02/06/2020
A great read!
A horses shape is ever changing. There are so many factors that contribute to a horses overall condition and fluctuations are to be expected, especially with younger and older horses. Growing, developing top line, gaining weight, building muscle, work type, work load, way of going, seasons of the year, their routine, their “home life”, age, grass, hay, Haylage, type of feed, amount of feed, assistance from Physio’s, osteopaths & other body workers etc... the list goes on! IT IS COMPLETELY NORMAL FOR YOUR HORSE TO CHANGE SHAPE!
This is why getting your saddle checked is so important. Just as we don’t wear exactly the same item of clothing in the exact same size our whole lives, saddles need to be balanced, adjusted and changed to deal with the horses changes and achieve the most sympathetic fit.
Recently we had a client who was upset that their saddle was no longer fitting perfectly after about four months of use. When we visited them it was clear to see that the horse had changed shape hugely since our last session, the horse had been jump schooling higher heights and the saddle had “settled” with use. All of these things are totally normal and can be simply dealt with when you have a saddle with adjustability. The saddle in question had a flocked panel and a wooden laminated spring tree (able to be width adjusted; full size change, half size change or custom/template size change) so we were easily able to rebalance and make adjustments to perfect the fit again. Strangely enough, another “saddle fitter” (unqualified) had seen the saddle the day prior and had commented that the saddle was too wide and couldn’t be adjusted and that some of the flocking had gone flat, also couldn’t be adjusted. The client was obviously very upset that she had been told she had a saddle that was no longer going to be able to fit her horse 🤯 Moral of the story:
• ALWAYS use a Society of Masters Saddlers Qualified Saddle Fitter to ensure you are getting the best advice. There is a list QSFs online on the society’s website.
• Monitor your horses condition with photos or measurements so you have a log of their changes. When you see your horse daily you don’t notice the small changes but these compile together to make a big change!
• If you are unsure of your saddles fit, contact your QSF and send over photos and videos of you, horse and saddle as in most cases we will have an interim option to balance or improve the fit until your session!
• Get your saddle checked AT LEAST twice a year. For horses that are growing, developing or changing more rapidly this will need to be more frequent. Talk to your QSF and plan a refitting schedule.
PLEASE SHARE 💙
www.precisionsaddlefit.co.nz
📸 Photo by Eiddwen Skelton
