Back to Basics - Saddle Types

I was ambling through the blog the other day, making a list of what I've covered and what still needs doing, and I realized that I haven't touched on any real basics (for my more beginner readers) in a long time.  Apologies for that; I sometimes get so entrenched in geeking about the minutiae of saddle fit and construction that I forget that not everyone is as experienced (or as into this!) as I.  So I'm going to give myself a firm shake and address one of the most basic issues with saddles:  what are the basic types of English saddles, and what are their form and function?

In the English saddle world, there are basically four types of saddles:  dressage, close contact (aka forward seat or jumping saddles), all-purpose and trail saddles.  Which saddle you choose will depend on the discipline you'll be riding.

Since some people want a "do it all" saddle, and some aren't sure what discipline they want to pursue, all-purpose saddles are fairly popular, especially with beginners.  Most a/p saddles should be ridden with a moderately bent leg (think of the front of your thigh lying parallel to the front of the flap), which will allow you to do a little jumping (small fences), a little dressage (lower level) and flat work; they're comfortable and secure enough for a trail ride.  They often feature a deepish seat, a moderately forward flap, and a round cantle.  Some, like this Black Country Summit, have a straighter (or VSD/dressage focus) flap:

And some, like this Black Country Wexford, offer a more forward (VSS/jump focus) flap:

 

In spite of being what some wits refer to as a "no purpose" saddle, a/p saddles are popular with folks doing hunter paces, low-level eventing and foxhunting (in the field or hilltopping rather than first or second flight or staff) who want the security of a deeper seat while still being able to negotiate lower fences. 

Some people look at trail or endurance saddles as an offshoot of all-purpose saddles, though by rights they're something of their own category.  They usually have a fairly straight flap and a moderate to deep seat and lots of dee rings for carrying your equipment.  The focus on these saddles is good balance and weight distribution, and superior comfort for long rides.  This is a Black Country Equiniox, which has a very dressage-y flap (but which, interestingly, doesn't show the dee rings!):

And this is a Frank Baines Enduro LDR, which has a slightly more forward flap and deeper seat (and does show the dees):

These saddles also often have a crupper bar attachment in case a crupper is needed to help stabilize the saddle.

Some trail saddles have extended panels, which means that the panels extend (obviously) quite far to the rear.  This does maximize the weight bearing area, but can be problematic on shorter-backed horses like Arabs (which, ironically, are the most popular breed for endurance and competitive trail).

Next, let's look at the close contact/jump/"hunt seat" saddle.  It has a flatter seat, a square cantle and usually a more forward flap; you will ride in it with quite a lot of bend in your leg (again, imagine the parallel between the flap and your thigh), since the focus of these saddles is jumping and riding in your two-point rather than sitting. 

Now, to confuse things further, there are "sub-categories" with jumping saddles.  Let me start explaining this by explaining some basic differences in the jumping disciplines.  

#1)  Jumpers.  Think of going as fast as you can in an arena over a course of big fences without knocking rails down.  Jumper riders ride with a very bent, "short" leg (the rule of thumb being "the higher the fence the shorter the stirrup").  There are few rules regarding attire and turn-out in the jumper ring - you can ride in a polo shirt, your saddle can be a monoflap with external blocks, your horse doesn't need to be braided and can wear ear nets and protective/supportive boots.  What counts is how quickly you can navigate the course of jumps without "faults" (knocking down rails).  Jumps are often big, colorful and fall down pretty easily.

#2)  Hunters/equitation.  This discipline is modeled on the ideal for the hunt field, and is very formal and traditional.  Riders must be in proper attire (jackets and stock ties or rat catchers), the saddle must be a traditional square cantled two flap saddle (no monoflaps or external blocks in the hunt ring), horses must have the manes and tails braided and cannot wear boots or leg wraps.  You're judged on your equitation and your horse's form and ability over fences (which rarely exceed 3'6" and are supposed to look "natural" - like what you'd encounter in the hunt field).

