FAQs about horse saddles

1. How long should a saddle last?

How long a riding saddle actually lasts depends on several factors:

Leather quality of the saddle
Frequency and intensity of use
Saddle care
Saddle storage

A high-quality saddle can last for decades, even with infrequent care, whereas a saddle of poorer quality will show the first signs of wear early on, even with good care.

Leather is very hard-wearing in itself and, with good care, it can last for a long time. Proper care keeps the leather supple and creates a light protective film on the surface that repels water and dirt. Real leather saddles can therefore last up to 15 years or more. Read our saddle care guide to find out how to care for your saddle.

Synthetic leather is much easier to care for than real leather. Not only in terms of care, but also in terms of handling: if you ride in the pouring rain and the saddle gets wet, you don’t have to worry about it swelling up or becoming mouldy. Nevertheless, synthetic leather saddles may be less durable and resilient than saddles made from real leather. Signs of wear will then appear sooner. Durable saddles made from synthetic leather are, for example, saddles made from SYLKA synthetic leather, which is very resilient and is also often used for jodhpur boots and long riding boots.

Even if you can expect to use a saddle for years with intensive care, you should have the fit checked regularly by a specialist or saddler. This is because the rider’s weight and muscular changes in the horse mean that the saddle panels need to be reflocked after a certain time – or even a new saddle is needed. You can read more about the fit of a saddle in our guide on what to consider when buying a saddle.

2. How expensive should a good saddle be?

The price range for saddles is extremely diverse, because not all saddles are the same. The prices for saddles are strongly linked to the quality of the leather, the name of the manufacturer, innovations and embellishments such as hallmarking.

The majority of saddles are priced between £500 and £3,500, saddles made of synthetic leather can be below this price threshold, while customised saddles or saddles with elaborate embellishments, innovative saddle trees etc. can also be above it.

Even if the first thing you look at when buying a saddle is the figures, the fit for horse and rider should be the priority. You can read about what you need to consider in detail when buying a saddle in the corresponding guide.

3. What is the best way to ride bareback?

Riding bareback can help to achieve a relaxed seat. The rider learns more easily and quickly how to feel the horse’s movements and maintain balance. However, as wonderful as it is for many riders to become one with the horse in this way, the rider’s weight presses into the horse’s back at certain points. The saddle, which normally distributes the rider’s weight over a larger area and keeps the horse’s spine free, is missing. A riding pad can be a good compromise between riding with and without a saddle. It offers the rider a softer surface and better support than without a saddle, but at the same time the rider is still in close proximity to the horse’s back. A riding pad also offers more comfort for the horse, as the rider’s buttocks don’t press into the back muscles at certain points and, depending on the pad design, the spine is also kept reasonably free.

However, riding without a saddle or with a riding pad should not be a permanent solution to avoid pressure points, fascia adhesions and sensitivity to the horse. You should also already have a good basic balance to make it easier for the horse to carry you. The horse should also have well-developed back muscles to be able to carry and distribute the rider’s weight better.

4. Which saddle is suitable for horses with short backs?

A short horse’s back can be a real challenge when buying a saddle. Small horses such as Icelandic horses and narrow horse breeds such as Arabians in particular have little space for a saddle. A smaller saddle is not always the right solution, as the seat then becomes too small for the rider. If the seat area remains the same, curved upswept panels can be used to follow the curve of the saddle. This prevents the saddle from protruding beyond the 18th rib.

You can find a more detailed explanation of this topic in the „Saddle panels“ section of the saddle buying guide.

5. Which saddle is suitable for horses with a straight back?

With a straight back, the back does not drop noticeably between the withers and the ilium. Many ready-made saddles are then too much curved so that the saddle begins to tilt. The saddle does not keep the spine sufficiently free, which means that the rider’s weight may put pressure on the vertebrae. For a horse with a relatively straight back, a customised saddle, where the saddle tree follows the shape of the horse’s back, may be the best solution. However, there are also a few saddle designs that are already quite straight. The best thing to do here is to have an expert assess the saddle.

6. Which saddle is suitable for horses with low withers?

Ponies in particular often have very low withers, which is why the saddle slips easily. Mounting then only works with a mounting aid and if a helper on the other side holds the saddle. The saddle should always fit the shape of the horse’s rump. Many horses with low withers are built wide, which is why the saddle tree and gullet plate should also be cut wide. A saddler should check that the angle of the gullet plate is parallel to the shoulder. To check this yourself in advance, you can read how to do this in our saddle buying guide. Flocking the saddle panels at the front can also help to make the saddle more stable.

Furthermore, an anatomically shaped girth or cresent girth should be used to prevent the saddle from slipping towards the shoulder. We have listed which saddle girth is suitable for which horse body shape in our guide to saddle accessories.

The saddle pad can also provide more support for the saddle when a horse has a low withers. Choose mainly thin, quilted saddle pads, which already provide a lot of stability in themselves. Sheepskin pads that are not too thick and saddle pads with an anti-slip surface are also recommended.

