How should a saddle fit?
If you have a saddle made for you by an experienced saddle maker then they’ll make sure the saddle fits your horse perfectly. If however, like most of us, you buy an off the shelf saddle either from a tack shop or online you’ll have to make sure it fits your horse. To do this you should place a thin towel or sheet on your horse’s back (this is to keep the saddle clean and therefore allowing you to return it if it doesn’t fit). The next steps to fitting a saddle will be dependant on whether it’s an English or Western saddle.
Fitting an English saddle
Place the saddle on our horse’s back without any pads. If the fit is correct the pommel will look level while the cantle will be around an inch higher. If that is the case then fasten the girth and make sure that you can fit at least two fingers between the horse’s withers and the pommel, this is to make sure that the saddle doesn’t put pressure on the horse’s spine at all.
If everything is correct so far then the next step is to sit on the saddle, it needs to fit properly for you as well as the horse. When you’re in the saddle there should have around two to four inches between you and the pommel as well as between the back of you and the cantle.
Fitting a Western saddle
Within the industry, there’s no standard tree sizing for Western saddles which means that they can differ between styles and saddle makers. This can ultimately mean that you need to make sure every new saddle fits and not just presume it will because the last one did.
When a Western saddle is fitted correctly it has the greatest amount of contact between the bar of the tree and the horse. To fit the saddle correctly, as with fitting an English saddle, place the saddle on your horse without any saddle pad. If the saddle fits your horse properly there’ll be a two to three finger gap between the top of the withers and the gullet of the saddle, if there’s room for more then the tree is too narrow whereas if there’s less room then it’s too wide.
The saddle should sit level on the horse with an invisible straight-line from the pommel to the cantle. If the saddle isn’t level then the tree is either too narrow (if the pommel is higher) or too wide (if the pommel is lower).
While Western saddles do differ in size the chart below will hopefully act as a rough guide to what size gullet you might need
| Saddle type (and gutter size) | Will fit |
| Semi-Quarter Horse bars (6.2”) and Quarter Horse bars (6.5” – 6.7”) | Saddles within this range will fit around 80% of all horses |
| Full-Quarter Horse bars (7”) | Horses with broader backs and less pronounced withers |
| Arab saddles (6 .5” – 6.7”) | Arabians |
| Gaited Horse saddles/Gaited bars (8.5”) | Horses with higher withers (such as Fox Trotter) |
| Haflinger (7.5”) | Wider horses such as Haflingers that need an extra wide tree |
| Draft Horse saddles (8”) | Draft horses |
How to tell if your existing saddle is fitted correct
Okay so you’ve already got a saddle and you want to make sure it fits your horse properly during exercise. Following the fitting instructions above will help you fit the saddle properly but if you’re still not sure or want extra reassurance look at the sweat patches after you’ve been for a ride. If they’re even and don’t have dry spots then it’s a pretty good sign that the saddle is fitted correctly. Dry spots under the saddle blanket or numnah can be an indication of pressure points. White spots under the saddle can be a sign that your horse has had a poorly fitting saddle at some point in the past. This is because the saddle has caused irreparable damage to the hair follicles, the damage means they can no longer create pigment, hence the white hairs.
Common mistakes in saddle fitting
When you’ve got the right saddle for both you and your horse you need to make sure you fit it properly every time you use it. While fitting a saddle for riding is pretty easy there are a few common mistakes that people make.
- Placing saddle too far forward – If the saddle is too far forward it puts unnecessary pressure on your horse’s shoulder blades. This will inhibit his leg movement as he can’t extend his forelegs properly. The horse can also stumble if the saddle is too far forward. The world standard for fitting a saddle says that on a 16h horse there should be a two or three finger width between the front of the panels and the top of the shoulder blade.
- Cinch too tight – Don’t over tighten the cinch, doing so will put extra pressure on your horse, the front cinch should be about as tight as you’d tighten a belt. If you’re using a rear cinch then you should be able to fit two fingers between it and your horse and always use the connecting strap between the cinches to make sure they’re position correctly.
- Too much padding – While it’s tempting to think that extra padding will make it more comfortable for your horse the opposite may be true. If you’re using too much padding then the saddle will have a tendency to roll which will put uneven pressure on the wrong places.
- Keep your saddle and pads clean – While this won’t matter the first time you fit your saddle it will for further rides. If the saddle pad has dried in sweat and dirt it will rub against your horse and make him sore over time. You should clean mud and sweat off in-between rides and thoroughly clean all of your tack regularly, I recently wrote an article on cleaning tack that you may find interesting.
Page 3 – Measuring for a saddle
