Saddle Fit and Equine Sports Massage

More and more horse owners and riders are realizing the benefits of adding a skilled massage therapist/bodyworker to their horse's health-care team. The massage therapist helps keep the horse balanced, free of muscular and joint pain, and supple; he or she "pulls everything together" and adds the necessary finishing touches to a healthy, happy, balanced horse who enjoys his work and is willing to do it, rather than a cringing horse who dreads the sight of saddle and bridle. Just as a vet's job is to keep the horse healthy, disease and injury-free, and the farrier's or trimmer's job is to keep the horse's feet clean and trim and ready to do the work asked of the horse, the massage therapist/bodyworker helps the horse stay in a happy, balanced state of relaxation and energy.

However, some riders are noticing that in spite of massage after massage, chiropractic work and a clean bill of health from the vet, pain or behaviour issues that should be eliminated sometimes keep coming back. Why?

Improper saddle fit can contribute to behaviour and performance problems in horses, and chronic back pain. Sudden, intense or unexplained pain issues always warrant a call to your veterinarian; however, having your horse's body and saddle fit assessed by trained professionals can sometimes reveal the problem quickly, while it can still be resolved quickly and easily and without great expense to the owner.

A professional saddle-fitter is trained to measure a horse's back using methods that allow for easy comparison of back to saddle. A well-trained fitter can zero in on poor fit, trouble spots, unevenesses, or a saddle that needs to be re-flocked. Having a bodyworker and saddle fitter working on a horse as a team can reduce or practically eliminate serious muscular issues and give the horse an advantage in competition or make him more comfortable for pleasure riding by eliminating a serious or chronic source of pain and tightness.

It is easy to think of a horse as a large solid object covered with hair. But when you look at him from the inside out, you see that he is made of muscle, bone, tendon, ligament, fascia, soft tissue, organ, nerve, and veins, arteries - just like we are. Just as a poorly-fitting shoe can cause us to be cranky about what we have to do, a poorly fitting saddle can cause a horse to be cranky too.

And it's not always the saddle - sometimes it's the pad. Or the girth. Or the horse's blanket. Think of it this way - if it's cold or wet and you get in your car with your coat on to drive to work, does your coat sometimes get caught or twisted or wrinkled in such a way that it restricts your arms? Does that make it hard to drive? What if you wear a jacket or blouse that is "a little tight" through the shoulders? When you first put it on, it feels okay but as the day goes on you realize how it pulls across your shoulders and annoys you because you don't have the freedom of movement you wish you had. Do you think maybe your horse feels this way about his pad or blanket sometimes?

What if you are wearing a shirt with a tag in the neck? Does that tag annoy you? How many times have you gone to the restroom and yanked a tag out of your collar because it was driving you crazy? What if there is a spot on the horse's girth that is causing him the same annoyance?

All this is simple, easy-to-fix stuff - but improper saddle fit can truly be agonizing to a horse. First of all, wWhen you truly pick a horse's body apart, it quickly becomes clear that it is extremely hard on a horse to ride him. The horse is built like a bridge, with the front of the bridge supported by the front legs, and the rear of the bridge supported by the hind legs. Where we sit on the back is actually the weakest part of the horse, and if the saddle we sit in does not fit properly, it cannot evenly distribute the rider's weight and can lead to serious trouble. Fortunately, your equine massage therapist/bodyworker is trained to spot existing or potential problems, and address them before they get worse. If problem areas are centered in the horse's back, the massage therapist can quickly discover painful patterns that may point to improper or poor saddle fit.

Bob's wife, Kellie Sharpe, is a certified professional saddle fitter. Kellie says, "A saddle's job is to distribute the rider's weight over a relatively small area. If the saddle is too small, the rider puts more weight per square inch of surface area on the horse's back, in a saddle that may pinch the withers or rest squarely along the sensitive sides of the spine. If the saddle is too large, the rider's weight is again distributed unevenly in a saddle that may rest directly on a horse's withers or back, causing pressure points, rubbed or sore spots. Some riders think bareback is the answer - it is not. Bareback concentrates the most weight per square inch of surface area right on the most vulnerable part of the horse's back."

