It's The Little Things.....

Welcome to the conscientious horse owners who follow my posts. By now you appreciate the importance of having your saddle correctly fitted and regularly checked, the changes in a horse's performance in different girths, that fitting the bit and choosing one suitable for the anatomy of your horses mouth and also how bridle fits can be hugely influential in your horses way of going. I am delighted that more and more people are taking note and action to give their horse maximum comfort and therefore enhanced performance.  

All of this is excellent, but sometimes,  by only looking at the bigger picture, it's the little things that get missed. Let’s start with putting the bridle on. I am always careful to ensure that all of the mane and forelock are pulled through evenly so that no hairs are caught up that might pull and cause discomfort.  Personally, I like to clip a bridle path in the mane to make this easier to achieve but I know that some don't like this, whilst others can’t because of showing requirements such as in M & M classes. In such cases extra care must be taken over this. Also, as it becomes less acceptable to trim a horse's whiskers, please make sure that any straps from nose bands around the muzzle are not catching or pulling any of the whiskers.  If this area and the whiskers are considered so sensitive that it is sometimes considered cruelty to remove them, surely it is doubly important to check this!

Whilst we are on the subject of bridles, please double check that the browband is big enough.  So often they are not, and this just pulls the headpiece into the bulbs of the ears. Also, some of the modern, fashionable bridles seem to have a very strange shape in the headpiece,  the cut away is above the ears and the leather then comes forward directly into the back of the ear! ?? Anyone worked out why? Me neither, but do have a very good look at your latest purchase, to check that the shaping actually follows the shape of your horse’s head. Look at symmetry as well; all buckles to sit as level as possible and ideally you want twin fastening on nosebands to ensure even, symmetrical fastening.  

Despite my advising that elastic-ended girths really aren't very good for your horse I know that many people still use them. Some of these girths have a pad behind the elastic, which can get wrinkled up when the girth is tightened.  Often, in the initial fastening this is smoothed out, but so often the rider will then get on and tighten the girth.  No smoothing out now. Just a block of pressure under the girth in an area where the skin is quite thin and there is little covering to the ribs. There is also a lot of movement here. Ouch!

Whilst talking of girths, for many years it was thought to be good practice to pull your horse's front legs right forward ‘to remove any wrinkles in the skin under the girth.’ We now know that this just pulls flesh in front of the girth, blocking it there. This actually causes girth galls in many cases rather than preventing them. The first few steps once you are on board will remove any creases in the skin but, if you want to be sure, just lead the horse for a minute or so before mounting.

Please try to girth up as evenly as possible, no more than one hole different side to side. We are becoming more and more aware of the effect of symmetry on the horse's way of going. Of course, girths with elastic one end can never give a symmetrical hold. I rest my case.

Back to girthing up the saddle. The saddle cloth or numnah will have been lifted into the gullet of the saddle and the cloth beneath the girth smoothed out (I hope), but again, once the rider is on and tightens the girth the cloth can ruck up causing an area of excessive pressure. I am assuming that our C.R. (conscientious rider) has already made sure that any decorative piping does not run beneath the girth and that there is a gap in such piping to allow for this. I am also assuming that they have checked that the saddle doesn't sit on such piping at the back, nor that it is under the saddle at the front by the knee rolls. Also, it will have been checked that the cloth, pad or numnah is big enough, so that at no point do the outer edges of the cloth come beneath the bearing area of the saddle.  If you have sheepskin saddle pads, also check that they haven't shrunk a bit so that the sheepskin roll at the back of the pad is actually under the bearing area of the saddle.  Pressure points again.

Mounting. Has everyone seen the film on YouTube of someone mounting their rather tall horse from the ground, with a mounting block and with a leg up? Well worth a look as it shows the pressures exerted by each method, and some of the readings are pretty horrific. Please train your horses to stand by a block to let you mount. Whilst the pressures are still high, they are for a much shorter duration.  The young and athletic amongst us can just step onto the horse from the block without putting a foot in the stirrup.  This gave by far the best reading but few of us would be nimble or brave enough to do it this way. 

So there you have it. Even if our C.R. has taken great pains to ensure that all of their tack fits, lack of attention whilst tacking up and mounting can still cause harm or discomfort to your horse. Please bear this in mind.

The Tack Fits - or Does It?

