PrintSaddle fitting is one part art, one part science and one part magic. And like anything artistic or scientific, there's an element of practice involved; the more horses you see, the more saddles you see, the better trained your eye becomes.
It is crucial that an educated and experienced professional be involved in the fitting of a saddle to a horse and rider, and by that I do not mean someone who simply reps one brand of saddle for one company.
All that said, there's something to be said for common sense. While some folks pass around the Seven Rules of Saddle Fitting like the gospel, I have a few rules for myself that I think are even easier to understand and are true more often than not.
1. Is the saddle shaped like the horse?
This isn't always so easy to see. The tree of the saddle (the wood or synthetic "frame" that gives a saddle its shape) is deep inside, and the panels (the squishy parts that make contact with the horse's back) are tacked on after, so two very different trees can look like the same shape after the panels are tacked on.
All that aside, you can still get an idea. Look at the panels. Do they make the saddle look like a banana, with the back of the saddle sweeping up and away from the back? That means less surface area on the horse, which means the rider's weight is dispersed over a smaller surface. That increases the possibility for pain.
Look at the gullet, the space between the panels that would go right over the spine. Is there a ton of space, equal from front to back, with the panels flaring away like a tabletop? Then that saddle could be a good choice for a big flat backed horse, but a terrible choice for a triangular Thoroughbred. Does the gullet look like an hourglass, lots of room in the front and back but narrow through the middle, under the stirrup bars? Then it's probably not the right choice for any horse that's got any thickness behind the withers, an area that is overwhelmingly overlooked.
2. Does it look comfy?
Give the panels a squeeze. Do they feel like Charmin, or like concrete? Hard panels are like having a hammer tapping on your back every step. Ouch.
I also always like to look at the saddle from the back. Do the panels angle away from the gullet, like single quote marks? Are they narrower at the bottom of the saddle than they are at the top, or vice versa? Panels are what absorb shock in a saddle and disperse weight. They should cover as much surface area as possible, to distribute the rider's weight over as large an area as possible.
3. When you put it on the horse, does it pinch?
General rule of thumb: Too high in front is too narrow. Too low in front is too wide.
But it's not that simple. That's only considering the front of the saddle, the part over the withers. It's easy to tell if there's wither clearance; stick your hand in there, and there you go. But what about the part under the stirrup bars, where the nuchal ligament attaches? THAT is where you get pain.
It's not so easy to do by yourself, because it's best when there's weight in the saddle, but if you're alone, girth it up tight and try to get your hand under the stirrup bars. If it's like trying to pry open a really stubborn jar of pickles, it's probably too close to that sensitive part of the back, and you may need to look for a totally different shaped tree, not merely a wider version of the saddle you're trying.
4. One size fits none.
