Saddle Construction
Part 2
With the panel removed you can now see the underside of the saddle
The points of the tree are now visible. You can see the end of the metal bar which gives the strength to the front arch of the tree and sets the width fitting.
Now we've removed the layer of leather from the gullet to reveal the underside of the tree, we've found a worrying problem. If you look at how the webbing for the girth straps is attached to the tree, you'll see they are not symmetrical - the left girth straps are further forward than the right.
To check this we held the girth straps out taut and parallel to the angle of the points ensuring that the webbing was pulled completely flat. Compared to the lines that are drawn parallel to the head plate you can see how these poorly mounted girth straps will lie crooked to the saddle. This will have a significant effect on the horse.
When the saddle is on the horse and you tighten the girth the straps will naturally try to even themselves up on the horse's back. Because they are crooked on the saddle the only way they can do this is by skewing the saddle on the horses back. So before the rider mounts the saddle is sitting wrong on the horse.
When the rider mounts they may feel that the saddle isn't even and try to push it back to a central position. So we've now got several issues going on with the saddle and soon possibly have a horse with a sore back, reluctance to bend in one direction and a rider who feels out of balance in the saddle.
Unfortunately the problems didn't stop here. In the picture below we've highlighted a nail which was sticking up about 3mm. We were not sure what it was for; there wasn't a matching one the other side.
Area B shows where the leather of the saddle flap has been pared down to give a smooth join to the tree. This is very good practice but all the effort was wasted by someone leaving a large wedge of thick leather trapped between the girth webbing and this thinned leather at the point marked A.
Why does this matter - surely it's hidden and protected underneath the panels? Yes, if you run your hands along the panels you won't feel these bumps but the horse may have to take 100 to 200 pounds of weight through the panels and be assured he'll then feel it. We regularly see the sore spots and hair loss on horse's backs that exactly correspond to bumps and rough edge when we open up the saddle.
The Port Lewis Impression Pad is an ideal tool to help identify saddle fitting issues like these. Lumps, bumps, tightness and extra pressure area will all show up in the mouldable putty after riding with the Impression Pad between your saddle and the horse.
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