Tack Fitting

This mare, typical for her arabian breed, has very low withers, a wide back, and a very short back. 

This mare was our most involved horse of the day.  She was sound and very useable, except if she didn't like the way her tack fit she would buck.  This makes sense, since horses don't speak english this was her way of telling the rider to GET OFF because the saddle hurts!  We tried on probably eight saddles trying to find one that works, and had some very interesting findings.  Because her back and withers are short, the lowest point on her back was further forward than most saddles' lowest point.  Because gravity is the rule here on planet earth, the part of the saddle that is lowest will shift until it lines up with the lowest point on the horse's back.  This means that most saddles would slide forward on this mare as she moved, until the rider was almost on her neck and the girth was rubbing her front legs creating sores. 

Pointing out where the lowest point of her back is

Showing how the saddle will crawl forward until the saddle's low point lines up with the horse's back's low point

One question that arose was that of using a crupper.  This is a strap that prevents the saddle from moving forward by strapping it to the horse's tail.  A crupper is suitable if the saddle is a good fit, and the horse will be going up and down steep inclines, like riding in the mountains.  Then it's just the terrain that causes the saddle to shift.  However, using a crupper in this situation where the saddle doesn't fit the horse will just cause the horse to get a sore back, and probably sores around her tail from all the saddle's tugging on the strap. 

checking asymmetry of the treeless saddle

One of the many saddles we tried was a treeless, but the saddle's owner had some back problems that cause her to sit tilted to the left.  This had caused the saddle to break down over time, and the entire saddle was very asymmetrical.  We could see it best by standing immediately behind the horse and looking up the center.  This saddle looked like it was collapsing to the left and wasn't going to fit.

Checking another saddle assessing pressure front to back

checking how the saddle rests on the mare

Happy horse!  No bucking, and she even started to lengthen her stride and stretch while being ridden in this saddle!

Nice impression!  Even and minimal displacement of the dough in the pad!

Success!  It was a great day overall, every horse that I fitted ended up going home with something that would work for riding.  This is terribly uncommon, usually we are looking to purchase a new saddle for at least one horse when doing this many fittings in a day.