17/06/2024
Let's talk about adjustable saddles 🤔
The horse world has made some staggering progress in a relatively short period of time understanding how much a horse can grow and change both as a young horse, but also through work and seasonal changes. This is great! 🌟 Rather than fitting a 4yo with their saddle for life, we are expecting change and we are actively looking for signs than adjustments are needed to protect the horse and to enable their continued development 🫶
Now, we know horses change. And we know saddles are adjustable. So why is it that I can't guarantee at an ADJUSTABLE saddle can be altered to fit for the length of a horses ridden career?
Simply put, the way a horse grows and changes isn't black and white.
There are some excellent physios and other equine professionals posting educational posts on how treatment/work/time/muscle development can take a horses posture and shape from one thing to something entirely different. And that is truly amazing 😍. But let's not pretend that these amazing changes won't affect how your saddle fits and what can be done to adjust it to fit.
When looking at possible options to fit a horse, we are looking at back shape and width initially to determine which brands/models/trees could work. And this can change drastically over time.
Now let's imagine you've bought a spindly youngster who has been lucky enough to have had a slow start in life just turned out with some ground work. This horse most likely has a big old grass tummy and lacks muscle along its back, as is only fair.
This lack of muscle means there's a natural increase in curvature through its back, and the added weight of a rider sits the saddle RIGHT back. So we look at saddles with the most suitable tree shape, a supportive length of point to give ample wither clearance, and a generous rear gusset in the panel to bring the rider back up into balance and discuss a plan to regularly check and adjust the saddle to fit. All good. ✅️
Now fast forward through the next year of this horses life. The cavaletti poles and ground work have done their job. You've been taking it slow and steady and your youngster has started to become supple and balanced. It even has core strength!
Now we've been checking it regularly and adjusting it as needed, but can we keep that original saddle fitting well to continue to allow the horse continued development and growth? Not necessarily. Lets say its core strengthened and it's back lifted. It was more able to work from behind and is no longer the shape of a fruit bowl. It's widened, through natural growth as its young and through correct training and muscle development.
So we can widen the saddle and that will solve it? Possibly not in this case. By widening the saddle to the correct width for the horse the balance has been affected. It's just doing a massive face plant now. Okay, lets lift it with flocking in front? Maybe the panel will allow it, but maybe not. And lets not forget that generous panel at the back that helped with the weak back which is no longer weak. It's making it bridge, we don't want that. So we soften the back to try and make it as level and even as possible, that will work right? Maybe. But maybe not. And even if it does, is this still the BEST fit for your horse to be allowing it to work as comfortably as possible?
Now not every horse is going to change drastically, some really do seem to be able to stay in the same saddle very happily for YEARS!!
And saddle adjustability is constantly developing. Whilst you cannot change the shape of the tree from front to back; you can change the width, how it's flocked, the girthing arrangement and in some saddles, the panels and flaps.
Saddle fitters are generally not out to sell you a saddle that is going to be unsuitable after a short period of time. We fit to the horse we see on the day, and if that horse no longer suits a saddle, despite our best efforts to adjust it, it is out duty of care to make that known. Now that not to say that a temporary fix with pads or otherwise can't work, but you hear of so many people wary of fitters who are 'just out there to sell'. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but maybe reframe the perspective to that person being accountable for the fit of the saddle and their duty of care to the horse.
And to flip it in on its head, a horse who is in great shape when a saddle has been fitted and who develops issues or has inconsistent work can start to lose muscle and change shape. Sure, poor saddle fit can also cause this, but we can't always blame the saddle, other factors can also be the cause.
The subject of adjustable saddles is vast and I've prattled on for long enough 😂
And just because, here's a photo of the lovely Gudrun from David Dyer Saddles and her beautiful youngster Belzon when we had a crack at finding the right saddle for this absolute stunner 😍 🦄
