Left: Dressage saddle with center of balance slightly more forward; Middle: Jumping saddle with center of balance more to the rear; Right: Eventing saddle for cross-country with balance point more to the rear.
Further to my last two blogs concerning the rather superficial summaries on the 9 points of saddle fit and getting ready for the spring and the upcoming show season, my next couple of weeks of blogs are going to be discussion of these 9 points in much more detail. Not only what to look for and how to recognize the issues, but why to fix them and why this is so crucial to the overall health and well-being (and performance!) of your horse.
Saddle Balance – Tip 1
Balance problems are usually very easy to diagnose and fairly simple to remedy. Have you ever experienced any of these problems which may indicate saddle balance problems?
- “Help! I Can’t get out of this chair seat!”
- Do you feel you are falling backward in the saddle?
- Do you ride with your legs pulled up?
- Are your shoulders rolled forward?
- Are you hunched over your leg to balance?
If your saddle is too high in the pommel and too low in the cantle, this causes a lot of pressure on the horse’s back. It will be very difficult for your horse to engage his back because too much of your weight is on his last two floating ribs.
- Your horse won’t go forward?
- Are you leaning back to balance?
If your saddle is too low in the front it will pinch into the horse’s shoulder – which is very restrictive for your horse. Your saddle is too high in the back so you lift your leg and fall into a chair seat to balance which can strain the discs in your lower back.
Steps to Check Saddle Balance
1. Remove your saddle pad and irons. Place your saddle over the withers and slide it right back behind the shoulder blade. On a dressage saddle, the cantle should be a little higher than the pommel.
2. Take a small round object (like a pencil) that will roll. Place it on the seat of the saddle and observe. If the saddle is balanced the pencil should rest in the center of the seat. If it rolls too far forward – the pommel is too low (cantle too high). If it rolls too far back, the saddle is too low in the cantle (pommel too high). It will be very difficult in either of these situations for both horse and rider to balance properly.
The horse will be much more comfortable in a well-balanced saddle, because the weight of the rider will be distributed over a larger area. The saddle will not be driven into the shoulder or back on the loin. With correct balance the rider will also be able to use the 4 curves in her back as natural ‘shock absorbers’, and she will sit balanced on her seat bones. Read the article here.
~ Jochen Schleese CMS, CSFT, CSE, courtesy of Saddlefit 4 Life
