As a hoof care practitioner (barefoot farrier) I am faced with the problem of ill fitting saddles every day. More often than not I arrive at a barn and find that the horse has very sore withers and a tight, sore back. Both of these issues make it difficult for them to lift their legs. In addition, their feet are taking a lot of abuse from landing either flat footed or worse yet, toe first.
Most anytime I am working on a horse that doesn’t “stand well for the farrier”, it is because they are not physically comfortable having their legs either picked up high or stretched out forward or back. This almost always stems from back pain of some sort. usually find trimming a horse lower to the ground, while hard for me, makes for a happy, relaxed horse.
When the horses back is clearly sore, I always like to investigate why…saddle fit is one of the first thing I inquire into. You can tell a lot just by touching the withers or spine of a horse. If I am still in doubt, I like to put the saddle on and check.
I want to be able to put my hand between the horses scapula (shoulder blade) and the saddle and bring the horses leg up and out to the front. If my hand gets pinched, the saddle is too narrow. If the horse cannot rotate it’s scapula fully, the front leg cannot extend fully and the horses foot comes down sooner, causing a flat footed or toe first landing.
I also like to look down into the pommel of the saddle along the horses spine. Their should be full clearance of the spine, from the withers allthe way back through. If the saddle is too wide, it will sit down on the dorsal process of the spine and create pain in the horses withers. This can also cause the the horse to shorten his stride and land flat footed or toe first.
Of course, there are lots of other things to look at, like saddle length, panel shape, tree angle, etc, but those two are the basics…if the saddle is too narrow or too wide, it’s not going to work.
My biggest goal is always to help the horse achieve a heel first landing, which allows the horse to land where it has the most natural shock absorption (assuming the hoof is healthy inside), and it is the most bio-mechanically correct for the tendons, muscles, and skeletal system. Toe first landings are the cause of problems such as navicular and pedal osteitis.
While poor saddle fit is just one of many causes of toe first landing and poor bio-mechanics, it is one that can be fixed and with some effort on the owners part. My favorite book is Dr. Joyce Harman’s book “The Horse’s Pain Free Back and Saddle Fit Book”. It very easy to understand is very comprehensive. It also comes on DVD!
Christine Cahn
Mountainside Natural Hoof Care
The Horsemen's Guide Blog 