Lorien Stable: Trainer's Notes

[nienke]

Thank you for this interesting website if have had so many eyeopeners !!!

NowI have an question , I ride with an barefoot western saddle with the grandeur saddle pad on a shortbacked quarterhorse mare, when I try to put my saddle behind her shoulder the end of the saddle is over her hip and the girth is out of position so in my opion I have to put the saddle more forward.

Is this an problem or do you have an other option.

[galadriel]

Sounds to me like it's too long for her body. The Barefoot Western is fairly long, and some horses just have short backs.

This is a problem. Putting it further forward means that the weight at the pommel is resting on her shoulderblade instead of her back. That's one of the worse things you can do with a saddle; a shoulderblade is not able to support weight well, and you can damage both it and the skin over it. If a saddle is too long for your horse's back, simply pulling it forward is not a sufficient answer. The horse needs a different saddle.