This information is provided courtesy of Dave Genadek, a master saddle maker with over 20 years experience making custom saddles. Thank you, Dave!

To find out more about Dave's work and his beautiful saddles, check out www. Aboutthehorse.com. that name pretty much says it all. This part of the web site is taken from my clinic notes. If there is something you believe is incorrect, don't blame that on Dave, blame it on me and drop me a note to set me straight. Here is some of what makes Dave's saddles and saddle making approach different from many others who make saddles.

An 'off the rack' saddle is likely to have a tree that is selected from a very limited selection of trees. To over-generalize a little, there are probably three general basic body types (back and rib cage size and shape) that you will find in horses. The limited tree choices available for most 'off the rack' saddles will fit only one of those three types of body types. They could be loosely described as small (lens shaped rib cage - small wither and flat back), medium (more sprung rib cage - a downhill top line) and large (a fully sprung rib cage). In the 'large' category, you will find many quarter horses, Doc bar quarter horses and old line Tennessee Walkers. Interestingly, the newer line Tennessee Walkers fall into the 'medium' category. Why is this important to know? Because most 'off the rack saddles are built on trees that are designed to fit the 'medium' body shape. That means that the 'large' quarter horses, old line Tennessee Walkers and other large horses, as well as the 'small' horses will be very difficult to fit in an 'off the rack' saddle.

Dave's saddle design is built on a foundation of several different tree sizes. When you go to one of Dave's saddle fit clinics, he will have those bars with him so you can see them on your horse and see which one fits. A side note about gaited horses. To say a saddle it 'a gaited horse saddle' could be somewhat misleading, since there are different body styles within that breed. The question should not be whether a saddle is a gaited horse saddle. The question should be: 'Does the 'gaited horse saddle' fit the gaited horse'? Not all 'off the rack' gaited horse saddles will fit every gaited horse. The saddle portion of the equipment section of our site will be addressed in three sections,
(1) Fitting the Saddle to the Horse,
(2) Fitting the Saddle to the Rider; and
(3) A Brief History of Saddles.
If this piques your interest about saddles and you want to know more, check out Dave's web site or give him a call on his 1-800 numbers. After all, he is the expert.

FITTING THE SADDLE TO THE HORSE.

A. TO FIT THE HORSE, LOOK AT THE ANATOMY AND BIOMECHANICS OF THE HORSE AND RIDER

1. A Proper Saddle Fit Will Allow the Ring of Muscles to Help Round the Horse .The horse has a 'ring of muscles' that run under its chest and holds up the sternum. If you scratch your horse's belly, he will lift his back. That is the ring of muscles at work. Your saddle must allow your horse to use that ring of muscles correctly, so that the horse can round his back and collect.
2. A Proper Saddle Fit Will Provide Room for the Spine and Latisimus Dorsi Muscles. Your horse needs a saddle that will carry the rider's weight without interfering with the spinal movement and muscle activity necessary for the horse to move freely and to round its back. A good saddle will allow the latisimus dorsi muscles, which run from the withers to the hip, to move without putting pressure on them. A proper saddle fit allows this by distributing the weight of the rider and saddle on the fascia (non muscle material) on the horse's barrel. A good saddle will have a tunnel that runs under the saddle. If the latisimus dorsi muscles are pinches or restricted by the saddle, they may fire or guard, which will affect the horse's ability to round and move properly.
3. A Proper Set of Bars Will Also Allow Room for Hip Movement, Shoulder Movement and Will Spread the Weight of the Saddle and Rider Evenly Over the Horse's Back.

