Category Archive

Your new saddle has arrived and so you hurry out to your horse to get your first ride in. As you swing your leg over the saddle and settle in, that heavenly comfort you expected doesn’t seem to be all there. As your horse takes his first few steps they are accompanied by all sorts of squeaks and creaks. So ...

The proper saddle position for a western saddle tree is designed to fit right behind the shoulder blades of the horse. Some horses have a pocket of sorts formed where the back of the shoulder blade rolls down to the rib cage. Wider mutton withered horses have very little definition in this area. The shape of the tree should match ...

I came across a website the other day that had instructions on how to do tracings at various places along the horse’s back. It also said to do a tracing along top line of the horse. While this may sound logical, the saddle does not sit on the top line. It sits on the rock line. Rock is the front ...

For some the most agonizing decision when designing their saddle is whether or not to get a horn. Get 4 or 5 riders together in one room and you’ll discover this is a hotly debated topic throughout the horse world. As with most things there is no definitive answer. For some disciplines it’s a no brainer. A horn is actually ...

Selecting the proper seat size for the rider can sometimes be a frustrating experience. All saddles have a listed seat size so you would think it would be a fairly straight forward process. If you've ridden a 15 inch saddle before all you need to do is make sure your new saddle is the same size. Sometimes this works fine ...

Cantle height on a saddle is really a personal choice. Whether to get a low or high cantle on your saddle will usually depend on a couple of factors. Generally speaking a higher cantle is going to give you a deeper more secure seat and offer a little more support for your lower back. A lower cantle is going to ...

For a saddle maker twist can mean two different things. Since a horse or mule's back is not the same from front to back, but angled steeper at the withers and flatter as they go back towards the loin, the bars of the tree must change angle along its length to match the shape of the animal's rib cage. So twist on the animal's side of the saddle refers to ...

One of the questions we always ask before building a new saddle is where the customer wants the fenders hung. The balanced position enables the stirrup to hang directly under your body while the conventional western position is forward of this position. How do you know which position suits you? It depends on what kind of rider you are and ...

If it's on the internet, it must be true. Right? No, not always. Proper saddle length...the most popular internet answer to the question, "Is my saddle too long for my horse?" is that the saddle should never go past the last rib. Is this really the definitive answer? Like most things in life that's a definite "Maybe?" It's a "Yes" if ...

If you’ve been around horses even a short time you’ve probably heard the term uphill or downhill horse. We’re going to talk about how this affects saddle fit. First of all there is a lot of confusing information on this topic so let’s clarify a couple of things first. Uphill or downhill balance is different than uphill or downhill conformation. ...