Saddles

Okay, so moving on: today is the saddle. If you are riding a bony thoroughbred like most of my friends do, then you can be very thankful to have those couple of inches of leather between you and the infamous spines of a racehorse backbone!

The front of a saddle is called the pommel. Western saddles have a large knob called a saddle horse attached to the pommel for securing lassos. The dip in the middle is the seat and that’s where you park your butt. The rear of the saddle is the cantle. The saddle flaps reach down from both sides of the saddle to protect your leg from the horse’s side and your horse’s side from your leg. There is also a stirrup on each side, with a stirrup leather looping through a metal stirrup iron. Your feet go here. Apparently, the invention of the stirrup revolutionized ancient warfare from horseback, as the cavalry stopped suddenly sliding off the side of their mounts. You’ll like them too. A saddle pad or blanket goes underneath the saddle to keep the saddle clean and if necessary help evenly distribute the weight of you and the saddle. Two panels filled with a soft stuffing run underneath the saddle. The whole shebang is kept on the horse by a big band called the girth that runs under the horse’s belly and buckles in on either side of the saddle.

Saddles come in all shapes and sizes, for all different purposes. The general idea of a saddle is that they help keep you where you want to be, which is usually on the horse, and doing what you mean to be doing. Jumping saddles have very forward-pointing saddle flaps and a shallow seat to help the rider get up off her horse’s back and give the horse as room as possible to move. Dressage saddles have very straight saddle flaps and deep seats to encourage the rider to sit tall and still. Racing saddles are small and light, while endurance saddles are deeper but also light. Western saddles are much, much bigger with very deep seats.

Normally, saddles are made out of leather with a wooden tree or frame inside to give it shape. The saddle is then stuffed, or flocked with a synthetic stuffing. Saddles can now be made from synthetic materials like nylon as well.

See you next time for horsey accessories!