#3)  Eventers.  These people do jumpers - explained above - AND cross country ("x-c"); they also share the jumpers' acceptance of non-traditional looks in tack and apparel.  X-C involves galloping (cross-country, obviously) at a set pace of so many meters per minute (which usually translates to pretty damn fast) and jumping large, immovable fences made from fallen trees, telephone poles, picnic tables, parked cars, giant wooden ducks ... think of anything you'd find out in the woods or fields, or along a country road; if you dose it with steroids and set it in cement, you'll have a good x-c fence.  Ditches and banks and scary drop fences into ditches and water will be included as well. 

Now that I've covered that, here are examples of saddles for each.  This Black Country Quantum is a jump focus saddle:

The flap is set quite forward and the seat, while a bit deeper than you'll find on some jump saddles, is open enough so that it won't hinder the rider when they have to get out of it to clear a jump.

An equitation or hunter focus saddle has a straighter flap, since people who ride this focus are negotiating smaller fences at lower speeds and don't need to ride with as short a leg.  They want a saddle that will allow them to maintain proper form over fences and fit into the parameters of correct traditional-looking equipment.  This County Stabilizer is a great example of this type of saddle:

A cross-country saddle has an extremely forward flap to allow a short "galloping length" leg, a shallow seat and a swept-back cantle so the rider can get back when coming down off a drop fence.  This Black Country Tex Eventer has all those features:

The final type of English saddle is the dressage saddle.  These have a long, very straight flap and can range from a pretty flat seat, such as this Black Country Eden has:

Another open seat on this Passier GG (my saddle):

To a deeper seat on this County Fusion:

To a very deep seat, as on this Frank Baines Omni high-head:

Since a dressage rider gives the bulk of the aids via the seat and legs, the dressage saddle is designed to bring the rider as close as possible to the horse, help them maintain balance and position, and not "get in the way". 

Saddle design has changed considerably for both horse and rider.  Just for fun, here are a couple older saddles.  You'll note that they're much more basic and "plain Jane"; the seats are shallower and there's a lot less padding all around!  (I had to find these on the 'Net, since we don't have any of these venerable types here in the shop).  First is an old Pariani close contact:

And this is an older Stubben Tristan, probably German-made:

These old saddles didn't offer much in the way of luxury and cushiness; the leather was usually quite slick and the knee rolls/thigh blocks were usually tiny or totally non-existent.   You weren't helped to stay aboard with big blocks or deep seats or soft, grippy leather ...

(As we fade to black, the old dinosaur saddle fitter is waxing nostalgic, remembering with fondness and a tear in her eye the longe-line lessons with which she tortured her students, and their feeble cries of protest when she made them drop their irons ...)

Bad Intel, Part II

Last summer, I did a post on "bad intel", explaining the importance of the customer's information and input when it comes to saddle fitting - especially when we're doing it long-distance through photos and tracings.  Recently, I've been receiving a rash of photos that don't offer a whole bunch of information, so I thought I'd do an entry on why the conformation photo is so important, and what qualifies as a conformation shot.

The conformation shot sort of fills in the blanks in the saddle fitting equation.  The tracings give us a lot of necessary info, but they can be open to a bit of interpretation.  The topline tracing, for example - we often can't tell how we should position it to show "level".  If  we receive a tracing like this, we can assume that the topline tracing is level (and hope that we're assuming correctly):

This shows me a horse with a bit of a dip in the back, a good wither, and probably an uphill build.  But sometimes, due to space constraints, you have to put the topline tracing on diagonally ... let's say we get a tracing like this:

Obviously, the topline tracing isn't level in this shot (unless maybe it's a tracing of a giraffe).  Since there's nothing showing what's level, it might be this:

Again, a good wither with a bit of a dip.  But again, "level" could be this:

This is a horse with a dippy back that looks croup-high ... but without the conformation shot, we can't really tell.

