The hollow down the middle of the underside of your saddle is called the gullet channel. There should be enough clearance for the width of your hand all the way down the middle of the saddle.
To do this, hold your index, middle, and ring fingers straight out with your thumb pointing to the sky, and slide your hand between the underside of your saddle pommel and the top of the withers.
You want enough room for the spinal ligament, which is about four fingers wide. Check the bars. Saddle trees consist of five basic parts: the swell, which sits on top of the fork, the two parallel bars that form the body of the tree, the horn, and the cantle.
The bars are the only part of the tree in contact with your horse and they serve to distribute your weight in the saddle. Check all along the underside of the saddle on both sides—not just in front—for full contact from the saddle bars.
Saddles may be advertised as having regular, semi-, full, or extra-wide Quarter Horse bars, but these measurements may vary widely. Consider saddle length. Your horse will tighten his back muscles to support you, making it virtually impossible for him to round his back. Go on a test ride. Take your horse into the arena, and ride without a pad to see exactly how the saddle moves on his back. Walk, jog, and lope in both directions, and complete a few figure eights at the jog.
Look at the impression. If his hair is flattened down the middle, that means your saddle was touching the spinal ligament—something you want to avoid. You also want to make sure the impression is as even at the top of the bars as it is at the bottom. Red flag: Ruffled or damaged hair, which is caused by friction, is a sign of poor saddle fit and should be avoided.
Pad considerations. But the thickness of your pad depends on how much room you have, how much protection you need, and how thick your horse is. While thin wool saddle blankets may be ideal for some saddles, thicker pads might be necessary for others.
Riding disciplines can also play a factor. They also tend to have a flat seat, but with a nice pocket to grip you in during speed events. It typically has a reinforced rigging to hold up while roping or dragging.
The horn is taller to allow a nice hand hold, however it is a bit thicker because of the roping factor. This a popular choice for people doing multiple things on their horse.
Barrel saddles are used for the event of Barrel Racing. They have a deep seat to grip the rider in during those sharp, fast turns. They also have a tall horn for a good grip and a taller pommel to secure the rider. A barrel saddle also has a higher cantle to allow more security while going around a turn. Barrel saddles are made to be lighter and more compact so that it doesn't add a whole bunch of weight onto the horse. The less weight, the faster you can go is the idea. With that being said, the skirts are generally much shorter and most of the time they are rounded.
They also typically have an in skirt rigging. The main job of a barrel saddle is to be light weight and keep the rider snug in the saddle. You can also trail ride out of barrel saddles, but you can not rope out of them.
The horn is not sturdy enough and will break if you tried roping or dragging out of it. The purpose of a cutting saddle is to keep the rider balanced all while staying out of the horse's way. These saddles allow for a lot of movement so that the rider can really let the horse do its job. They have a low cantle, high pommel, and a thin, tall horn. There is a slight rise in the seat, closer to the pommel, but overall it is a flat seat.
Cutting saddles typically have longer, square skirts. Sometimes they even have a double skirt. The tall, thin horn aids in balancing the rider and gives a good hand grip. The flat seat allows the rider full mobility and the low cantle's purpose is so the seat isn't digging into the rider's back. You can use a cutting saddle for team penning, sorting, and cutting competitions. You can not rope out of a cutting saddle. Mounted shooting saddles are similar to barrel racing saddles.
They are lightweight and have a close contact skirt to promote leg cues. They also have a low horn and swell that are tilted forward. Well, that depends. Not the answer you wanted to hear, right? Let's explain why this seemingly simple question isn't so straightforward. First, start with some general rules of thumb for proper western saddle seat size for the rider:. All western saddles come with a stated seat size.
Seat size simply measures the distance from the base of the horn to the top middle of the cantle. This distance is then expressed as a size in half-inch increments from 12 inches to 17 inches.
The following will give you a very general idea of saddle sizes:. With a published saddle seat size, choosing the right size saddle would seem to be pretty straightforward. The most important thing is that the saddle must fit you and your horse perfectly. One can compromise on leather quality — perhaps even opting for cheaper and more durable synthetic — but never on tree shape. For the new rider on a tight budget, the Oyster Creek Trail Saddle is an excellent starting point.
It is a simple enough saddle with some different rigging options to help customize the fit to each horse, but can be heavy… Shop Now Trail saddles are the starting point for the beginner, novice, or casual Western rider.
These are designed to give horse and rider comfort while riding gently for medium to long distances. They are medium-weight, with little specialist design features. It is a simple enough saddle with some different rigging options to help customize the fit to each horse, but can be heavy, and the leather is not of outstanding quality. Designed for the absolutely optimum comfort of horse and rider, this saddle is beautiful to look at and incorporates a variety of design features to make the seat more shock-absorbing and non-slip.
These heavy-duty saddles are designed for real hard work. Shop Now These heavy-duty saddles are designed for real hard work. This beautifully tooled saddle is made for the hardened professional, and will last longer than most cowboys, designed to be passed down for generations.
The occasional rider has found this saddle to be more than durable enough, lasting for years in a variety of different settings; however, professional cowboys who spend all day riding and rope the roughest steers find it not as longlasting as the Billy Cook.
For that purpose, there are gorgeous and elaborate show saddles. These have low horns and often lack a flank cinch, making them unsuitable for ranch work or roping, but they are stunning to look at and perfect for the show ring.
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