Sizing a horse for a saddle...?

Question

I am looking to buy a new saddle for my horse, who I bought about 4 years ago with all of her tack. Can anyone tell me maybe a good website to learn how to size her for a saddle? Or if you want you can just explain it yourself? I do not know how complicating it will be and for some reason I could not find a website on it. Also would it be possible for me to take my old saddle to the place where I am buying the new one and base the measurments on my old saddle? Any information would be great! Thanks!

Answer 1

Yes you can take your old saddle to a tack shop and they will be able to size it for you. However that may not be an accurate reading because your saddle is all broken in and adjusted for your horse. At your tack shop you can ask about a sizing kit and it will tell you what size your horse is. You just put it on the horses whithers and it will size it. Goodluck!

Answer 2

Fitting a saddle is important, if it doesn't fit correctly, then your horse will be uncomfortable and may be naughty to get away from the discomfort.
Steps

1. Before you buy a saddle, look around and make sure that you get one that is the right size for you, then ask the saddlery if it would fit your horse. A child on a 15 quarter horse will not be able to fit a childs saddle.
2. If you are able to, its a good idea to take the horse to the saddlery, some outlets have fitters that can fit the saddle and tell you if its too big or too small before you fork out heaps of money.
3. Find a saddle thats suits the riding your doing, a western saddle wont suit jumping and a jumping saddle wouldn't suit dressage.
4. Even though saddles are expensive, don't always go for the cheapest or most expensive. The best saddle is one you feel comfortable in, dont go for leather if you dont want to clean and oil it all the time, and don't go for brown if you have black tack.
Hope it helps...

Answer 3

There are 3 different trees you can buy on a saddle. Wide, Regular, or slim. Take the old saddle shopping with you and ask people at the store what kind of tree it has(if you don't already know). That's what we did with my first saddle(that was a really long time ago lol).

Answer 4

I have mules, so I have been forced to endure years of saddle fitting 101 with the boys.

There is no way of knowing whether a saddle on a rack will fit your horse. I would highly HIGHLY recommend taking your horse to the saddle place with you and having it placed on your horse before you buy it.

Now if your catalog ordering, I'm sure there are others, but Country Supply has a 30 day guarantee on their saddles if they are returned in excellent condition.

For saddle fitting, its so hard to tell you, its easier to show you, so bear with me!!

Place saddle on horses back WITHOUT PAD. Run your flat hand under the saddle and it should easily slide under without any pressure areas on both sides. Turn horse in a circle and see if his shoulders pinch at the edges of the saddle.

Check for bridging underneath, you want equal contact on your horses back with the saddle.

Rock your saddle back and forth, should be minimal rock.

Look from behind, does the saddle raise up in the back-doesn't fit.

Look from the front, does the gullet fall nicely down the slope of his withers and is there at least 1 fist above his withers to the top of the gullet.

Then, get a white sheet, put sheet on horse, put pad on and then cinch up saddle. Ride. Pull off sheet and see if there are any uneven spots. You SHOULD see bar imprints on the sheet.

Even sweating is not a sign of a good saddle fit. Your horse can still be getting sore from it and have even sweat marks.

After riding, run your fingers on each side of horses spine and see if he flinches. Run behind shoulders etc.

I know I told you more, but I had to learn the hard way and hate for others that want to learn, have to experience it :)

If you have more questions and would like to send me pics, please IM me. Thanks and good luck!

Answer 5

If the old saddle still fits her well, take it with you. Its by far and away the best way of sizing a new one, and the saddler can see exactly where any of it might not fit perfectly and adjust your new saddle accordingly.

Don't forget your credit card - good new saddles are horribly expensive!

Answer 6

Well i mean your suppose to size a saddle that fits you and it should work well on the horse i mean i have never had any problems with my horses i have had a fair share of different saddles on them it never seems to bother them. If your going to buy a saddle buy it in your size and it should be ok for your horse.

Answer 7

As already pronounced, all horses are as distinctive as human beings. Bit length relies upon on the dimensions of the mouth......saddle length could be measured on your seat and the in positive condition relies upon on the tree of the saddle. Saddle pads are unique to each and each form of saddle, i.e. saddle seat, western, english. the comparable is actual for the bridle. in case you have a small horse, cob length may well be suited, horse length can at times in positive condition as much as a draft length horse, it relies upon on the make of the bridle. in spite of length horse you have, make optimistic the bridle suits in the back of the ears, and around the brow. unwell-setting up equipment is as undesirable as unwell-setting up footwear on human beings! seek for out an area expert or knowledgeable sales individual at a tack save.

Answer 8

measure her, and go into a tack store with those measuremeants. The personel will be more then happy to help you with finding the correct stuff. Measure the gurth on your hosre now, that will be very important, but also if the saddle still fits just get a new gurth strap.

Answer 9

Buy a gullet system.