Saddles, Riders, and Science

Bootsandsaddles4mel Blog - Full Article

November 5, 2015
Posted by Melinda Newton

I was reading through the vast, never diminishing stack of journals like a good little vet and came across a rather fascinating Editorial discussing the current science of the dynamics between horses, saddles, and riders, as presented at the International Saddle Research Trust Conference.

For more information

The conference was organized by the Saddle Research Trust (www.saddleresearchtrust.com). The Editorial is published in the September 2015 edition of the Equine Veterinary Education, published by AAEP (page 447), “Horses, saddles and riders: Applying the science.” The primary literature cited is mostly by Greve, L. and Dyson, S.

Why saddles slip to one side

Yes, people are actually doing research on why the gosh dang saddle won’t stay in the middle of the horse (or am I the only person that has this problem, one which makes me want to set fire to myself, the horse, and the saddle out of frustration?)

I always thought that the saddle slipping to one side was, barring some structural problem with the saddle, a reflection of my own imbalance and crookedness as a rider.

Well. I have some good and bad news.

It might not be you.

But your horse might be lame.

That’s right. As if as endurance riders we didn’t have enough to obsess over, there is now yet something else we can fret over as we determine whether or not there was a *little something off* in that last step.

Here’s the break down of the study (a Greve and Dyson study)...

Read more here:
http://bootsandsaddles4mel.com/blog/2015/saddles-riders-and-science/?fb_ref=Default&fb_source=message