Western Saddle Observations

Posted byVirtual Brush BoxPosted inThoughts

Awareness of the outside world. WDAA.

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I have now sat on the western saddle four times. I’ve noticed a few things. [Western Ride]

Stirrups. I still dislike that the stirrups don’t sit perpendicular on the sole of my foot. [First Western Lesson]

Seat. So much leather. I can neither feel nor talk to the horse. OTOH, given a horse with back issues this might be a feature rather than a bug.

Girth. Comes with a buckle on each end. However, the girth attaches with the buckle on one side and with a tie strap on the other. The frame of the buckle is used to attached the strap on that side. The prong of the buckle has nowhere to go. It just kinda sticks out. My inner Pony Clubber is deeply perturbed by this.

Wait, what? [The Mystery Project Is … drumroll …]

Onwards!
Katherine

7 thoughts on “Western Saddle Observations”

  1. The prong just sticks out? There must be a mistake. Maybe it came from back when they just used any old buckle and it became a tradition, like a glass of milk after the race car thing.

    Jane

  2. Thanks for putting into words the things about western saddles that I noticed, and didn’t understand. MM

  3. I’m genuinely curious what kind of western saddle they have you using because everything you’re saying here is incorrect. The fenders on a quality Western saddle are built with a twist, which makes the stirrup hang in the exact same perpendicular position as your English stirrups. The the cinch strap should have holes for the cinch keeper and should be used. Absent that, you can double the cinch strap with the pong in the upright position and sandwiched between the two wraps and not “poking out.” Sounds like you need someone who knows how to properly tack a horse in a decent Western saddle. Oh, and with time you’ll learn how to “feel” and be “felt” in the saddle. It doesn’t happen overnight.

    1. What you say makes sense. I don’t have much information on either saddle. The one we are using is temporarily borrowed from the family of a friend. The other came with the school horse.

  4. Pingback: Interim Report On The Western Project – Virtual Brush Box

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