How To Properly Fit Your Horse Riding Saddle

By Author: David Tang
Total Articles: 20
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One of the most important things you can do to ensure the health and comfort of you and your horse is not only to select the right horse riding saddle, but properly fitting that saddle to your horse. Having a bad fit can not only create back ache and muscle pain for the rider, but it also very uncomfortable for the horse. There are companies that will measure you and your horse and suggest a correct saddle size. I highly recommend this service to begin with.

Once you have purchased the correct sized horse riding saddle, it is also important to remember that the position of the saddle on the horse's back is very important in making sure that the horse is comfortable while being ridden. There are basically three main muscles in the horse's back which can be negatively affected by bad saddle placement. Please familiarize yourself with these muscles and their location on your horse before you attempt to position the saddle on the horses' back.

The first thing you want to do is place the horse riding saddle on the back of the horse forward of the wither. Once you have done this, slide it backward down ...
... the horse until it cannot go any further. Do not force it. You should see now that the lowest part of the saddle should correspond to the lowest part of the horse's back. In order to verify that you positioned saddle correctly, the saddle tree should not press on the scapula or shoulder of the horse. It should lie in the groove behind it. This is a common mistake when positioning a horse riding saddle. People have a tendency to place the saddle too far up and put pressure on the scapula of the horse. This can hamper the movement of the horse as well as create saddle sores.

Properly fitting your horse riding saddle to your horse will come easier after the first couple times you do it. It is worth taking the time to learn the correct way to do this in order for your horse to remain happy and healthy.
Brian Wisz is an avid horse riding enthusiast. For the best in custom handcrafted horse saddles visit
http://www.QualityHorseRidingSaddles.com