Incorrect saddle fit can be caused by a saddle that is too wide, too narrow, poorly padded, has worn flocking, or simply by not using the correct saddle for the job at hand. For example, when riding Western, the cutting saddle can be inappropriate for daily riding because of its design - it is intended to fit closest to the horse's back when the keen cutting horse lowers his head and rounds his back to go after a cow. When riding English, the forward-seat jumping saddle, because of its design and forward cut of its flaps, can interfere with shoulder movement and cause soreness and bruising. If not cutting cows or jumping, choose a saddle made for the riding you do intend to do.

"But my saddle fit him fine when I bought it... I made a tracing of his withers and everything!" Wither tracings give you a starting point for fit, but there is a lot more to fit than just the withers. Length of saddle, angle of points or pommel, rock, width and depth of panels or bars... many things can affect saddle fit.

Saddle fit can change as a horse loses weight, gains weight, becomes more fit and conditioned, or loses condition after a heavy show season ends. Indications of poor saddle fit can include, but are not limited to, sore shoulders, tender back muscles, sores from pressure points, and sudden unexplained behaviour problems that can include rearing or bucking. The equine massage therapist/bodyworker can help you and or your veterinarian correct these problems gently, compassionately and in a way that makes your horse feel good again.

"But my trainer says it fits!" Bob and Kellie respect your trainer's opinion. We are not trainers and would never presume to second-guess your trainer. However, your trainer is an expert on training horses. Bob & Kellie are experts in bodywork, massage and proper saddle fit. Their job is to help your trainer make you and your horse the best team you can possibly be.

Some riders or trainers try to correct improper saddle fit with saddle pads. There are a variety of saddle pads available and many are very nice and comfortable on a horse's back. But a pad should never be relied upon to "correct" saddle fit. Rather, a pad can exacerbate existing problems and even cause problems where there were none before. Use a pad as a "protector" for your saddle, and to cushion the saddle and wick moisture and sweat from the back - not as a saddle-fit tool.

"He's always slow like that... he never wants to move forward. He's just lazy." It's easy to assume that until you see how an improperly-fitting saddle can restrict the horse's shoulders... if the shoulders are pinched or impinged, it hurts them to move. Naturally the horse will not want to move them so he take short, trappy steps and moves as slowly as possible to avoid the pain his shoulders are in from the tight saddle.

"He falls to his knees when I tighten the girth. Does he just not want the saddle on?" Probably not. Check to see if his shoulders or withers are sore - or if the saddle rests on his withers.

See how seemingly simple pain or behaviour problems can relate to poor or improper saddle fit?

A well-trained saddle fitter understands the parts of the saddle, how they work, and how they must come together in such a way that the entire saddle is safe, comfortable and pain-free for your horse. The saddle-fitter has spent countless hours tearing saddles apart and putting them back together, re-flocking them and moving the flocking around to change the way the panels lie against a horse. He or she has measured many, many horses and understands that what a measurement indicates is not always the way a saddle will or should fit on a living, breathing horse. In other words, the professional saddle fitter has an eye for seeing how the saddle and the horse relate to one another, and where the "hang-ups" are.

Kellie Sharpe says, "An empathetic professional saddle fitter will have relationships with reputable massage therapists/bodyworkers, veterinarians, farriers/trimmers and chiropractors. The saddle-fitter understands the importance of a team of health-care specialists that work hand in hand to assure your horse the best possible care."

The saddle-fitter should examine the saddle thoroughly before the saddle is placed on the horse to acertain the condition of the saddle and whether it has high, low or worn spots that will contribute to or already have caused problems in the horse's body. The bodyworker and saddle-fitter should look at how the saddle fits on the horse's back without a pad, and with and without a girth. This is an important part of the process as it reveals information vital to the overall examination.

The massage therapist and saddle fitter should then watch the horse being saddled by the owner. The horse will talk - his reaction to the approaching saddle often reveals a problem, right off the bat. The horse who wears a painful saddle will pin his ears, sidestep, lunge forward and back up in the crossties, or even bite or kick at the person who is strapping what he considers to be a torture device in place. His eyes may become rounder and deep wrinkles appear above them. His ears will certainly pin.