7. Which saddle is suitable for horses with high withers and/or sway backs?

A horse with a high withers or a sway back needs a high gullet width and a long gullet plate. This stabilises the saddle. The gullet plate does not necessarily have to have a narrow angle. This misconception can lead to pinching of the shoulder muscles and consequently to their atrophy. To avoid this and prevent the saddle from slipping into existing muscle atrophy, the saddle must be flocked and cut accordingly:

Ideally, the points of the gullet plate are curved backwards to allow the withers or shoulder blades more freedom of movement and thus avoid putting pressure on the nerve tracts of the withers. However, saddles with curved gullet plates are more expensive to manufacture and therefore saddle prices are higher.

Furthermore, the saddle should be sufficiently flocked or have plenty of panel volume at the front so that the saddler can stuff it with the appropriate amount of filling material. If the horse is slumped behind the shoulder blade (atrophied trapezius muscle), wedge shaped panels at the front can be helpful to give the saddle more balance. As a temporary solution, half pads or correction pads with interchangeable inserts can be placed under the saddle to raise the front of the saddle to the same height as the shoulder blade and fill the hollow. This adjustment should always be carried out by a specialist and checked and adjusted by them again during the course of training.

8. Does a treeless saddle fit every horse?

A treeless saddle does not have a fixed wooden, plastic or steel tree, making it far more flexible than conventional saddles. At the same time, it is less stable and distributes the rider’s weight differently than a saddle with a tree. Saddles with a leather tree can also be categorised as treeless saddles, but they offer more stability and better pressure distribution than saddles without a tree.

In principle, a treeless saddle is suitable for every type of horse, provided it is fitted correctly. It is therefore not possible to say that a treeless saddle fits several horses, because like conventional saddles, it has to be fitted to the individual horse. For this reason, and for greater stability, a treeless saddle is always used with a padded saddle pad. Due to its flexibility, the saddle-fitter has more options for fitting the saddle to the horse. This offers the horse a high degree of freedom of movement and shoulder freedom. There is also less risk of muscle atrophy due to tight equipment.

Due to the sometimes inadequate pressure distribution of treeless saddles, they are less suitable for horses with sway backs and weak back muscles. This is because the horses then have no way of rounding their backs, as the rider sits directly on the spine. However, this must be checked from saddle design to saddle design, as there are differences in their construction. Whether a treeless saddle is suitable must be assessed by a specialist for each individual horse. Choosing the correct treeless saddle for the horse is no different from the procedure for conventional saddles.

9. Which saddle is suitable for a young horse?

Anyone who rides a young horse knows that their body changes quickly. To ensure that the young horse has a stress-free start to its ridden career, it must not experience any discomfort due to unsuitable equipment. The better the saddle fits the young horse, the less tight the girth has to be and the less stress the horse will experience.

A young horse should therefore be fitted with a saddle that can be adjusted quickly and individually. It would be unwise to buy a wide saddle in anticipation of the horse’s increasing body volume. Because then the saddle can get too low and come to rest on the withers. In order to guarantee room for the shoulders and withers and at the same time quick adjustment, a saddle with a (continuously) adjustable gullet plate and easily fittable panels should be chosen.

Many young horse owners opt for a treeless saddle, which is easier to adjust and adapt to rapid physical changes in the horse. However, not every treeless saddle offers sufficient stability, pressure distribution and freedom for the spine. Therefore, a decision must be made in consultation with a specialist as to whether a treeless saddle or which treeless saddle design is suitable for the young horse.

When fitting a saddle on a young horse, a test ride is absolutely essential!

Of course, the price also plays a major role when buying a saddle for a young horse. Even if you opt for an easily adjustable saddle, the horse may outgrow it after a few months. To avoid having to dig too deep, second-hand saddles with the purchase criteria mentioned above can be considered.

10. Which saddle tree fits which horse?

The tree, as the centrepiece of the saddle, determines its basic shape and should fit the horse’s back and rump shape accordingly. In addition to the curve and waist of the saddle tree, its material also plays an important role.

Which saddle tree fits which horse depends on the horse’s ability to swing and move, but also on how much the horse will change: Is it a young horse in the growth phase or a full-grown riding horse?

Depending on the manufacturer, the width of the gullet plates, which are attached to the saddle tree, can be adjusted to keep pace with the growth of the shoulder muscles. V-shaped gullets are more suitable for narrow horses with high withers, while U-shaped gullets are suitable for horses with flat withers and a broad rump.

In terms of material, a distinction is made between wooden, steel-spring and synthetic trees, which in turn differ in their flexibility. While wooden trees are rigid and cannot respond to a swinging back, steel-spring and synthetic trees offer more flexibility. Wooden trees are therefore often used for Western horses, which have less impulsion than a dressage horse. Synthetic trees are available in different degrees of hardness and their gullets are also easier to adjust than steel-sprung trees.

You can find a detailed explanation of gullets and saddle trees in the saddle buying guide.

Finally, you need to pay attention to the waist of the saddle tree so that the horse’s spine is not compressed. There are saddle trees that become narrower towards the back. However, this could lead to the vertebrae hitting the panels on horses with a protruding spine. In most tree designs, however, the channel is straight so that the horse has a free spine even when bent. You can read how wide the channel should be in the relevant chapter.

There are now also innovative saddle trees that are split in the centre so that weight aids can be given directly and the horse can bend very well in turns. As with all points, we recommend trying out different styles under an expert eye.

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