January 2024
Happy New Year! I hope this email finds you and yours doing well. I know there is a lot of sickness going around. I wish you a very happy and healthy new year.
Comparing saddle fit to shoe fit
I signed up for the 30 mile/30 day challenge to help raise funds for St. Jude's. The dogs and I walked every day this week in the same shoes, same road, and same cold damp weather. But, one day by the time I got to the gate which is only a half mile away, my toes were hurting. First thought would be my shoes were too tight right? You would probably think that I put on thicker socks because of the cold and made my shoes too tight.
Actually, it was the opposite. I had put on a pair of thinner summer socks which made my shoes feel bigger than normal. The extra room was causing my feet to slide forward every step making my toes sore. Socks make a difference. When I tightened the shoes, the pain went away. Seems like such a little thing but if I was walking 5, 10 or 20 miles I would have been extremely unhappy by the end of the walk. Have you ever had a very unhappy horse by the end of the ride?
So the moral of the story is we are not doing our horses any favors by leaving the girth loose. It is much more comfortable if the saddle/shoes stay put during the ride/walk. And the thickness of the saddle pad makes a difference. We are seeing a lot of white hairs which is usually caused by too much movement of the saddle while riding.
My mare usually looses weight in the winter time, so I can use a little thicker pad. In the summer, when she is out eating grass all night every night, she will be significantly heavier and I will change her to a thinner pad. The thicker pad I use in the winter will cause the saddle to roll if I use it when she is fat. The saddle will probably also need to be adjusted but that is another story.
So here are some thoughts on girths and pads.
- Keep it natural. Natural materials like cotton, wool, sheepskin, mohair & alpaca allow heat to escape & cause less irritation. Saddle pads should have “wither relief” so not to put pressure on top of the withers which riding. Can you imagine walking all day with a wrinkle in your sock? Don't ask the horse to go all day with the pad not smooth and conforming to his back.
- Keep it simple. Don't over pad. Generally, thick horses get thinner pads, thin horses get thicker pads. If you are not roping steers you don't need 3" of wool felt between saddle and horse. That will just cause your saddle to roll which will lead to needing a tighter girth which will lead to a girthy horse.
- Tighten the girth only as tight as it needs to be for what you are doing. Sadly round horses will need a tight girth because of their shape and they will usually become girthy as a result. If my horse is standing in the barn aisle waiting for me to get ready, the girth doesn't need to be very tight. When I get out to the mounting block and go to get on, it will need to be a little tighter because I am riding. If I am running a barrel pattern, it will need to be a little tighter. Never should we be making the girth as tight as we can get it, only as tight as it needs to be for what we are doing.
- Keep it clean. Dirt and salt is abrasive. If it is clean enough for you to put on your face, it is probably clean enough to put on your horse's back.
Equus-Soma - Equine Osteology and Anatomy Learning Center in Aiken, SC
In November, I attended as a student with a group of body workers and scientists, a horse dissection clinic. The saddle definitely affects the horse which we knew but seeing the horse from the inside out gives a whole new perspective. My goal, as always, is to take the information I have learned and share it with others so that we can save horses from needless suffering.
I think the biggest take away from this clinic was abnormal is the norm. For instance, this horse had 18 vertebrae on one side and 17 thoracic vertebrae on the other side. He also then had a floating rib coming out of L1. This is pretty unusual if you have been learning anatomy from books that show a symmetrical rib cage and lumbar. Needless to say we could swing his rib cage much further in one direction then we could the other. I will always remember that and be more forgiving when a horse has trouble bending.
I will also never forget seeing from the inside the effects of tightening the girth on the pectorals and seeing how very very close our girths are to the horse's heart. It is a no wonder horses are biting while being girthed up.
I have several pictures from the clinic. Let me know if you would like to see and I will share them with you in private as was requested by the clinic coordinator.
As always, thank you for reading the enewsletter, for sharing it with your friends and especially for the referrals. Together we can make a real difference to a lot of horses.
TTYS & God Bless!
Terry Peiper, Fit Right Saddle Solutions
P.S. My dogs and I are walking 30 miles in 30 days. Please help me with my goal to raise $250 for St. Jude's and make my team look good by donating. Here is the link to donate
