Before taking your horse out for a ride you should have learnt how to saddle your horse and ensured that it is properly saddled if you want to enjoy your ride as well as ensure that neither you nor your horse comes to any harm. Before you do anything else, make sure that the horse has been groomed and that there is no dirt and no sore spots. There are certain steps that you will need to follow each time you place a saddle on your horse which includes even having a blanket on which to put the saddle, and this is most important when using a Western saddle.
The blanket should be folded in to two equal halves and the fold must be placed facing the front, and a saddle pad may also be used in place of the blanket though whichever option is used, it should be placed towards the front of the withers and then slid into its proper place.
Raise The Saddle
Next, you will learn in how to saddle your horse that you have to raise the saddle high enough and tuck in the stirrups properly before placing the saddle on the back of the horse making sure that there is enough elevation so as not to disturb the pad or blanket and that the saddle does not hit your horse. Before you place the saddle in its place make sure that you are gentle in doing so and placing it a bit forward will help and it will also not spook the horse.
Once you have placed the saddle on the horse’s back you should position yourself to its offside in order to take down the stirrup, especially when using Western saddles and also ensure that the pad or blanket are free of any wrinkles on either side, and ensure that the girth or the cinch is attached on that side (offside). Follow this by moving to the other side (near side) and get hold of the girth or the cinch and bring it from beneath the horse and then buckle up the girth, or have the cinch tied and tighten either one just enough that it is neither too tight nor too loose and leave just enough space to pass a finger between it and the horse’s body for best tightening.
Finally, you will learn that how to saddle your horse requires ensuring that the skin beneath the girth has no wrinkles in it, and another helpful tip on how to saddle your horse is to check that the girth is properly fastened before you mount the horse and then again after having ridden the horse for a couple of minutes.
These simple steps should help you learn how to saddle your horse and ensure that you have safe riding.
