My Soapbox for Equestrian Writings
Given the amount of time and money we all spend to insure our saddles fits our horses, it’s surprisingly easy to overlook the importance of storing your saddle properly to maintain that excellent fit. English saddles are made with panels that are either flocked with wool or made from foam. Storing your saddle on an […]
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Have you ever had a saddle that you just adored? The one that you’d dreamed about? The one you said would need to be pried from your dead hands? And that no longer fits your current horse or discipline? Maybe one of those old, flat equitation saddles that are hard to even give away? To […]
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Readers of my blog know that I have a pretty full-blown saddle addiction, but the one thing I’ve always resisted is ordering a custom saddle. Well, not quite. I have a saddle that was made to measure for me — a Roosli Pilatus dressage saddle. Not technically “custom” it was assembled to fit my measurements […]
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Just because a saddle fits a horse that’s standing still doesn’t mean it will still fit when the horse is moving, because saddle fitting for the horse in motion has to take into account how the horse’s back changes. I came across an interesting post on Facebook by Erica Allen, a certified independent saddle fitter […]
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Check out this 1700-year-old Mongolian saddle which was found in the Urd Ulaan Uneet burial cave — the only burial cave in the region from this era. Every long time reader of this blog knows how much I love saddles and this one is amazing — it’s so perfectly preserved that it’s hard to comprehend […]
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Almost everyone has heard the three-finger rule for saddle fit: that you should be able to fit three fingers between the withers and the pommel of the saddle. But do you know why? It’s more than just protecting the nerves and muscles that run down your horse’s back, the saddle also needs to leave enough […]
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How can you tell if a saddle tree is broken or cracked? There are several warning signs — a crease in the leather on the seat, a popping or clicking sound when you’re riding, or too much flexibility in the saddle when you manipulate it. If you suspect your saddle has a broken tree (or […]
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After buying a saddle that was definitely smaller than advertised, I learned how to measure the seat size on a Sensation treeless saddle. Unlike an English saddle where you measure from the button on the side of the pommel to the center of the cantle, or a Western saddle where you measure from the pommel […]
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