B. FOUR ASPECTS OF BAR DESIGN ARE VERY IMPORTANT

1. Well Designed Bars Will Provide Proper Weight Distribution over the Horse's Back .A good saddle will distribute the weight of the saddle and rider over a large area. Within reason, the larger the bars, the bigger the area over which the weight is spread. If you look at some of the newer 'off the rack' saddles, you will see bars that are only about two inches wide. For proper weight distribution, the bars should be four or five inches wide.
2. Well Designed Bars Will Allow the Bars to Parallel the Shape of the Horse's Back .This aspect of bar design is called the 'TWIST'. When you look at your horse's back, you will see that there is a change of angle that occurs gradually from the shoulder to the rib cage. A properly fitting saddle must fit the shape of the rib cage and account for that change of angle. This is where the 'small', 'medium' and 'large' rib cage sizes come into play. Most 'off the rack saddles' are designed to fit the 'medium' sized rib cage. Many Mules, Pasos and new line Tennessee Walkers fall into this category.
3. Well Designed Bars Will Lift the Bars Up Off of the Horses Shoulder. This aspect of bar design is called the 'FLARE'. Bars with significant flare will appear to open up wide to avoid putting pressure or restriction on the area of the horse's body that is involved in shoulder movement. If you picture a pair of skis on your horses' back, the front tips of the skis will curl out and away from his shoulders, leaving them room to move.
4. Well Designed Bars Will Lift the Bars Up Off of the Horses Haunches. This aspect of bar design is called the 'ROCK'. The rock of the bars lifts the back of the saddle up off the horse's haunches and allows the hips to move freely up and down.
5. A Summary of Well Designed Bars. Bars should be around four or five inches wide, they should parallel the horse's back, they should be wide in the front and should be high in the back.
6. How Bars Are Commonly Described Does Not Tell You Enough About Their Design. How far apart the bars are varies from one saddle maker to another. Full Quarter Horse Bars are about 6.75 to 7 inches apart. Semi Quarter Horse Bars are about 6.5 to 6.75 inches apart. This is helpful information, but it does not tell you anything about ROCK, TWIST or FLARE. Why is that important? A saddle with a narrow gullet, but with a WIDE FLARE may fit your horses' shoulder. But a saddle with a wide gullet with a NARROW FLARE may pinch your horse's shoulders. This could cause stumbling, lead change problems, self carriage problems, etc.

C. HOW TO TELL IF YOU'RE SADDLE FITS YOUR HORSE

1. Fit the gullet about on the middle of the withers. The wither profile will move about 1 inch in either direction as the horse moves. Some room should be allowed for this movement.
2. Push your hand through the gullet and down the length of the saddle to see if there is a tunnel which makes room for the spine and latisimus dorsi muscles to move properly during the horse's locomotion.
3. Do the same test with your hand from the back of the saddle to see if the tunnel runs the full length of the saddle.
4. Check the FLARE of the bars. When your horse is looking straight ahead, you should be able to run your hand between the front of your saddle and the horse's shoulder. When your horses head is turned to one side, your saddle should be in contact with that side of the shoulder.
5. Check the ROCK of the bars. You should be able to run your hand between the back corner of your saddle and your horse's hip. An oval, rather than a square, saddle skirt.

D. Rigging

1. The purpose of rigging is to hold the saddle quietly on your horse's back. The bars should rest on the stationary part of your horse's back.
2. The rigging should hold the middle section of the bars (which fit well because of proper TWIST) flat on the horse's back. Double or Flat Plate rigging do a good job.
3.  When using double rigging, the front and the back cinch should be equally tight. If the back cinch is loose, the saddle will move sideways as well as up and down. This will interfere with the horse's hip and back motion.

E. Skirting

1. Skirting protects the horse from the motion of the stirrup leather.
2. The skirting should not move. The wool on the saddle should protect the horse.
3.There should be NO in skirt rigging. Rigging in the skirt causes the skirting to bear weight. When skirting bears weight, it cannot protect the horse. The skirt will pinch the horse when the rigging is tightened. The horse's body motion will cause the saddle to move backwards on the horse's back. A breast collar will stop that movement, but will probably tip the saddle up on its front end and cause the gullet to pinch the horse's shoulders and force the horse onto its forehand.
4.In skirt rigging came about as a design adjustment which was required when some saddle makers decided to get rid of the rear cinch.

F. Padding

1. Padding is not necessary if your saddle fits property. A good quality Navajo blanket is sufficient.

G. Shims

1. If your saddle does not fit correctly on the horse, you can use padding or shims to try to help that situation. However, remember to pad away from the pressure. That means that, if the saddle is pinching your horse's shoulders or hips, you would not pad at the shoulder. You would pad the bars behind the shoulder which would lift the saddle up off the shoulders or hips.

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