Conformation shots also tell us about the horse's overall build and balance, which plays a considerable part in saddle fitting.  In addition to giving us real info on the topline, it will tell us if the saddle may tend to walk forward due to a short back and a big engine behind, or if it may want to slip back because of a big wither and an uphill build.  It will also give us an idea of the horse's overall condition, and whether we may be facing a lot of back changes due to weight loss or muscle gain or just plain growing up.

Here are some good conformation shots.  Each horse is very different, with unique fitting challenges, but these sorts of photos are the perfect complement to the templates.  They show overall build and balance, and give us clues about how the horse might move and what fitting issues we might run into that the template either doesn't address or only hints at.

Now, here are some photos that do NOT qualify.

In this first shot, I can't tell anything about the fitting needs of either horse ... and I can't tell which horse I'm supposed to be evaluating (the notation with the photo was, "The light chestnut with the blaze next to the fence."

The following two photos show the back pretty clearly, but leave me guessing about the overall balance and build.  Since I can't evaluate the whole horse, I can't assess how the conformation might effect saddle fit.

The next two photos are pleasant, but when the head's down that far, the topline is distorted; the back will often appear flatter and more developed than it really is.  All I can really tell from these photos is that, according to the barrel, the horse seems to be spending a LOT of time in this position ...

A striking and dramatic photo, but again, the unnatural head position distorts the back.  While the belly gives me the idea that this horse is either overweight and unfit or possibly a broodmare/in foal, and probably does have some dip to the back due weak/stretched abdominals, the back may come up quite a bit when the head's in a normal, relaxed position.

As you can see from the examples of "good" conformation shots, you don't have to be a professional photographer to take a clear, informative photo.  I don't even mind if the horse is unclipped or hasn't been groomed; I don't mind if your lawn's not mowed or the barn aisle hasn't been swept or if the cat (or dog, or child) is loitering in the background.  Just make sure that your horse is on level ground against a fairly plain (or at least contrasting) background, with all four feet bearing weight and head in a relaxed position.  That will give me the info that the template doesn't provide, and give me a clearer idea of the saddles that would be worth sending, so you don't blow a good portion of your saddle shopping budget on shipping.

Saddle Making Process by Nikki Newcombe of Black Country Saddles

Another in the "Guest Blogger" series - this time from Nikki Newcombe, Sales Manager (and SMS QSF), Black Country Saddles.  This piece was done for a UK magazine, and Nikki kindly agreed to let me reproduce it here.  Here are the steps (and all the work!) that go into making a Black Country saddle.  Nikki, again, thank you SO much for sharing this.  And readers, enjoy! 

Saddle Making Process

Please bear in mind that some of these steps are run simultaneously.

Step 1 – Preparing straps

- straps are individually cut out

- edge stain is applied

- edge finish is then applied

- beeswax coating is then rubbed across

- machine sewn to the nylon webbing

Step 2 – Preparing/webbing the tree

- webbing is strained across the tree in both directions

- straps are attached across the tree

- bellies are cut out, shaved down, machined and fix to the tree

- first layer of seat latex is glued and rasped

- second layer of seat foam is glued and rasped

- flexible points are cut out, machined and attached to points of the tree

Step 3 – Preparing the panels

- panels are cut out using patterns from sides of hide

- hesian lining is ironed on as backing

- tree pocket positions are marked and pierced with awl

- pocket areas are reinforced and machined

- leather facing and gussets are machined to the panel

Step 4 – Preparing the block

- each block is hand cut from large sheets of foam

- then rasped to form the correct shape

- then glued and leather covered

- machined onto the panel

- bottom of the panel is lined

- cord piping is hand stitched into the panel as “casing”

