How to tell if my horse needs a gaited saddle

This is a video about using your hands to determine if your horse needs a gaited saddle. I learned this from watching a DVD of Larry Whitesell, a gaited horse trainer.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• gaited
• saddle
• larry
• whitesell

[sonsofsailors]

You do what everyone should do when buying a saddle "off the rack." So many of my customers think "twist" is the narrow-ness of the waist of the seat. Do you have gaited horses and trotting horses?

[Anatis1]

Thank you for this.

I recently bought a Paso Fino, but thought before I sell my saddle, I'll see how it fits/doesn't fit. And... it doesn't fit. It's a great saddle -- just not for this horse.

In the meantime, I'll simply go bareback, until I can swing for a new -fitting- one.

I totally agree with people needing to educate themselves on how to spot an ill fitting saddle *before* it causes damage.

[Italianiceisnice]

Oh, I have alsways owned walk/trot/canter horses for the last 30 yrs, but have grown up around and ridden gaited horses too. Recently, I bought a Tennessee Walker gelding, whom needs a saddle, so I'm shopping around now, looking for a really cushy one for me with a high cantle, but one that has stufed panels like an aussie. The paso saddles I've seen are cool but too narrow for my big guy, so maybe an aussie will be what I end up with. :) I miss my bighorn voyager...now THAT saddle was COMFY.

[Italianiceisnice]

Yes, thanks...I try to explain this to horse-people everywhere I go when the subject comes up. It really irks me to see a saddle on a horse that CLEARLY doesn't fit right---even at the gullet, where it should be very obvious to the owner. I hate to imagine what the panels fit him like then! Poor horses deserve better than that. All persons who ride should educate themselves in this very important subject before they ever decide "what saddle" they should use.

[Italianiceisnice]

Thanks for explaining this; so many horse people have NO idea what rock, twist, flair, etc actually is when fitting a saddle to their horse!! It makes a HUGE difference.

When I'm fitting any horse, I take a flexible ruler and make back tracings on foam board for every inch of the saddle bearing area. Then I cut the tracings out of foamboard, go to a huge saddle shop with my bag of ~24 "boomerang" shapes and flip over every saddle and assemble them under the saddles to find the best fit! *wink*

[Iwishonedayy]

simple and quick. thanks!