20/12/2024
“I don’t need a fancy, professionally fitted saddle, I only hack out and mostly in walk!”
I’m going to quote Dr Ian Bidstrup from a recent webinar he conducted on saddle fit from a specialist spinal vet’s perspective – and for those interested there will be a more in depth look at saddle design next year which will be fascinating.
THE SLOW DEATH
This is the terminology he uses to describe slow rides. Now slow walk is important, super important, when we’re building posture and balance for sure, I’m a big proponent. However, when we consider the pressure under saddles and its effect on the skin and blood flow then we have to think more traditionally and look at the role of the saddle in spreading that pressure.
If you sit on your horse in halt, it’s likely that the pressure under the saddle is already approaching levels that prevent blood flow. I’d have to go and look at a ton of research to try and get down to it but we know it’s not always that easy to get our hand under the front or anywhere else under the saddle, your weight and that of the saddle has to go somewhere!
What happens when we move at a pace that’s faster than walk?
Each part of the back under the saddle is at least partly unloaded at one stage of the stride pattern. In rising trot we shift our weight forward and back in the saddle, from our seatbones to the stirrup bars. In canter the whole saddle rocks a little, and the pressure under the saddle fluctuates and transfers from front to back and back again with each stride. Even sitting trot allows for some relief of pressure under the saddle in all areas within each stride.
Racehorses have pretty grim saddles with teeny areas underneath them, the reason that greater damage isn’t done is because whenever they walk any distance they’re generally going to the gallops where they will get immediate relief from the unrelenting pressure.
Walk does not offer any real alleviation of pressure. A lack of blood flow to the muscle will stop them functioning fully, and may be causing damage to the skin and to the fascia. Fascia are layers of connective tissue that wrap around muscles (you’ve seen it if you’ve prepared or eaten most meats) that are critical to the skeletal and biomechanical health of the horse and obviously the skin is pretty important too!
The long riding experts Be Professional. Look Cool. have also looked at this VERY closely in their work, the effect of saddle pressure on the horse’s back and, for riding long distances daily, back to back, for long periods of time where "mistakes" get hugely magnified. He recommends intervals for dismounting and loosening the girth, and for taking the saddle off. This should be done more than once every day, and that’s WITH doing faster work. Here’s a post of theirs on the subject https://www.facebook.com/beprofessionallookcool/posts/pfbid03369vorLPo4PeMYF49a7V6kp1HYm6qH7ixnywNMqApYvHrPzernmJBD13rCpQpuDyl
Remember, they’re not just poorly designed to carry us and a saddle, the way they function in the wild means that riding them will always compromise them immensely unless we’re super careful about how we load them with weight and how we prepare them to carry that weight.
Give your horse a break – if you’re not doing faster work then your need for a well fitting saddle is just as high, perhaps higher, as those working at supposedly higher levels. Take the fitting of your saddle deadly seriously.
