Saddle Fit and Saddle Length for the Friesian Horse
Friesian horses have always been among my most favorite horses, for both their beautiful appearance and because black horses are just simply eye-catching. Although the breed’s conformation resembles that of a light draft horse, Friesians are graceful and nimble. It is believed that during the Middle Ages, ancestors of Friesian horses were in great demand as war horses throughout continental Europe. Through the Middle Ages their size enabled them to carry a knight in armor. Around the 15th century, Andalusians were bred with Friesians, producing a lighter horse more suitable for work as carriage horses. Though the breed nearly became extinct on more than one occasion, the modern day Friesian horse is growing in numbers and popularity, used both in harness and under saddle. Most recently, the breed is being introduced to the field of dressage and they are once again being ridden.
Friesians are however, notoriously difficult to fit properly. Saddle length has become more of an issue over the past few years, as breeding seems to have concentrated on making somewhat more ‘compact’ (i.e., ‘shorter’) horses. This is especially prevalent in the ‘baroque’ style horse – a category which includes the Lusitanos, the PRE, the Andalusian – but also the Friesians. They have relatively flat withers and their saddle support area is short. Riding these horses in a ‘normal’ saddle with a regular panel can often result in behavior that indicates something is off.
So – other than the obvious visual “short-backedness” of a horse, ask yourself…
Does your horse have a "4-beat" canter?
Does your horse have tense back muscles which impair movement?
Does your horse buck or show resistance to move forward?
If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, you may be faced with a saddle length issue. It becomes obvious visually and intuitively as you know your horse that something is off.
Many of us are familiar with the term “short-backed” to describe a horse, but few of us are aware that even a horse with a back that appears to be of normal length may actually have a very short saddle support area. The length of the saddle support area (the area where the saddle must sit) is what saddle makers and saddle fitters are concerned with, since this will determine how long the panels of this particular horse’s saddle must be.
One common saddle fitting issue faced by this breed is that the panels on dressage saddles often are too long for their backs. In order that these horses may develop to their fullest potential, and work willingly, happily and without pain, it is crucial that they have a saddle with panels that are the correct length for their backs, without impinging on the ovaries or the kidneys, and without hitting on the ‘bucking reflex’.
You can identify your horse’s saddle-support area – the area where the saddle must sit – by doing the following (and apologies that my demo horse for these points is not a Friesian!):
1 – With a piece of chalk, outline the edge of your horse’s shoulder blade (pictures #4 and #5)
2 – Locate your horse’s last floating rib (picture #3). To do this, find where his hairlines come together in the area of his flank and draw a line straight up to his spine.
The above pictures help demonstrate some of the important aspects of saddle length:
1 – A skeletal diagram showing the proper saddle support area with respect to a horse’s rib cage.
2 – I am pointing to the last supporting rib on a horse with a saddle that fits properly within the boundaries of the saddle support area for this particular horse.
3 – The red lines represent the changing directional pattern of hair on the horse’s body relative to the last supportive vertebra (notice the panel of the saddle does not extend past this point).
4 – The first chalk line represents the front of the scapula (shoulder blade) whereas the second chalk line again represents the last supportive vertebra.
5 – My left hand it pointing to just behind the shoulder blade where the saddle ideally should be placed and not extend past the last vertebra outlined.
6 – I am drawing "pain lines" from pinched nerves that appear on some horses when they have an ill fitting saddle.
The saddle must sit behind the shoulder. Particularly at the canter, a saddle that is too long often will get driven forward into the shoulder. Beyond making movement difficult and painful, this can produce a buildup of scar tissue on the scapula. Over time, the scapula may actually be chipped away by the tree points of the saddle.
Second, the saddle cannot extend past the last floating rib. If a saddle is too long for a particular horse, the rear of the panels will extend past the horse’s saddle support area. This is extremely uncomfortable for the horse, as it puts pressure on his lumbar region. A horse ridden in a saddle that is too long will often tighten his lower back muscles; in some cases, you can actually see the horse hollow and drop his back in an attempt to get away from the pressure of the saddle. He may even buck in extreme cases, in an effort to get the weight off his lumbar area. Finally, he may have difficulty moving forward into the canter, or may simply be persistently “off” for no readily apparent reason.
If these are issues you have been facing, and have been unable to actually attribute them to anything ‘real’ (like illness of some sort for example) then perhaps you might consider that it could simply be that the saddle is too long for your horse’s back and is making him extremely uncomfortable – which is why this ‘acting out’ occurs. Think about how you would feel if you had something constantly pounding into your kidneys. An ideal solution is to have a saddle with a shorter panel to accommodate the horse’s back – even if the rider needs a little bigger seat. We always say that the top of the saddle needs to fit the rider, the bottom needs to fit the horse, and the tree needs to work as the interface to accommodate the needs of both.
Sometimes you have to look past the obvious symptoms to find the cause….
Jochen Schleese, CMS, CSFT, CEE www.schleese.com
Byline:
Jochen Schleese is the author of The Silent Killer (2012) and Suffering in Silence – the Saddle Fit Link to Physical and Psychological Trauma in Horses (2013). Discover optimal saddle fit to your & your horse in a Saddlefit 4 Life 80 pt Diagnostic Saddle Fit Evaluation www.Saddlefit4life.com.
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