Saddling a horse, unless you are riding bare back, is essential before riding. Learn how to saddle a horse properly from a horseback riding instructor in this equestrian video.
Start with saddle pad
Place saddle on top
Secure keeper flaps
Align saddle & girth
Kathy Kentala has been a horse enthusiast since she was six years old. Kathy owns the Bee Cave Riding Center in Texas and specializes in training youth groups.
We're going to saddle this western horse choosing the equipment that's appropriate for the day that we're going to have in our sport of Team Penning and Ranch Sorting. But this would be for all horses riding western, we want to start with a good solid, comfortable thick pad. If we're going to choose to have something that's more decorative we--as long as we've got this pad in place, that's more protective--we can add anything we wish in a way of decorative and take care to line it all up [DEMONSTRATION] being sure that our first priority is that we're going to protect the horse. Western saddles are really heavy. They can weigh as much as 50 to 60 lbs. So we want to be sure that when we are on this horse for a long period of time, this horse is going to be comfortable. I've got my saddle ready, with all the girth and the cinch have been put up, and we want to be certain when we bring that over the top of the horse, we're trying to do it as carefully as we can so it doesn't just fall and fling over, but rather we set it. So I'm going to bring this saddle up, lay it down nicely on there, begin to straighten it and then taking care as I go around the back of her. I go to the other side where I can be sure that everything is in fact lying flat in place. I bring my front and back cinch down, check to see that it's going to fit properly, making sure the saddle cut is even on both sides and then I'll come back around and begin to saddle. We want to put the girth on, first starting with the front cinch and then the back. This is sometimes called the bucking strap or bucking cinch. And the reason we want to make sure we start with the front is that if this horse were to shake or in any way move quickly and this saddle were to fall and roll, it wouldn't be suspended by a loose back cinch. I'm going to reach underneath. I know that it's been checked on the other side. It looks to be in a pretty good position. We want to make sure--when I say position that it's this--the securing ring is going to come up and come pass her shoulder a bit. As I tighten it, it will come up even further making for a more comfortable fit. We keep wrapping our cinch strap continuing to wrap and wrap until we just run out of any length of it. We go from front to back [DEMONSTRATION] then as we get near the end we can pull it up, snug it up, not necessarily making it as tight as we want it when we get on 'cause we'll always check our cinch before we get on our horse. Then I pull back on the top strap that locks in our buckle and that's going to make it fully secure. To be sure that we can go on with our ride, we can tuck the end in just for neatness and then I'm going to go to my back cinch. When I reach under and bring the back cinch up, I want to be sure that it has just enough [DEMONSTRATION] of a loose fit that I can get my hand in there but not so much that it's going to hang low where they might accidentally get their hind leg caught up in that back cinch. This saddle is where it needs to be. It's aligned with the back of her shoulder. It's positioned even in--from a side to side point and it's got plenty of saddle pad both in front and in back to ensure that there won't be any pressure points. It fits her well; there is a lot of clearance for her withers, as well as I can place my hand in here assuring that her shoulders aren't being pinched in any way. So this is a good fitting saddle on this little horse.
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