“My
personal opinion is that the western saddle tradition uses much heavier rigging
than is required.Western riders
also tend to tighten the chincha much tighter than is
required.I believe that there are
two reasons for this.
First,
If one is roping rank cows, things have to be very
strong.Are you anticipating roping
large, rank cows?Myself, even
though my new horse has been a ranch horse, I would have no idea how to get a
rope on a cow, or what to do with it after I got it there.
Secondly,typically
western saddles do not properly fit the horses, thus they must be very tightly
cinched to stay on.I wondered why
the first mare we sent to our trainer came back a bit chinchy
until I watched the trainer saddle another horse.In her defense, she had to use one
saddle on all the horses she was training, so it didn't fit most of them
properly.I suspect that a lot of
riders get in the habit of tightening things much more than required, even
after they get a properly fitting saddle.”
I once attended a really interesting saddle fitting clinic
by Dave Genedek. He’s a saddle maker, but barely
even mentions his saddles in the clinics.He talks a lot about the origin of saddle designs, both western and
English.Although I can’t
ever imagine riding in a western saddle, if I had to, his Black Rhino would
have to be the one!
Anyhow, with regard to the rear cinch of the western saddle –
most people do not use them properly.The rigging on a western saddle was originally designed so that both the
front and rear cinches would be of equal tightness (which is why a real solid
ring attached to the tree is proper, not a slit cut into the skirt).Most people way over tighten the front
cinch and leave the rear dangling.
If you can lift the back of a western saddle more than a
couple inches, you should really be using the rear cinch properly.Also, the front and rear cinches should
be connected so that the rear doesn’t go wandering back as there is
obviously no girth groove back there!We had a barrel shaped mustang that really needed this set up when he
was ridden with a western saddle and he took to it very easily.
I do agree that most people tighten up their cinch or girth
more than necessary.Many times
this is because the saddle doesn’t fit the horse well, but a lot of the
time it is either what people are used to or because they assume a saddle will
spin if not very tight. I think a
saddle shouldn’t be any tighter than what you need to mount.
Another thing to keep in mind is that if you have a horse
with a forward girth groove and you are using a crupper to keep the saddle from
going forward because of your horses conformation or way of moving, then it is
critical that you don’t over tighten the girth.That just makes it more likely that the
saddle will be pulled forward – against the crupper.Ow!This is especially important for those
using treeless, flat panel and maybe flexible treed saddles because they don’t
rely on the scapula to stop the saddle from going forward if there is that
tendency for whatever reason.
