We teach that to know how the shape of the bars matches the shape of the horse, you need to feel under the saddle with your hand. But what are you feeling for when it comes to rock? Rock, of course, is the curve of the bar from the front to the back, and it varies a lot between horses, and trees. So what does that feel like under the saddle, and what do you want it to feel like? Here are some pictures to show you what you are feeling for.

A part of saddle construction that is very important for good saddle fit, but that is often missed in more quickly made saddles (see what I did there?) is blocking the skirts. So what is it and why is it 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.

Bar spread and bar angle are separate entities in a western saddle tree, but they are related. Just looking at a saddle, they look like they are doing the same thing – making the saddle sit high on the horse if too narrow and fall down in front if too wide. But the “fix” for both of them is quite different. So how can you tell which is affecting the fit of the saddle? You have to feel for it! So what are you feeling for?

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

We looked at what you are feeling for when checking out bar angles. But what are you feeling for with bar spread difference? (Bar spread is the distance between the bars - how far they are set apart. This is determined by the hand hole measurement as the gullet width measurement is useless in practice .) From the side, this tree looks ok just sitting on the horse. But let’s take a look from the front. (Remember, you can’t see this in pictures or even in person on a finished saddle. You have to feel for it!! But these pictures are meant to help you know what you are feeling for.)

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

Continuing on looking at padding's effect on saddle fit, we will see that it also affects rock. These pictures aren't ideal since they weren't taken to present this idea, but they will give you an idea that what we are saying is true.

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

Continuing on with padding – obviously putting a pad under a tree/saddle lifts it further off the horse’s back. But does it do it evenly front to back, or not? And the answer is definitely not! Here are some pictures where we tried as hard as we could to keep everything the same as we took pictures with a saddle bare on the horse, with ½” folded wool blanket and then a 7/8” wool felt pad.

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

We show a lot of pictures with bare trees on horses, and we recommend that people initially feel under their saddles without padding in order to check for high pressure areas. So what changes when you add padding?

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

We have written a lot about bar angles and why the numbers are meaningless between makers and how angles aren’t that simple. We have said that you need to feel for fit – you can’t see it in pictures. But what we haven’t done on this blog is show you just what you are feeling for under a saddle with regard to bar angles. So here are some pictures showing, with bare trees on horses, what you are feeling for under the saddle when you check 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.

We regularly see pictures like this on the internet, asking if the angle of the saddle matches the “angle” of the horse. We don’t respond to these posts, because really, we can’t tell. What we see in a picture is the skirts – and what needs to fit the horse are the bars.