These tabs or ties go on the top side, not against the horse. Make sure the blanket or pad is even on both sides. Check both sides to ensure that the pad or blanket is not folded, wrinkled, or curling.
The stirrups on an English saddle should be run up the leathers , and the offside stirrup of a Western saddle should be hooked over the horn or folded over the seat. These precautions prevent the hard stirrup from hitting you or the horse as you lift the saddle. The girth buckle or cinch if you have them should be folded back over the saddle seat. Some people take their English girth off the saddle completely each time they finish riding. Removing these items helps prevent the billet straps from being twisted when the saddle is stored.
If you remove the girth after each ride, you will have to buckle up both sides when you saddle up. The saddle should be placed slightly forward and settled back. Move to the offside to take the stirrup down on a Western saddle and check the pad or blanket, so there are no wrinkles beneath the saddle on both sides. If the girth or cinch is not already attached to the offside, buckle or tie it. Check again that the blanket or pad is flat and that the horse's hair beneath the pad stays smooth and lies in the natural direction it grows.
Wrinkles in a blanket or pad can cause galls or cause discomfort that could make your horse irritable. Move to the near side, reach beneath the horse, and pick up the free end of the girth or cinch. I am pointing to the last supporting rib on a horse with a saddle that fits properly within the boundaries of the saddle support area for this particular horse. The first chalk line represents the front of the scapula shoulder blade whereas the second chalk line again represents the last supportive vertebra.
My left hand is pointing to just behind the shoulder blade where the saddle ideally should be placed and not extend past the last vertebra outlined. Sometimes you have to look past the obvious symptoms to find the cause…. Facebook-f Instagram Youtube. Linkedin Pinterest Twitter. You can also gradually stretch each front leg forward for a few seconds; this also works to reduce tension in the horse's skin.
Attach the breast collar if you use one. This will keep the saddle from slipping backwards and is especially helpful for on the trail. Mount up! With your saddle in place, you are ready to mount from the left side, of course! Part 3.
Run up the stirrup irons on the stirrup leathers. That's a fancy way to say you need to move the stirrup up higher and secure it in place so that it will not dangle down in your way; you do this by sliding the metal foot stirrup up and tucking it under the saddle. Detach the girth or cinch and set it aside. You will put it back on in a moment, but taking it off keeps it from dangling while you try to position the saddle. Alternately, you can fold it over the top of the saddle, leaving it attached on the right-hand side.
Make sure the pad is lined up properly. If you are using a contoured pad a common English style, which is shaped like the outline of a saddle , there should be about an inch of pad all the way around. For a square pad, be sure to leave at least one inch around the front edge of the saddle. The saddle should not be so far forward that in makes the shoulder movement hard.
Place the saddle. Stand on the left-hand side of the horse, place the saddle on the pad on the horse's back with the pommel of the saddle just in front of the horse's withers. The arch of the pommel should be directly over the highest point of the horse's withers.
The saddle will nestle in behind the horse's shoulder-blades. Replace the girth. Now that the saddle is in place, you need to replace the girth so that you can tighten the saddle and secure it in place.
Attach the girth to the girth billets on the off side the horse's right , then bring it up to the near side the horse's left. As a guideline, the girth should come under the horse just behind its front legs. If you can see a gap between the elbow and the girth, the saddle is too far back. Fasten the girth securely. You should be able to get your hand between horse and girth, but it should be a snug fit. Drop your stirrups before mounting. Now you're ready to mount!
Usually this is done using a cinch knot although some saddle straps will have buckles. Not Helpful 1 Helpful 7. Most horses are used to being saddled from their left side, so while standing to the horse's left, lift the saddle onto its back and carefully center it on the saddle pad.
The girth strap will go underneath the horse's belly and be cinched up using the straps and rings on the saddle. Not Helpful 2 Helpful 2. There are a few measurements that need to be taken into account: withers width and "height," abdominal girth and back measurements.
Not Helpful 3 Helpful 3. Once you have saddled your horse, check by sticking your hand under the cinch.
You should be able to get three fingers under it. It is good to circle your horse on the ground, then check the cinch again. I respect them more however, and have learned a LOT of lessons in the mean time.
Now, you wouldn't want anyone to call you a " specific animal of certain disposition ", now would you? And a very well explained instructable also. I had taken some lessions after having done a few trails and although I am NO expert, I do find it enjoyable with the proper horse being they are all a little different, sometimes a match is hard to make.
Thanks for the reminder of goals I'd nearly forgotten It's usually easier to place the saddle on the horse from the right off side, if the horse is willing. This is especially true if you are using a rear cinch, breast collar or a crupper or britchin.
The cinch and other stuff won't get in your way. The tradition of mounting from the left side at least partly due to cavalries. The rider would have a sword on his left side, so it was easier to swing his right leg over the horse.
Just had to say I won the 'Miss Etna Centennial' contest back in and my participation in the talent portion of the festivities consisted of saddling my horse!! Good, wholesome memories! Something else that we were always careful to do, mostly as a kindness to the horse, is after you place the saddle on the back, don't just push the stirrup and straps off the top, rather walk around to the off side and lower them with your hand.
This way the stirrup does not hit them in the flank. On sensitive horses this can cause them to jump or twitch. You want to make saddling as pleasant an experience for them as possible. Something we always did was to take the end of the strap and run it back up through the knot before we pulled it tight.
This became especially helpful when you had a hot horse that was lathered up and everything was slippery. A good yank and the knot was undone. As far as them holding their breath to keep you from tightening the cinch, I knew some people who would knee them in the flank but that usually just made saddling an unpleasant experience for the horse and it would harden their behavior. I found that putting off the final tightening and taking them by surprise worked a lot better.
In other words, do everything else and when they are not expecting it just grab the strap and pull it tight. They can't hold their breath forever. Thanks for the instructable. It remembers me when I was at Costa Rica. Do you mind if I use that in my blog? Nicely explained! A good rule of thumb, or finger in this case, is that you should tighten the throatlatch so that you can put two fingers between your horse's cheek and the throatlatch strap.
My horse once rubbed his head on a tree while I was letting him rest on the trail and having the throatlatch properly adjusted was the only thing that kept the bridle from coming completely off.
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