"Buddy" in his New Saddle (Criollo)

He's fab!

Hi, I put a deposit on a Criollo on Sunday, at TheCriollo Farm. Looking forward to choosing a saddle! I love the coloured saddle pad - where did you get it?
 
Landcruiser, we were there on Saturday & knew someone was going Sunday, so that must have been you, who did you buy? Details please....
 
Ummm .... I had to wait awhile to get the photos to show up ... but no, that saddle is not fitting at all well. If you look at the tree on a western saddle, it extends back a few inches behind the cantle - cantle itself is solid and then the rails extend out behind it. All that surface you can see raised up off his back needs to be lying flat. To me, it looks like the saddle is too wide for him at the front, causing it to lie tip forward.
 
I know I guy in the US who is an equine chiro who lectures on the subject post grad at one of the big universities over there who does talks on saddle fit.

As the bars on a western saddle are on the top of the horses back he says you fit the saddle to the rib cage so gaining or loosing condition doesn’t really change the fit.

He also says the same about English saddles which is completely wrong as they fit and work so differently so who knows if he's right.

I know a trainer in the US who said to me they would like a Dressage saddle but their friend who was a saddle fitter told them it was impossible to get a dressage saddle to fit properly, yes I laughed and suggested her friend was in the wrong business (Didn’t go down to well) but it shows the problem of getting an English saddle fitted in the US( and the UK to be fair) and a Western saddle fitted over here.

I have a Chilean Saddle and I know I couldn’t find anyone to fit over here.

Iirc a western saddle rocks on the horses back when the horses back is rounded during lope, canter, gallop and the skirt has something to do with how the saddle rocks not sure how risers would effect this.

But I’m not a western saddle fitter maybe someone from the US could enlighten us, it is a nice looking saddle though.
 
Last edited:
Chilli said:
I know I guy in the US who is an equine chiro who lectures on the subject post grad at one of the big universities over there who does talks on saddle fit.

As the bars on a western saddle are on the top of the horses back he says you fit the saddle to the rib cage so gaining or loosing condition doesn’t really change the fit.
Click to expand...

Is that Dr Dave Siemens and David Genadek out of interest? :)
 
That saddle very much doesn't look like it fits with that inch of space along the back of it. I really hope it looks different in person..
 
Question Does your saddle have back cinches! cant see any.we had a western saddle for a while wandered why it wasint siting right and it slipped

found out needed back cinches at the back of saddle at side there is a space
slit bit this is where they go...Maybe you have them and i am seeing things
just wanted to make sure your safe...lovely saddle:)
 
criollo

Hi, am new to the site, and learning!..Just became proud owner of dun criollo called 'yellow'.
Am struggling with lifting my saddle tho, and wonderered how long it took you to get 'the knack' of lifting it on and off...have brocken 2 buckets in a week!
 
welcome kathy and "yellow", you will find loads of us on here. Need to see pics of your new hoss asap please.......

i have a treeless barefoot, i can't lift the western saddles onto my horses back, he is big and they are darned heavy!! so with you there, you could try using a portable mounting stool to help, i have to do this to do "Spots" mane etc.
 
criollo

I am glad I'm not the only one struggling with the saddle!! I did try a mounting stool...but couldnt get up the 2nd step! as couldnt see it!!was wobbling all over the place. Will take my camera today, then try and work out how to download onto here..havent worked out how to join the nr criollo club yet either...maybe i am more blonde than i thought..
 
criollos

Hi, i've just joined and very new to this. My sister has 2 criollos and I'm going to corporate horse to get one this sunday..can hardly wait. Has anyone got any tips? My sister's coming with me but any words of wisdom very welcome!
 
Hi criollocrazy and welcome. Have any of us got tips......try and stop us. My advice is go with what feels right, (not looks/colour etc) and don't try too many, gets confusing. Have fun and good luck.
 
scribbler said:
Question Does your saddle have back cinches! cant see any.we had a western saddle for a while wandered why it wasint siting right and it slipped

found out needed back cinches at the back of saddle at side there is a space
slit bit this is where they go...Maybe you have them and i am seeing things
just wanted to make sure your safe...lovely saddle:)
Click to expand...

This is BAD advice.

If your saddle is slipping without the back cinch, it doesn't fit. Plain and simple. I've ridden western for four years, reining, trails, pleasure... My trainer has been breaking her occassionally rank gelding, complete with bucking fits and rears. Not once have either of us ever needed a back cinch. Rear cinches are only meant to be used in extremely high stress situations like barrel racing, pole bending, and cattle work. They're sometimes used on very demanding trails that require very steep angles to prevent the saddle tipping up.

Also, if your back cinch is making that big a difference, it's too tight. There should be a fist width between the horse's stomach and the rear cinch. The cinch only comes into play when the saddle tips up in rare situations. The rest of the time it would be way too loose to make a difference.
 
Last edited:
I would agree with Keket. The only time a saddle might come up a little too much at the back and it be ok is when there is no rider on and you are lunging. Sometimes, in an effort to fit a little wider at the front (when fitting to a young, still growing horse or one with atrophy) it sometimes will cause the saddle to bounce around a little at the back when doing groundwork. But once the rider is on on board the saddle should be assessed in jog and rising trot to make sure it is hardly moving with a rider on board. :)

The rear cinch is only for decoration as we rarely have any need in the UK to use them for what they were designed for.
 
ooh

My mum really wants a western saddle for her horse who's called buddy too.
 
newrider.com
Back
Top