- panel is turned, inside out and edges level out

Step 5 – Sweat flap

- sweat flap is cut from patterns

- edges go through finishing process, stained, edged and waxed

- tacked into position on the panel

- machined onto panel

Step 6 – Blocking


- seat is cut allowing sufficient wrap over from selected hides

- seat is temporarily tacked over the tree

- skirts are cut using patterns from sides of premium leather

- skirt edges go through finishing process, stained, edged and waxed

- skirts are temporarily tacked and positioned on the tree, chalk marks are made to indicate machining

- skirts are then skived and holes made using curved awl in preparation for “blind” stitching/backing

- cantle shape is marked out and then cut from the hide

- cantle is then hesian lined and machined to the seat with welting between

- seat and skirts are then “seemed” with the welting

Step 7 – Seeming/Drawing on the seat


- skirt backs are hand stitched on through the blind holes

- seeming is then pulled over the prepared tree

- seeming is then stretched over the tree with tension from the straining pliers and held in place

Step 8 – Preparing the flaps

- flaps are handcut out from premium leather

- edges go through finishing process, stained, edged and waxed

- knee pads are handcut from selected hides

- foam knee pad are handcut using patterns

- knee pads are machined and then “turned”

- stirrup loop is cut, stained, edged and waxed

- stirrup loop is hand stitched to flap

- knee pad is machined to the flap

- piping cord is covered in leather to create “facing”

- front “facing” is machined to the flap

Step 9 – Fitting the flaps

- flap is positioned on the tree

- flaps are checked for levelness

- headnails, flap saddle nails, nameplates and fall downs are placed and nailed in position

Step 10 – Stuffing Flocking

- front of the panel is stuffed

- panel is “run up” overstitched

- panel is then “flocked” with 100% pure Jacobs wool

Step 11 –Lacing in

- metal D’s are machined into leather

- D’s are attached to the underside of the tree

- gullet foam and then leather is fastened to underside of tree

- bar hole covers are attached to the tree

- panel is fitted to saddle by inserting the points of the tree into the pockets

- “lacing in” holes are made with an awl then the panel is hand stitched to the tree from head to cantle

- Flocked panel is checked for any uneveness, by regulating or mashing.

- Whole saddle is then checked again for levelness throughout

Step 12 – Quality control


- saddle is stamped with model, serial number and of course Made in England

- Cantle badge is added

- Buckle guards are cut out, stamped and then put on

- Overall saddle is run through quality control where it is checked again for symetry, cleaned and finally has its saddle cover.

'Tis the Season

Wow - hard to believe another year has come and gone, and harder to believe I've been doing this blog for two years.  It's been a long and wonderful journey, and reading back, I can see that - bit by bit - my knowledge base has grown and I've added tools to my bag.  There's still a long road and a lot of blogging ahead; one of the great things about this job is that there's always a horse who'll defy all the rules or a saddle that will bring an innovative answer to a real head-scratcher of a problem ... always something new to learn.

So here's wishing you all the happiest of holidays, whatever you may celebrate (and if it was Hanukka, belated wishes).  Here's hoping the new year brings a greater dose of wisdom, tolerance and kindness to those who need it most, and will give us all the eyes to see the joy and beauty in our everyday lives, and remind us how very lucky we are to spend some time together on this plane. 

Peace, all.

Saddle Fitting for the Endurance Horse by Nancy Okun

Here's another "Guest Blogger" entry - this time, from my co-worker, Nancy Okun.  In addition to her saddle fitting work here at the shop, she's also an endurance and competitive trail rider.  If she's not actually competing at a ride, you can bet she'll be volunteering or crewing for a friend who is competing ... so she has plenty of personal experience in the realm of saddles that works for a horse and rider over the long haul.  She's helped literally hundreds of our customers find the right trail saddle, and shares some interesting insights into the saddle needs of the competitive trail / endurance horse and rider.

