And in order for us to achieve immaculate equitation, sitting pretty is much easier when the saddle fits, both the horse and the rider.
I used to really hate saddle shopping. I reckon every ridden horse in the UK must have at least 3 saddles to their name, gathering dust in tack rooms or circulating endlessly through the second hand tack forums. Paddy was a nightmare to fit, with his razor-like withers and a wither pocket that never filled out, even once I understood the difference between constructive saddle fitting and more conventional saddle fitting.
You need to find a saddler who not only checks on the difference between fitting the standing horse and the horse in motion, but also understands the importance of allowing room for the horse that you are building up with correct work, not the horse you currently have.
Essentially, constructive saddle fitting is fitting a saddle to the dynamic shape of a horse’s back in a way that allows the muscles to inflate and therefore develop i.e. get bigger as the good gymnastic work progresses. Horse should develop fabulous top-line all the way from tail to poll, and young horses will get both taller and quite a lot wider with good work. The constructively fitted saddle will allow this incremental change, and ideally be adjustable as the tiny increments build into multiple inches.
Conventional saddle fitting is based on a template of the horse’s back in a static position; a saddle fitted snugly to this static shape will not necessarily allow lift through the shoulder sling or expansion of the trapezius and splenius muscles.
Then the saddle has to fit the rider. I have a very long thigh bone. I also have very stiff hip flexors. This combination puts me at a disadvantage in most dressage saddles; the blocks force my legs back beyond the flexibility my hip sockets will allow and I compensate by arching my back. Once my back is arched, the horse mirrors this and hollows himself too. I could lengthen my stirrups, to get my knees behind the blocks, but then I lose the elasticity in my knee and ankle joints which are part of the spring mechanism required to absorb the horse’s movement, and even more importantly, the proprioception that helps me find my balance to the ground.
Then I bought a baby warmblood, with huge movement and enormous mobile shoulders, who seemed to change shape every week.
So we needed a saddle that fitted me i.e. allowed me to sit in a classically correct equitation position, whilst allowing the enormous shoulders to float freely…and ideally was fully adjustable for a growing horse.
I initially backed rode Rocky in a WOW saddle, which I loved but he didn’t seem to love the way it sat.
Then we tried an Ava Pro-Jump for Rocky’s first ‘own’ saddle. The stirrup bar placement is correct enough that even though it is a “jumping” saddle I am able to get my legs underneath me with postural integrity. It allows free movement of his enormous shoulders, and sits stable enough on his back to cope with baby horse shenanigans. It has velcro knee blocks for added adjustability. But the rails were quite narrow.
The Ava saddles are fully adjustable, with foam and air panels, and the option to adjust the tree if required. The gullets are wide, and the panels have a large load bearing surface area, for maximum horse comfort. Their fitting approach is more constructive than conventional, and she will always fit and balance the saddle to the moving horse.
We’ve had great fun fitting Rocky. We have had to laugh and shrug a lot. He was very slowly started as a big gangly youngster, and his behaviour could be a bit feral. Horses never stick to a human timetable. At the time of the first fitting, just 4 years old, he wasn’t yet cantering willingly on the lunge or under saddle.
By the time the saddle I had ordered was made and ready he was trotting under saddle and cantering on the lunge, so we did get a bit of a better idea. But then by the time his 2 month check was due he had become a little cold backed and was occasionally bucking when asked to go forward. It was a worrying time, but a huge bonus to be able to exclude the saddle from the list of possible causes- because we knew that it had been checked and adjusted and that it fitted beautifully.
A few months later Rocky was diagnosed with mild kissing spine disease
blog post about Rocky’s diagnosis
I treated him, on veterinary and physio advice, with injection, muscle relaxants, a few months rest and then in hand rehab. When the time came for Rocky to go off to be re-started (by Stuart Ross who specialises in pre race training of young thoroughbreds) Claire kindly stopped by and we checked the fit and balance, ready for him to go off to boarding school.
STOP PRESS- Rocky has now worked solo in the big spooky arena, and walked, trotted and cantered over a cross pole without misdemeanour. Those friends who know Rocky and have been following our journey will understand how truly momentous this news is. And how it suggests that his back is feeling fabulous, and that work is much more fun when the saddle fits.
Another saddler who fits beautifully is another Claire of Plateau Holistic Equine. She is the Northern UK fitter for Peter Horobin’s fabulous Stride Free saddles. When I first rode Cal in the SF his shoulders opened up and floated down the long side – he was definitely buying.
The SF tree is uniquely flexible to allow the horse shoulder freedom, the rails expand and the gullet is super wide and super soft .
The saddles are fully adjustable on site – as befits their Australian origin. Everything can de done in one visit Ruth no need to take the saddle away. Cleverly, the headplate jacks in or out and the flocking points are open to allow easy re- flocking or re balancing.
The SF Classique is a beautifully open headed dressage saddle with a flat seat and minimal blocks to allow horse and rider to move naturally. It’s beautiful to sit in and gorgeous to look at.
We liked it so much we bought a jump version too
I’m a surgeon- to know how to operate on a human, one needs to know the anatomy, the physiology, the function, and the likely effects of intervention. When we are schooling our horses, we are doing daily mini operations, working to improve the form and the function. To do that we do need detailed knowledge.
