We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

So what’s the most important piece of equipment in the shop?  Is it the Big Band Saw, that makes those oh-so-important cuts on the bars?

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

Thursday, May 19, 11:49 am - Four days after mandatory evacuations due to wild fires were in force less than 100 km (60 miles) away from us.  The rain was definitely appreciated and desperately needed, but just rain would have been preferable…

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

One of the biggest things we hear from people saying you can’t have any saddle pressure on the loin area is that “you’re putting pressure on his kidneys”. Well actually, no, you’re not - or else everyone is as well. Depends how you look at it.

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

This last week we have been concentrating on our video project.

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

After my last blog post about the “external abdominal vein” and the real anatomy related to cinches, I had a few interesting conversations and have done a bit more research. (After all, our area of expertise is what goes on top a horse, not what goes under it.) In no way am I pretending to be an expert on cinches. But I do know a bit about anatomy and I can understand the big words in the research papers. So, in reading various lay articles, both sent to me and from searching the internet, here’s what I have found.

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

Here is my rendition of a picture which has circulated on the internet for a while, claiming to show where the “external abdominal vein” lies. The theory is that you have to have a short cinch so your cinch buckle doesn’t sit over it and stop blood flow through this important vein. The picture and idea come from a pdf advertising cinches. I won’t copy the real picture for copywrite reasons, but if you google “external abdominal vein” and equine or horse you will find the picture and the (very erroneous) explanation that goes along with it.

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

The first thing the rider does that affects saddle fit is to put the saddle on their horse. Where they position it is so very important.

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

When Rod learned from Julian Tubb how to build trees, he was given this pattern. It was to make leg cut on cantles to give riders a bit of relief if the front edge of the cantle was likely to bite into their leg. Useful at times on really laid back cantles, depending how the ground seat was put in, or shorter seats with riders whose leg wasn’t quite as small as the seat required…

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

A long time ago, in a blog post far, far away… I posted this picture of how a rider’s weight is distributed on a saddle tree. You have the red circle showing where the weight on the rider’s pin/seat bones and other associated soft tissues is positioned. You have the blue circle representing the weight carried on the rider’s thighs. (Note that the circles just show where the weight is carried, not the amount of weight carried there.) And the black arrow indicates where the weight of the rider’s legs in the stirrups is carried – mid way in the stirrup groove where the stirrup leather goes over the bars. The point being that the entire weight of the rider is not directly under their seat…