Positioning Of Saddle

Where to position the saddle on your horse.


Australian saddles sit more forward on the horses back than traditional western saddles, the stirrups are also attached in a more forward position. This puts the rider's center of gravity and weight in a more forward position rather than the middle of the spine. The girth should be 1" to 3" behind the horse's front legs. This position is unquestionably far more comfortable for most horses and greatly enhances horse performance. Before undertaking a long ride with your new saddle, we suggest many shorter rides allowing the padding to conform and adjust to your horse.


(A) The Front of the saddle is too high


The front (pommel) of this saddle is sitting too high. This will result in the majority of the riders' weight being transferred to the back half of the saddle. It's a simple principal of weight running downhill. This is uncomfortable for the rider and the horse; within a short period of time the horse will develop white hair, then visible saddle soreness. The saddle tree is too narrow for the horse, and you need a wider saddle. The narrower the saddle tree the higher the front of the saddle will sit.



(B) The Front of the saddle is too low


The back (cantle) of this saddle is sitting too high. This will result in the majority of the riders' weight being transferred to the front half of the saddle. It's a simple principal of weight running downhill. This is uncomfortable for the rider and the horse; within a short period of time the horse will develop white hair, then visible saddle soreness. The saddle tree is too wide for the horse, and you need a narrower saddle or a saddle tree adjustment- (if adjustable). The wider the saddle tree the lower the front of the saddle will sit.



(C) Absolutely as good as it gets


The front and back of this saddle is level, distributing the riders' weight evenly over the horse's back. Actually we don't just consider the front and back of the saddle, we also look at the seat itself. The seat in this saddle is nice and level. To determine that the saddle is fairly level, just eyeball it, there is no need to use an engineers level.

It is not always possible to get this perfect "textbook fitment" shown here, however if the front is a little higher or a little lower, you will be just fine, as long as you don't have the extremes shown above. (Several of our saddle models are made with a deeper seat and higher cantle, so naturally the back of the seat will sit slightly higher than the front on these models).



When the saddle is level, there should be even contact along the panels at the front of the saddle. There should be two to four inches of clearance between the top of the withers and the top of the saddle chamber