measuring saddle fit to rider

[secuono]

English saddles
How do you know how many inches you need? Which site is correct? I'm 5'6 125lbs.

Site A. 15in from back of knee to seat bone. 16in saddle for this.
Site B. But another site tells me to measure from knee cap to back of butt, which is 22in. 17-17.5in saddle for that one.

Site A. http://www.ehow.com/how_6383126_measure-rider-proper-saddle-size.html
Site B. http://www.thorowgood.com/fitting_guide_01.html

 

[goodhors]

Sorry, I did not think either site very helpful with their generic advice.
We start with sitting in some saddles. You do not specify WHICH kind of
English saddle you are looking to buy.

Each type will need a very different fitting to achieve the "best" possible
position for that discipline. Jumping will fit your knees into the knee rolls, has
a deeper seat, while the flaps and knee rolls of a
Dressage saddle are in a different location and length. Flat or Saddle Seat have no knee
rolls and ride with long stirrups. Then there is the All-Purpose saddle, which
is not as straight forward in style as the others.

Your body style, long or short legs, long or short body trunk, makes a HUGE
difference in fitting the saddle. I am fairly long legged, but oddly enough my
measurements of femur and shin length seem opposite of most other folks, with
the femur length being shorter. That kind of thing will make my knee fall
differently than an "average person with the same leg length" in fitting a
saddle.

Then there is the "comfort zone" of how wide the tree of saddle is at the narrowest
point of the seat, which is called the Twist, on both English and Western saddles.
Too wide can just give your hips the WORST pain by trying to stretch your pelvis/hip joints,
and too narrow can be "kind of sharp" to sit on, though most females prefer a narrow twist.

Then there is the part of fitting saddle to horse. You may LOVE a certain model, but it just
DOES NOT fit your horse. Too wide, too narrow, not padded correctly, and horse responds
by acting badly, getting sore, or just not "going like he used to".

Your best bet is to go someplace with a LOT of saddles and sit on them to try the fit. You
make notes about what you like best, what is NOT comfortable, to keep with you. I would
also consult a saddle fitter, find out what my HORSE needs in sizes, and then start more
serious shopping. You may need to take horse along to try saddles on, before you make
a choice. And know that your new saddle may not fit any of your OTHER horses!

I am saying this from experience. My horses are very hard to fit with extremely short backs,
but wide, high shoulders and a lot of width in bodies. Not old QH bodies, but big. I must have tried on
over a 120 saddles, hauled horse a lot of miles to places with a quantity of saddles on hand, to try
finding a well fitting one. This was for a Western saddle. FINALLY found one that worked,
gave her shoulder room, without skirt hanging over her loins and fit me as well. But having
a saddle that fit her well, made a lot of difference in how well she rode and responded to
my requests. She was comfortable! Luckily the other horses are bred similarly, so the saddle
also fit them. Was the DEVIL though when DD started riding the big horses and we had to
find another saddle to fit these horses and her!!

It was difficult to find an English All Purpose to fit these horses, but at least the better names had
measurements you can read on the saddles. Most now have tree width and seat size right there,
which speeds things up a lot. Still went thru about 25 saddles before I ran into a saddle fitter who
was experienced with our breed and knew what I needed. She sent me a saddle and it was perfect
for the horse and son. Got kind of expensive mailing saddles back that didn't fit! Local tack stores
just didn't carry the sizes we needed, so had to call Eastern tack stores that had a bigger stock.

One rule of thumb I use is old, but still works, is to have a hand width of seat behind you when seated.
Wiggle around on the seat, see where you end up, which should be over the lowest part of the seat. Then
put your hand behind yourself, palm width from your backside to back edge of cantle should about equal
that width. Of course hands vary in width, mine is about 3 1/2" so I would say that is an average width,
not narrow or wide like a man's hand. We call it the "posting room" and you don't end up with too short
a seat length when riding actively. Have seen some folks posting who went off behind the cantle! Saddle
was too short for the sit and slide of a Hunt Seat saddle, used for Jumping.

I would get some help from experienced saddle sellers, before choosing anything. Some folks can ride
anything, do OK. Other folks spend hours in the saddle, so fit and comfort is very important to them
AND the horse. English saddles that get ridden a LOT, usually need to visit the saddle fitter every 4-6 months
to be restuffed. Constant use, heat from horse, rider weight, will change the stuffing which is often wool,
felting it down. This changes the fit, so saddle has to be corrected to stay properly fitted. Western
saddles are not padded, so fit stays consistant. This is why you need to fit the saddle properly to begin with,
nothing is going to change except horse muscling. Mature horse will have different muscling than he did when
a younger animal, or muscles develop as horse gets more trained. Might need to be evaluated for needing
another saddle when that happens. Expensive pads and blankets will not change the saddle fit, they just pad
it up, but pressure points remain. I hate seeing a horse with white on his shoulders and back, marks of a
poorly fitted saddle in his past.

 

[secuono]

Just an all around saddle/trail rides. No jumping or showing for us.
Riding as a kid, we always had different saddles, sometimes they didn't fit the horse and I'm sure not all fit us either. Never had an issue with any of them. All we did was adjust the stirrups and all was dandy.
I know it has to fit the horse, but I also wanted to know in general what size for me to get. I won't be riding all that much anyway, so my comfort isn't much of an issue.
Mare is a 17yr long backed Paint. Her weight really hasn't changed since I got her. On the other hand, my Corolla Pony is fat and was thinner before, grass really rounded him up. I'm sure in winter he will thin back out. He will be trouble to fit, keep fitted and all that. he's also 4yrs.
I don't know of any saddle fitters, only one I found on a list was, well I have no idea where in the state. I also cannot take my horses with me, no trailer, only guy who I know sells/re-stuffs/fixes saddles is 1.5hrs away. I could see if he has an email or find his # and talk to him about finding one or at least get him to keep an eye on a resale saddle.
I'm also on a budget, not willing to spend more than $300 for each saddle, 1 for the mare and the other for the pony.