Saddle Fit - Becky Amio

Here's horse trainer Becky Amio on saddle fit.   "What I was finding is I was struggling with saddle fit, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I was having a hard time with saddles going up Colt's neck, and I was also having a problem with side-to-side slip, and then I was having a problem with the seat itself on the saddle that I had been using for many years was putting me in a position that was too wide, so the access point where I could get a good hold with my legs around the barrel of the horse, it wasn't conducive to be able to support myself and support the horse. I called several different saddle makers, and a lot of them honestly didn't give me good answers or didn't want to answer my questions, and I ended up finding a saddle pad designer that helped answer my questions discussing saddle fit, because she showed me how to shim the saddle or the saddle pad to fit the saddle properly."   "From there, she directed me to a man named Mark Jones out of Georgia, and Mark was the first person to listen to me when I discussed all of the problems that I was having. I would say 98% of the saddle manufacturers out there, their general average bar spread is 13 1⁄2 inches, and that is too wide for these young Colts. That's why I was having a problem going up their neck like I was."   More from Becky Amio on our longer version of the Horseman's Corner Extended Podcast, all on horsemanscorner.com.