There are many myths that have been going around with regards to saddlery and the use thereof. In this series of posts, I endeavour to show most of them are without foundations and can, in some cases, be the opposite of the actual facts.
Pictured left is author Kay Hastilow, Master Saddler and Master Saddle Fitter.
For saddlers this is possibly the most annoying myth out there as such a measurement is totally without any meaning. Saddle Ds are not put in one specific place on all saddles – so much depends on the length of the tree points, the position of the side rails and stirrup bars and the cut of the flaps and throat. (That rounded bit at the front of the pommel.) In a tree with short points and side rails set on a bit higher, the stirrup bars will be put on higher than on a tree with lower side rails. (Ever wondered why, when you swap your stirrups onto another saddle they feel too long or too short? This is your answer.) Add to this the fact that in most bench made saddles the Ds are positioned by eye and you can see that this is a totally unreliable measurement.
With some mass-produced machine / laser cut saddles the position will be pre marked and more reliable, but this will only be for that one model of saddle. Take for instance the Kent and Masters dressage against their cob saddle. Totally different trees, totally different positioning of the Ds.
There is also the consideration of what you count as Ds for this purpose, as many saddles have two sets at the front – the top ones are called drop fall staples (there are some different ones, but these are the most common) and below these you will sometimes see another set of Ds attached between the flap and the panel, and these are stapled onto the tree with a staple gun. They are there for you to hang a flask, a pair of wire cutters or anything else that you want to carry on your horse but NOT for fixing a breastplate to! The drop falls are on a bifurcated nail which goes right through the tree and opens out on the underside so that the bifurcations are between the tree and the panel. Very strong and suitable for breastplates. The others stapled to the tree are just not up to that job and will come off at the first strong pull.
If you measure from D to D it doesn’t give you a width (which are measured in angles) and nor is it likely to tell you if that saddle will fit your horse. It doesn’t take into consideration the shape of the head U (which has many variations in its shape), V or keyhole. It is essential that the tree shape here is correct for your horse. Nor does it consider the length of the tree points, nor the shape and depth of the panel. All of these will have a huge influence on how that saddle fits your horse.
Some saddles will have the size marked on them, either stamped onto the sweat flap or marked on the stirrup bars, but please bear in mind that this is the size of the saddle when manufactured and it may well have been altered since then, so not a great deal of help. I know that riders would love to have an easy way to work out if a saddle that is for sale somewhere might fit their horse – sorry, but I cannot suggest anything for this. However please be aware that a properly trained saddle fitter not tied to any particular brand (Society of Master Saddlers Qualified or Master Saddle Fitter is the best qualification in my opinion) will have spent a minimum of three years training to take their assessment and will have far more understanding of what is involved, yet even they, with their years of experience, would struggle to tell if a saddle might fit from a D to D measurement!
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