Most saddle fitters will come out to take a look at your horse and measure his withers size and shape using a flexible wire curve. This is pretty much the minimum measurement you should expect during a saddle fitting session. This does not however, tell you much more about the horse’s three-dimensional back shape (size and length of the saddle support area) and really only works to determine whether you need a narrow, medium or wide tree in most saddle brands.
Many tools have been developed over the years to assist in the diagnosis of saddle fit, however, as ‘sexy’ as they are, they are just that – tools – providing information that exemplifies the situation at a given moment. Unless you have someone that actually knows what to do with this information to provide you a solution to your issue, it’s pretty much without value. Many people can tell you what’s visually wrong with your saddle but there are very few who can analyse the data to actually tell you why you are having the issue you are.
Several of these tools can be subjectively manipulated so that in the wrong hands they become simply a marketing tool to show you exactly what the technician wants you to see. Thermography is one of these tools which can provide a very pretty picture filled with lots of colours, but the interpretation is open to error unless you have someone well-trained in the use of the instrument. Computerized saddle pads to measure pressure points – integrating sensors in every square inch of the pad which are linked to a computer readout – are also not without fault, as pressure will change according to the gait and rider balance.
One of the newest tools on the market is the HorseShape® laser which is truly an interesting piece of machinery, reading the three dimensional shape of the horse’s back within seconds and transmitting this information back to the main computer for analysis. It is used best when a full custom saddle is being made to accommodate a particular horse’s back, but also allows the horse owner the option of getting a ‘cut-out’ form of the shape which clearly allows comparisons of changing conformation over time.
Read the full article here.
~ Jochen Schleese CMS, CSFT, CSE, courtesy of Saddlefit 4 Life