It has given me great pleasure to see that now, in the UK, the majority of caring horse owners get their saddle professionally fitted.  Many are also good at having the fit checked on a regular basis, but often the thought stops there. Some will also look at their girth, look at current research and make wise choices. However many, perhaps too many will think that they don't really need to consider this, nor the bridle, nor the bit or any other piece of the equipment that we use on our horses. Let’s take a look at other factors that contribute to your horse’s comfort.

Bridles have changed out of all recognition, some of the designs carefully researched, with a lot of research & development (R&D) having taken place. Some less so, and some positively awful. Old style bridles really don't fit modern horses unless they have been made to measure.  Arab horses, warmbloods and thoroughbreds have been used to develop the horses that we ride now and of course, the shape of their heads have changed with these different breed influences. If you are buying an ‘off the peg’ standard bridle, you may well find that the headpiece is too short over the head and in the throat, cheek pieces will be too long, browbands will be up to 2” (5cm) too short, nosebands too small around the face but too long in the head parts. These are the sizes used 50 or 100 years ago, which some of the manufacturers, who rarely if ever look at a horse, have continued to make, believing that they will be a good fit.

The thing is to look for research, good, repeatable and repeated research, not just a snapshot of some of the research undertaken, as it’s possible to make this show what ever you want. You need to ask what protocols were followed to assess the value of the claims made for products.

I saw a horse recently that wouldn’t turn left, was throwing saddle and rider left and was being very naughty. It had a modern continental bridle on that was strapped up as tight as the owner could do it as he had little control of the horse when jumping. A good rider by the way, and a good horse. In hand the horse moved straight and there were no obvious signs of lameness or gait asymmetry (a vet was in attendance). I changed the bridle to a conventional bridle with a high ring grackle noseband. Certainly not a perfect fit but much better than the modern bridle and within 20 metres the horse had relaxed and stopped fighting his rider. Within 15 minutes he was as soft as you could wish. The saddle still moved a little left, but nowhere near as badly. I found a way to keep it straight by altering the way the girth straps were used whilst the vet investigates to see if she can find any underlying problems. Meanwhile, he is doing really well in his high-grade jumping classes and is a much happier horse.

Nosebands!! PLEASE stop using flash nosebands. If you look at current research with regard to the TMJ (tempero-mandibular joint) and the nerves in the face, you will see that flash nosebands inflict high pressures in all of the wrong places. Research by Fairfax Saddles showed that the best nosebands to use were a drop (yes, that surprised me as well), the high ring grackle or a cavesson, in that order. Good, solid research. It’s worth listening to.

Girths come in many shapes and sizes. One even has elastic bands (vacuum cleaner type) within its construction! There are some excellent options available with solid research to back up their design, but some are apparent copies of these girths, with their purchasers failing to appreciate that although they are similar in shape, key components of the successfully tested design have been missed out. You haven’t bought ‘a copy’ of this or that girth. You have bought an inferior product in many ways.

Many of you will know that I detest the use of elastic in girths. One thing that we know about horses is that they like the saddle to be stable as they find it easier to maintain their own and your balance with a stable platform between the two participants. It is therefore unhelpful to add elastic to a girth, especially at one end only. The latter will just encourage the saddle to move away from the elasticated side, so making the saddle unstable. Both sides with elastic risk destabilizing the saddle completely, unless of course you have tightened the girth up so much that the elastic is at maximum stretch. In that case, the girth will have been over-tightened anyway, so what is the point of the elastic? If you watch a horse breathing after exercise you will note that almost all of the rib expansion, such as it is, takes place further back from the girth and that expansion in the girth area is miniscule. You really aren’t helping the horse with this in any way. Most of all, with girths think of any unintended consequences that could come about because of the girth that you use.

Girth sleeves. Great for keeping the girth clean but in many cases,  these are made from synthetic fleece which can heat up and cause a rash on the skin. If made of real sheepskin they can make the horse sweat more than usual in this area and these can be harder to keep clean.The synthetic fleece sleeves  also tend to twist around making pressure points. I have found a stretchy towelling sleeve the best of those that I have tried over the years.

 

Whilst you are here, do watch the short trailer below for my two-part video series specifically for  Riders and Trainer 

 

Kay Hastilow’s Saddle Fitting Know How For Riders and Trainers is a two part video series, giving a fascinating, practical insight into saddles, correct fit and common problems.

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