11/23/2024
GAME OVER. The steel spring, a common stabilizing feature of modern saddle trees, sheared the rivet and broke at the tie-in of the rails. This is at the waist, the angle of the rails creates the twist and would be under the rider’s leg. Oddly, there was no big traumatic damaging event like a fall.
The root cause seems to be that the adjustable gullet head hinge was faulty. The teeth are not aligned and locking, and I’m able to flex what should be an immovable gullet head angle with just moderate pressure on the tree points (see the video, and apologies for the unsteady camera action). Imagine the tremendous physical forces of the horse and rider posting a trot or cantering or working on leg aids, and you understand why this is a problem. Scary!
Unfortunately, fail of these style of mechanisms are common, and they’re hard to monitor because they are under the gullet liner leather. Dirt, debris, and hair wander in and compromise the lock. In this case, even living in the dry corner of Washington state, this one was rusty which makes sense if you think about the heat and sweat rising from the horse during every ride.
With all of this hidden under the gullet lining leather, how was this discovered? The horse had been growing increasingly upset about saddling, and the rider listens to her horse. 💕 We found it during a basic saddle check.
The takeaway? The structures of your tree should always be symmetrical from side to side, and it’s a good idea to get familiar with what the tree feels like under there. Your horse’s spine and withers are exposed to this area, though hopefully protected from it by the panel. Take a minute next time you’re cleaning your tack, and see if you can feel the structures of your tree under the panel.
