Finding someone who can accurately assess your horses saddle in any country is VERY difficult. The best way I’ve seen it done is by booking a physio to check your horse’s body for pain.

In the past, two saddle fitters told me my saddles fitted fine. But my horse’s pain and unwanted behavior based on the pain, told me they didn’t.

The result was time off work, visits from an equine physio and a lot of unresponsive saddle fitters who don’t want to hear about their problem!

If your horse has one or more of these issues, I’d first suggest you get an equine physio, local friendly vet, or similar over to check your horse for any signs of pain.

If they establish pain, then its probably time off etc and follow their advice to treat your horse.

Unwanted horse behaviour

Here is a list of unwanted behaviour you can get from your horse.

These symptoms could be caused by a bad saddle fit that is causing your horse pain.

• Not as good as he used to be when standing at a mounting block, moves around
• Resting or lifting a front leg a little while standing still
• Looks worried, tension in body, head goes up, when you prepare to dismount (painful around withers, saddle too narrow)
• Shoulders are very tight
• Circles and bends are not good (pain or a jumping type saddle can restrict shoulder movement)
• Lateral training is not progressing / good (same reason as before)
• Bucking (could be saddle too wide & pressing down on horses back)
• Standing still on a loose rein at halt, but when you rub your hand over his back he starts to walk off. When to see if you can identify which area of this back causes this to help figure out what part of saddle is the issue
• Behavior that is not normal for your horse
• Any movement or pain expressed in his body / face when you rub his back, may include ears back, trying to bite etc.
• Doesn’t want to go forward
• Doesn’t want to trot
• Lacking impulsion (to avoid impending pain from saddle)
• Saddle moving around a lot on the horse
• Reluctance to hack out
• Difficulty taking a lead change
• Horse has kicked your saddle
• Difficulty putting saddle on your horse
• Rearing
• Issues tying the girth… horse not happy, foot stamping, biting, etc.
• Horse cannot move straight
• Rider doesn’t feel comfortable in saddle
• Rider looks like they are sitting in an armchair while in the saddle

NOTE 1: A lot of horses with pain from a saddle fit, can continue on doing their jobs as normal as will not tell you. To find out, get an equine physio, vet etc to check your horse next time you can find one – at your yard, a local event, etc. It could be just a 5 minute check but its priceless info.

NOTE 2: A saddle fitter may have told you your saddle fits in the past. Do NOT assume this is correct information today. Any issues above could mean your saddle does not fit.

How to interview your prospective saddle fitter

The next step is to find a saddle fitter who can do a good job (i.e. do their job accurately and not just try and sell you a saddle) you really need to ring about 5 or more fitters and talk to them each on the phone.

Phone is much better than email as you can get more indepth and accurate answers, good or bad, in my experience and will make it easier for you to make an informed decision.

At the start, if they talk more about having the saddle fit you, rather than your horse, say thank you & politely end the conversation. They’re not right for you & your horse. Otherwise ask them 4 specific questions:

1) Where on the horse’s back should the riders weight should be placed, and what would be the reason for this?
2) What is the best length for the saddle, and whats the reason for this proposed length?
3) How do you check if a saddle is too narrow, both with and without a rider?
4) What saddle fit qualifications do you have?

A cautionary tale..

Don’t ask your friends or facebook for advice for good fitters. Your friend may have got a lovely friendly saddle fitter to fit a really comfortable saddle for their horse. And it’s a beautiful looking saddle. And the saddle fitter told them their horse was really pretty.

But that does not mean the saddle fits their horse. And it’s likely your friend does not know if they have a saddle fit issue yet.

A lot of people are unaware of this problem, unless it becomes something major and changes their horses behaviour in a significant way.