’s a shame, because it’s a very handsome Kieffer monoflap, but the panels don’t have enough give in them to change the fit enough to work and I don’t like to use shimmed pads out hunting: there’s too great a chance that they will shift and I’ll end up with a sore horse.
However, the silver lining is that the jumping saddle I’d bought for Zelda (which fit her great last year but is now too narrow) fits Freedom perfectly!
That’s why it’s so important to have a “saddle library”. No new saddle purchases required!
How about you? How often do you have your saddles checked by a fitter?
This reminds me,
Schedule saddle fit for my young mare early this fall.
She got in it in April or May.
Weight and muscle gain, and turning 4 this month… Yep, saddle fit in September!
Lol! I don’t feel bad at all about my saddle collection for this reason. Like your term: “library.” 🙂
Seriously, how do people manage with just one saddle? 😉 I know I have a problem with accumulating saddles, but it does come in handy sometimes.
It really depends on how hard I’m riding in a given season. In an ideal world, twice a year. Lately, once a year or every two years. I try to have a long conversation with the saddle fitter when she’s doing them, and gauge my planning on that. In the middle, I have a good array of fleece pads that I know work well for Tristan’s back and can overcome minor problems.
I have a selection of pads too. They come in handy!
Laughing again. I am still searching for the Holy Grail of saddle pads. Possibly could sew a quilt from the ones in “nope” pile. 🙂
How to you add or remove padding? Do you have to redo seams?
No, there are slits in the panels that allow a fitter to pull wool out or push wool in. In the first photo you can see the tools next to the pile of wool; in the last photo Gary is putting new, soft wool in. He removed about twice as much wool as he put in. Zelda should be very happy now!
Once a year, sometimes twice!