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How To Saddle A Horse - Page 1 of 3
Saddle a horse the correct way.
This article covers saddling a horse with a Western style of saddle that has a front cinch, a
back cinch, and a breast collar. Please be sure to see a few common
sense safety precautions at the bottom of this page.
Clean Your Horse, Put The Saddle Pad On
| Begin with a clean, dry, horse. All dirt and dust should
be off the horse, with particular attention given to the areas the
saddle, saddle pad or blankets, cinches, and breast collar will cover. The horse should be
properly tied with a halter and lead rope, held by an assistant, or
ground tied. Put the
saddle pad (or
blankets) on the horse. Place it slightly ahead of where it should be
when you are finished saddling. By placing the saddle pad a little too
far forward on purpose, you will accomplish two things:
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The saddle pad is first placed
slightly forward of where it should actually be. |
Get Everything Out Of Your Way
| You will need to get the
front cinch, back cinch, breast
collar, and stirrup out of the way so that when you
lift the saddle onto the back of the horse, none of this stuff winds up
underneath the saddle. In our photo, the rider is going to place the
saddle onto the horse from the horse's left side. He has laid the front
cinch, back cinch, breast collar, and right stirrup onto the seat of the
saddle to keep them out of the way. |
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You can also hook the stirrup over
the saddle horn, instead
of simply laying it across the saddle seat as shown. |
Lift The Saddle Onto The Horse
| Lift the saddle, and place it onto the back of the
horse. Do this as gently and with as much control as possible so you
don't thump the saddle down hard onto the back of the horse. Setting the
saddle down gently will also help make sure
the cinches,
breast collar, and stirrup don't fall off the saddle seat.
If any of the stuff on the saddle seat does slide off, it could wind up
underneath the saddle and you would have to start over, or it could
spook the horse. |

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In the photo the saddle has been placed quietly onto the
back of the horse.
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How To Saddle A
Horse (you are on page 1 of 3)
Go to page 2 >>>
Think Safety!
While saddling a horse, a person can easily be injured. It is
common sense to take a few, easy precautions to avoid injury.
- If it is fly season, consider applying
fly spray to the horse. If the horse is fighting flies you could be
stepped on or smacked by the horse's head. Even a horse swishing its tail
can swing its tail into your face or eyes.
- Leave the
halter and
lead rope
on your horse while saddling, then put the bridle on when you are done or
ready to ride. If the horse is trained to ground tie (stand without moving
while untied) that's fine. If not, leave the horse properly tied up with the
halter and lead rope while saddling.
- When saddling, always snug up the
front cinch
first. When unsaddling, always loosen the front cinch last.
The front cinch is the main item that keeps the saddle secure and upright on
the horse. If for example, during saddling, you were to buckle the breast collar or back
cinch first, the saddle could slip underneath the horse and cause a serious
wreck for the horse, equipment, and any people or property nearby.
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