Pros and Cons of the Template (and The Ultimate Kicker)

We have a customer who's been sending us videos of various saddle fitters in action.  I always enjoy seeing other fitters work, because I usually pick up some useful information or find a new way of addressing a fitting issue ... so I've been watching them whenever I have a spare moment.  One of these fitters takes very detailed templates - in addition to the measurements we ask for (3 fingers' width behind the rear edge of the scapula, lowest point of the back and topline), she does a tracing every few inches along the back, as well as taking longitudinal tracings on each side, midpoint of the longissimus muscle.  When she has her full set of tracings, she cuts them out, flips the saddle upside down, and "fits" the tracings into the panels.  Based on this method, she will assess the fit of an individual saddle, note where it needs to be flocked, and judge its suitability for the horse.  She then puts the saddle on the horse, ungirthed, and finishes the assessment.  I'd imagine that, at some point, she has the rider try the saddle, but I've yet to see video of that.

There are plenty of good things to be said about this method.  It's a painstaking, old-school way of doing things that's not seen much these days; it's something of a lost art and requires a lot of attention to detail, and it gives you a pretty detailed map of the horse's back. (Frank Baines Saddlery is about the only place I know of that still asks for templates like this, and only when they're making a bench-made saddle.)  You can use this method to assess saddle fit, or to make flocking adjustments if the horse isn't available.  It's also handy for the customer to have such a comprehensive template when they're saddle shopping.  But there is one real drawback:  the template is taken when the horse is standing still ... and what we need is something that fits your horse in motion.  Yes, you can get an idea if the saddle is likely to fit the horse using the templates - we do just that all the time with our long-distance customers, using our 3-measurement template.  However, using the template is only step one of the whole process.

The next step is to put the saddle on the horse and girth it up.  Remember, flocking is soft (or ought to be, anyway) and will shift and compress under pressure.  What looks like it might cause a fitting issue when comparing the saddle to the template can become a total non-issue when the saddle's actually on the horse and girthed to riding tightness.

The next step is to get the rider up and the horse in motion.  Some horse's backs change quite radically when they start moving (this will be the subject of one of my future blog posts, so stay tuned!), and the saddle that looked pretty darn good compared to the template or while the horse is standing in the crossties can get ruled out pretty quickly when the cantle starts popping or it scoots up on the shoulder when the horse is being ridden.  I've seen it happen time and again:  I SO wish I had a dollar for every time I've assessed the horse's fitting needs based on the "still" back and template and lugged likely saddles down from the shop to the indoor ... and then lugged them back up the stairs when the active fit proved them unsuitable.  Don't get me wrong - it doesn't always play out that way.  Sometimes the first saddle I choose is the right one (and the more I do this, the more often that happens) ... but in all honesty, it's just as likely to be the second saddle ... or the third ... or ... And on the other hand, a saddle that looks pretty "meh" when compared to the template or when sitting on the horse in the ties can be transformed into utter perfection when the rider's up and the horse is moving.  I've spent plenty of time haring back up the stairs to grab that saddle I'd given the thumbs-down in the initial go-round, too.

The final step is to have the rider really ride the saddle four or five or six times.  The saddle that seems great on the first or second ride may take care of an existing fitting problem ... but by the third or fourth ride, it may be creating new issues of its own.  Until the saddle's really been ridden, you just can't tell.

And here, gentle readers, is the Ultimate Kicker:  it all comes down to what the horse and rider think.  I can spout saddle fitting theory and physics and geometry, I can trot out evidence both scientific and empirical, I can make diagrams and write blogs and juggle saddles and tap dance ... and I've seen saddles that have defied ALL these things and been the one that made the horse and rider blissfully happy.  When you get down to where the cheese binds, my opinion matters not one whit. Horse and rider have the last say.

Quelle Belle Surprise!

