Top 6 Signs Your Saddle May be Hurting Your Horse by Equitopia

Caroline Hegarty Founder of Equitopia Presents - The Top 6 Signs Your Saddle May Be Hurting Your Horse with Master Saddle Fitter Jochen Schleese. Does your horse pin it’s ears when you approach with the saddle? Does he go hollow, bolt, refuse to go forward or buck when being ridden? Do you wonder if your saddle is causing pain, resistance or unwanted behaviours? In a demonstration for Equitopia, German Certified Master Saddler Jochen Schleese explains the top 6 signs to look and provides solutions for poor saddle fit. 1. Moving down or away from pain The scapula needs to side freely under the saddle. Jochen demonstrates how to check if the shoulder angle matches the tree angle of the saddle. 2. Not moving forward/ lack of engagement Find out how to evaluate if the saddle is pinching at the withers. 3. Swelling, bumps, tenderness on spine Jochen shows how to determine proper channel/gullet width. 4. Hick or Stifle issues Watch for the signs: lead issues, or saddle shifting to the right or the left. While riding diagonally in the arena in rising trot, have someone ride behind you to see if the cantle is shifting to one side. 5. Ruffled hair, white hairs, sores, divets in musculature. Cause - incorrect billet position. Billets should fall straight down to proper girthing area. 6. Abnormal musculoskeletal development (helmeting muscle), or a dip or hole in front of SI joint. This happens when the saddle is too long and slides forward onto shoulder and causes stumbling and reluctance to move forward. Jochen demonstrates the saddle should sit behind the shoulder in front of the lumbar area. Checking for these signs of poor saddle fit is a good starting point. Make sure your saddle is not causing pain and issues. Book an 80 point saddle fit evaluation to horse and rider with a Certified Saddle Ergonomist or Saddle Fit Technician. Ride pain free. For you. For your horse. Author of ‘Suffering in Silence - The Saddle Fit Link to Physical and Psychological Trauma in Horses’ (2013) Jochen Schleese teaches riders to recognize and find solutions to saddle fit issues through Saddlefit 4 Life® education. http://www.Saddlefit4life.com http://www.SaddlesforWomen.com 800-225-2242 © Saddlefit4Life® 2017. All Rights Reserved www.EquitopiaCenter.com