Blog Post - The Basics of Saddle Fit
Saddle Fit is one of the most hotly contested topics in the equine industry at present. It is an incredibly common issue affecting ridden horses, and yet is still quite poorly understood by horse owners. This article is intended to introduce some basic concepts behind saddle fit, including the relevance to the horse’s anatomy, and how to use this knowledge to assess if your saddle is suited to your horse.
What structures of the horse’s body are affected by saddle fit?
The saddle is placed directly over the horse’s ribcage, behind the shoulder blade. The horse’s ribcage is comprised of 18 paired ribs, with each rib belonging to a corresponding thoracic vertebra (see below). The channel of the saddle provides clearance over the dorsal spinous processes of the horse’s thoracic vertebrae.
The saddle compresses over several major muscle groups including but not limited to the longissimus, spinalis and trapezius muscle groups, and the girth also causes compression of other profound muscle groups such as the pectorals and ventral serrate muscles.
Saddles are designed to distribute their weight over the horse’s ribcage via the saddle panels. More specifically, the saddle panels overlie the rib angles – the area where the ribs flare out from their connections to the spine, before dropping down to form the “cage” of the ribs.
The channel width of your horse’s saddle should allow maximum panel contact over this area to evenly and comfortably distribute load. Flocking/panels should be uniform in consistency to avoid pressure points.
Above: An image of a horse’s skeleton. Shown in blue: areas of cartilage.
How far back should my saddle sit on my horse’s back?
As mentioned previously, the saddle is designed to distribute weight over the the angles of your horse’s ribcage via the saddle panels. As you can see in the skeleton above, the rib angles are located “up and forward” from where the ribs are at their widest point.
Most saddles are too long for the horse’s back! The saddle should not protrude past the junction of the last rib to its corresponding vertebra (T18). This location can be found by finding the edge of the last rib and following it up and forwards with your hand until you have found the point where it dips in under the muscle located over your horse’s back, closest to the spine.
When the saddle extends too far back beyond the support of the horse’s caudal ribcage, the lumbar spine takes excessive load. The muscles supporting the lumbar spine become stuck in static contraction as an attempt to “brace” against the weight pushing down on this area, and the soft tissue “drag” created from excess load leads to lumbar roaching, and restrictions in the lumbar vertebrae, lumbosacral junction and sacropelvic area (sometimes affecting sacroiliac function).
How far forward should my saddle sit on my horse’s back?
The saddle should be placed far enough behind the horse’s shoulder blade so as to not interfere with scapular swing/motion during movement. As shown in the diagram of the horse’s skeleton above, the horse’s shoulder blade is a huge bone located on either side of their ribcage with a large “cartilage cap” called the scapular cartilage. Poor saddle fit often results in compression/repetitive injury to the fragile scapular cartilage.
Just how much movement of the scapula occurring during motion is shown really well in the video below. This video shows the importance of correctly positioning the saddle behind the horse’s shoulder to not interfere with this movement!
When your horse is standing square, the saddle should be placed 2-3 fingers width (2-3 inches) behind the caudal edge of your horse’s shoulder blade. You can feel along the shoulder blade at the top near the withers and follow it down to the area where the saddle usually sits.
Correctly placing the saddle far enough backwards when your horse is standing still is critical to ensuring you are allowing the horse’s scapula to swing freely during movement while being ridden.
If your saddle is placed too far forward, it will restrict the movement of the forelimb and scapular swing, as well as potentially damaging the fragile scapular cartilage cap at the top of your horse’s shoulder blade.
What about gullet width & tree points?
Most horse owners are aware of gullet sizing and ensuring the gullet is sized appropriately to match the profile (height and shape) of the area behind the shoulder blade to ensure good clearance above the withers.
What most horse owners do not realise, is that arguably the most significant factor in the fit of a saddle is the tree shape and size. Unfortunately, modern trends have resulted in shorter and shorter tree points, which increases the pressure of the saddle over the soft tissues of the back (including the trapezius, thoracolumbar fascia, longissimus and spinalis musculature.)
Other considerations behind the tree design include the shape of the tree points, width of the tree, and tree point flare (whether there is an outflare at the cranial aspect of the tree to provide scapula clearance – reducing the interference of the saddle with shoulder biomechanics.)
How often should I have my horse’s saddle fitted?
Horses are prone to regularly changing in shape due to changes in musculature, growth, and fluctuations in weight. In Australia, the seasonality of our feed availability means that horses will often lose weight over summer and gain weight over winter, which has significant implications for saddle fit!
A 6-monthly saddle fit is much cheaper than the injuries caused by poor saddle fit, which often require time out of ridden work, veterinary treatment and long periods of rehabilitation. Simply adding shims or using bulkier saddle pads may actually worsen the issues your horse is experiencing from their saddle - so it is always recommended to consult the advice of a qualified, independent saddle fitter.
It is important to be prepared to accept some difficult realities when having your horse’s saddle fitted. Sometimes, the saddle you have purchased is not suitable for your horse, which may be an easy fix by purchasing a more appropriate saddle.
Sometimes, due to the limitations of rider size, the saddle size that is required for the rider may not be appropriate for the horse (i.e. a 17.5” seat is required for the rider, but the horse’s back can only accommodate a 16” saddle.)
Whilst sounding harsh, this is an indicator that your horse is not suitable for you. Ultimately, the decision to place a horse under sustained discomfort remains with the rider - however the consequences of poor saddle fit will cause ongoing limitations in the horse’s performance, as well as carrying significant welfare concerns for the horse.
The far more ethical decision is to face this reality and purchase a more suitable horse, and allow for the unsuitable horse to flourish with a rider that is an appropriate size for them to comfortably and sustainably carry for the duration of their ridden career.
Above: Ensuring your horse’s saddle fits correctly is crucial to ensuring they are able to comfortably carry their rider and perform optimally. Consequences of ill-fitting saddles include poor topline (muscular atrophy), compensatory posture (dropped thorax/acquired sway back) and musculoskeletal pain.
If you want to assess whether your horse may be suffering from pain due to poor saddle fit, please contact the clinic to book an appointment. You can email us at hello@capeequine.com.au or contact us by phone at 0467 485 976.
Reference List:
Bidstrup, I. (2023) ‘Saddle Fitting for Animal Biomechanical Professionals’, Graduate Diploma of Animal Biomechanics - Workshop 6. Graduate Diploma of Animal Biomechanics - Workshop 6, Kilmore: Victoria, Australia, 24 November.
Anderson, A. (2019) TREE POINTS: The 5 Characteristics (The Dr. Ruth Remix), saddlefitting.us. Available at: https://thesaddlefitting.wordpress.com/ (Accessed: 10 January 2024).