A few days ago, I received an e-mail from a young French blogger/dressage rider named Eugénie, asking if she could translate one of my blog posts into French.  According to her, saddle fitting is something that's "almost unknown in France", and she was hoping to raise awareness, at least among her readership.  I was very flattered - I mean, to me, having people actually want to read my blog is very, very gratifying; so to find that someone wants to go to the effort of translating it into another language is high praise indeed.  I've been visiting Eugénie's blog and having a great time reading through it with the aid of my rudimentary French and a lot of help from Google Translations.  So for those of you who speak the language (or who'd like to get a taste of Eugénie's very personable writing), stop by and take a look:  http://fifikschroniques.canalblog.com/.  Amusez-vous!

The Finite Life of a Saddle

Some saddles seem to last forever.  I've seen some venerable relics some across my bench - Passiers and Frank Baineses and Stubbens of 1970s vintage, some on their last legs, and some still in serviceably sound (though cosmetically challenged) condition.  Eventually, though, they all get to the point of being too old to continue.  Some fall victim to an accident, some are retired when the horse they were used on is sold or passes on, and some just flat wear out.

A saddle's useful life is determined in a large part by three things:  first, its initial quality.  Superior materials and workmanship will create a product that has a far greater chance of standing up to the test of time than inferior material and mediocre workmanship.  The second factor is the use it receives.  As we saw with Jenny Kimberly's saddle (mentioned here), "extreme riding" is hard on a saddle and will effect its lifespan, or at least the lifespan of its components.  The third factor is the care it receives - if it's cleaned and conditioned regularly, has the flocking maintained regularly and is stored in a reasonably protected environment, its useful life will (or should) span many, many years.

But I'll repeat:  even for the most pampered saddle, there will come a time when it's no longer "serviceably sound for its intended use".  Sometimes it's hard to determine when the time has come to retire it ... even for a professional.

This saddle was in the shop on consignment.  It's a Michael Stokes Centaur, made in the UK, a good example of a high-quality saddle that has seen good care, a long life and a lot of use (we're guessing it's at least 10 or 12 years old, if not more).

The saddle passed our usual safety check and had gone out on trial about 8 times before the right person and horse found it. But before the sale was finalized, however, the customer wanted me to check the tree. It seems there was a rather unsettling creaking noise ...

Flexing the tree did make it creak, and creak considerably. I dropped the panels and peeled back the gullet cover but didn't find any obvious cracks or loose rivets, and the lower head plate was sound. However, I did find just the slightest give somewhere when I flexed the head plate ... it creaked, but I couldn't pinpoint the cause.  Any sort of give in that area indicates a major safety issue, so I was really determined to find out what was going on. I also noticed that there were two rather significant chips taken out of the tree in the cantle area (though those seemed unrelated to the problem, and I honestly don't know how they'd have gotten there):

 

Further staple pulling and leather peeling resulted in some pretty substantial wood chips coming out of the tree:

This sort of chipping is not normal when you're just pulling staples.  It really made me wonder about the integrity of the tree (dry rot, perhaps?); you'll often get ugly holes if you're pulling escutcheon pins, but staples usually come out pretty cleanly, leaving only little holes behind.  I was starting to worry about the advisibility of reconstructing the saddle even if I found no major damage ... but I still hadn't found what was causing the creaking noise, so I kept at it. 

I pulled the seat foam off the pommel area and started to pry loose the webbing.  The chipping increased quite dramatically in the "high staple" area (you can see a sizeable piece of wood between the legs of the staple near my thumb):

The upper head plate was intact, but when I pulled more staples and peeled back the leather from the rail just above the left stirrup bar, I found the problem:

The damage could have come from the stirrup catching on something and the horse pulling backwards / sideways, or it could have just been fatigue from constant use (remember, this is the left stirrup bar).  The right rail was starting to bulge in the same area, though it hadn't actually cracked.  I'm really glad the customer decided to have the noise checked.  Sometimes a creak is nothing more than a loose rivet or the webbing rubbing on something ... and sometimes it's not.  But without dropping the panels and exposing the tree (and sometimes, some determined digging), you can't tell for sure.  Better safe than sorry.