The massage therapist and saddle-fitter should watch the horse move, both at liberty and under saddle, to look for obvious signs of pain or discomfort, such as inability to fully extend front or hind legs, lameness, short-striding, refusal to pick up the correct lead, bucking, rearing, refusing to move at all, or curling around and sidestepping. The saddle-fitter will watch the saddle interact with horse and rider to see what the saddle has to say. Oh, yes... the saddle can talk! Sometimes it says "I don't have enough flocking on one side." Sometimes it says "I don't have enough rocker for this horse." Sometimes it says "this rider is leaning heavily to the left and I can['t support her!" A trained saddle-fitter knows how to listen to a horse and a saddle and know what they are saying.

After the ride, the bodyworker and saddle-fitter should carefully palpate the horse's back and girth area to locate patterns of tightness or pain, and pressure points or soreness that reveal fit problems with the saddle. The saddle-fitter should examine the saddle carefully, to check for low or high spots and changes in the saddle from before the ride. Like detectives, the saddle-fitter and the massage therapist/bodyworker must keep track of every clue, and find the correct places to fit each piece they find as they solve the puzzle that is the horse's overall condition.

The well-trained saddle-fitter can make a template of your horse's back, which serves two useful purposes: it tells you how your horse's saddle should fit on the day the template is made, as well as being a tool for you to use to discover and keep track of changes in your horse's body as he progresses in his training and condition. And, if necessary, your template can help you with shopping if you decided a new saddle is in order.

Here is where the equine massage therapist/bodyworker and the saddle fitter really begin to work together to bring the horse back into balance and ability. The massage therapist/bodyworker examines the horse, notes the problems and plans a course of action to address those problems. He or she should make note of the spots where muscle tightness is prevalent, and also of where a chiropractic adjustment may be in order, and this is a good time to bring in chiropractic help if necessary. The saddle-fitter compares notes with the massage therapist/bodyworker, and each uses the information acquired by the other to plot a course of action.

The massage therapist begins at the nose and works his way back to the tail. If the horse's back is painful, this can affect jaw tension, neck carriage, withers, length of stride, and hips & hocks. It is the massage therapist's/bodyworker's job to locate areas of concern and work them with his or her well-trained hands to relieve this tension.

The trapezius, the muscle that raises the shoulder and moves it back and forth, will likely be affected by poor saddle fit. The longissimus dorsi, the long muscle in the back, will almost certainly also be affected. Deeper muscles in the back, shoulder and loin may be affected as well. The massage therapist will use a combination of strokes to help this muscles loosen and become pliable again. While working these muscles, the therapist will note "hot spots," knots and ridges, and will use his/her hands to work these areas and relieve the tension such issues cause. As the therapist works, he should make notes of the painful areas so the owner/rider and the saddle fitter can be aware of where the most painful spots are. This gives the saddle-fitter more information to work with as the saddle is altered for a better fit.

Balance is necessary in life for health, happiness and ability. When the horse's body and tack are balanced and working in harmony, the horse has a greater chance of reaching his full potential as an athletic, powerful, dancing being - as he always knew he could. When pain and tension is removed, grace and beauty take its place and once again our hearts are filled with the awe of seeing such a being in motion - and the joy at being able to help him reach his full potential.

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When Bob Sharpe began his practice as an equine sports massage therapist, he began noticing patterns of pain in backs. He soon realized where these patterns were coming from - poorly fitting saddles. He tried to alleviate the pain issues as much as he could, but with no saddle fitter nearby he could only do so much. Kellie suggested he take a saddle fitting course. He considered it but his heart honestly lies in massage and bodywork and while he finds saddle fitting an interesting subject and now knows enough to be dangerous, he decided that he really wanted to focus on bodywork and anatomy. That left two choices - forget a saddle fitter or send Kellie to class. They chose the latter, and Kellie is about to complete her second certification in saddle fitting. Bob and Kellie Sharpe now work together as a team to provide the best possible service to their clients as they possibly can. In other words, they are always together so you get one, you get them both!

You may contact Kellie through Bob if you wish to discuss saddle fit with her.