Well - I thought this was pretty darn tootin' cool! I wanted to share these with you as well!
These educational videos are made by Schleese and I thought they were extremely informative! Big eye openers for me, and I truely did learn alot from them.
I hope you find them as informative as I did, and I hope that they'll beable to help you as they did me!
This video on this link is a small segment of the whole video. Of course, if you want to see the whole thing, you have to BUY the video. A friend had a copy and shared it with me and I have to say, it was extremely informative.
I did not understand the video's explanation of the difference between tree width and the channel width. Isn't that the same thing? Does it just mean the channel has to be consistently wide enough for your horse?
So I checked my saddle today and it is too close to the withers! I can just about fit 2 fingers. Can I sort this out without having to buy a new saddle as I cannot afford one. Would a saddle riser work?
(Correct me if I'm wrong, anyone)
I believe this would work, but it is really only a temporary solution. If this is the only problem with your saddle, I would save up some money but not worry. If there are other issues with the saddle as well, I would definately invest in a new saddle.
Also, if it is only two fingers on all sides, does this mean your channel is too small? Its really hard to know because I'm not the one seeing and touching your saddle.
Great videos. I ride in competetive trail rides and I think that saddle fit after 30-60 miles has to be correct. Unless you have went that far you will never truely know how well or poorly your saddle fits.
I just remembered this thread the other day.
In the video they show a saddle where the channel gets narrower towards the cantle. What kind of horse would that fit?
That's a good question - I have no idea! I would think it to be uncomfortable since narrow channels put pressure on the muscles surrounding the spine. The narrower the channel, the closer to the spine they are...etc,etc.
I'm imagining a funky inbred horse that just gets skinnier as it goes back until its butt is basically a toothpick. Haha. I honestly can't think of a horse that would comfortably fit...
Thank you for sharing the videos MIE, I was looking for a jumping saddle for my recent addition and I met someone at training that had one for sale. After watching these videos it made me aware that the length of the saddle was definately too short for him straight away!
Thank you for sharing the videos MIE, I was looking for a jumping saddle for my recent addition and I met someone at training that had one for sale. After watching these videos it made me aware that the length of the saddle was definately too short for him straight away!
Thank you for posting this, it was very helpful! I had both my saddles fitted to my horse but after watching this I realized that neither of them really fit! Time to search for new saddles and a new saddle fitter
I am glad that the videos have helped you out! I know the frustrations of finding a good saddle fitter - always go with what the surrounding public/clientel say about the saddlers.
I made that mistake once, and wont do it again. I went with a saddler in my area and I was told "wide with a wither relief pad" and went with what she said, until I discovered from other saddlers and saddling seminars that, that is only a short term solution, because that causes damage in the long run, destroying the topline and the muscles because they cannot obtain the needed oxygen to grow and develop.
So, I then started to ask other equestrians in the community about the saddler I used, and only recieved negative feedback - so, lesson learnt.
I never thought I'd need to look at these videos since they are for an english saddle, but my new saddle fits more like an english saddle than a western saddle. It's an entirely new experience for me, and I'm sure glad I had this to refer to - I didn't even know exactly where to set the saddle - when it's in the right spot on Dancer, it looks almost like it's on her neck compared to the other saddles I've had. Dancer sure seems to like it though. She's totally relaxed!
i really really should contribute since we discussed this in college and i've talked to saddle fitters from all over the world thanks to my (late) hard to fit shark fin top narrow base wide old TB with WB bone density... lol. and bc i started Welcome to Equi-Eval | Full Service Equine Evaluations - but im lazzzzzy!!!! and tired! it was a long monday...
*whines*
lol ok jk. having tea. but maybe i'll reply later i love saddle fit stuff, and i think it goes well with massage and reiki and chiro when you take into consideration the holistic view of the horse, their confo, movement, and any potential sticky / tricky spots.
i really really should contribute since we discussed this in college and i've talked to saddle fitters from all over the world thanks to my (late) hard to fit shark fin top narrow base wide old TB with WB bone density... lol. and bc i started Welcome to Equi-Eval | Full Service Equine Evaluations - but im lazzzzzy!!!! and tired! it was a long monday...
*whines*
lol ok jk. having tea. but maybe i'll reply later i love saddle fit stuff, and i think it goes well with massage and reiki and chiro when you take into consideration the holistic view of the horse, their confo, movement, and any potential sticky / tricky spots.
I wish you were just a little bit closer! I'm having a terrible time fitting a saddle(western) on my appy, but you are about an hour and a half away :-(
i think i got lucky as the only real saddler that we have in this area (that i know of at least) was trained by schleese but now just has his own business. he's been out to fit my dressage saddle to my shark finned, large shouldered, wide and thick boned TB. so i've had the benefit of all of the tutorials in person. it's really awesome to see how they look at things and address different issues. i was also pleasantly surprised that he made some adjustments to the saddle, had me ride in it and then made additional adjustments based on how i ride and fit in the saddle. i know not everyone has the $ or availability of a qualified saddle fitter in their area, but if you can do it, i highly recommend having a fitting at least once.
thanks so much for sharing the videos. I've done a LOT of reading as i have a hard to fit tall withered short backed Arab and have purchases several saddles. none are a perfect fit but I'm getting better with each one. i thought i knew quite a bit about saddle fit and just learned that i know barely enough to be dangerous LOL
seriously great videos and thanks again!
PS it's funny when i was a kid and we had horses we never gave a thought to saddle fit! we bought cheap used saddles and if the girth fit we thought the saddle fit! lol i remember my little sisters horse bucked the first 5 minutes she rode her and knowing what i know now i'm SURE the poor horse was in agony with every buck!! i don't know if this is a "new thing" saddle fit or if we were just too dumb to know better but I'm glad to be learning now.
Thank you so much for sharing these. Just brought a new saddle for myself and was concerned about fit. Haven't ridden in it, because I've wanted to ensure the fit is decent until I can get a local fitter out. Have learnt many tips from these videos to go out and check the fit on my mare again.
Was thrilled that my freaking out about fitting 4-5 fingers between wither and gullet/pommel isn't as bad as I thought - my mare has a mutton wither!
Just joined the forum today and it looks like a great place to be!
I just purchased my first horse after a 12 year lay-off and I'm over the moon to have a horse in my life again. He is an amaxing 9 yr. old QH and I love him to bits. We're slowly getting to know one another and I'm looking forward to many 'happy trails' in future.
My problem is my saddle and it doesn't seem to matter how much I centre it before cinching up, it always leans to the left once I'm on. I find myself continually shifting my weight into my right stirrup in order to get it centred again, but this only works for so long. I don't think that extra padding will solve the problem so I'm wondering if a 16" saddle would work better - my horse is a pretty solid foundation type QH.
Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Holly, I think what you are going to have to do, is contact a saddler to come to you in person to assess your horse and yourself, to beable to help you out with this problem.
It could be you, you could be leaning to the left, your horse could have less muscle development on the left side causing the saddle to rock to the left, and there could be other variabls at play here, that only someone with a trained eye could see.
Thanks very much for your suggestion. It's certainly worth a try!
Holly
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