Leather Saddles – Why do you need one?

The main reason for a good quality leather saddle is to support the rider in their seat when they ride.

With a correctly fitted leather saddle, you are more likely to ride in the correct position.

 Have you ever tried to ride a horse without a leather saddle?  This is called bareback riding and can be fun!
However, it is important to understand that you should first try this on the right horse.  Some horses have very uncomfortable gaits and are difficult to sit on, especially at the trot.

A smooth gaited horse is best to ride like a Peruvian Paso.  Also learning to ride bareback can be made a lot less painful by riding a horse with a broad back and low withers. 
Seek the guidance of an experienced rider or instructor to supervise your early days into bareback riding.

• It takes a lot of practice and patience to ride without a leather saddle, but a skill once learned will make you a much better rider and will let you appreciate how your horse moves without the hindrance of a bulky object between you and your horse.
• It can give you the skills to feel when a particular leg hits the ground - something we all need to know if we are to give aids for a correct canter strike-off, or to post on the correct diagonal and many other high school movements.
  
• The most important aspect of riding is balance, and riding without a leather saddle forces us to concentrate on balance more than ever.  If you're not balanced bareback - then you'll never stay on!
  

However.......


You've got to admit it.  We all like to ride in a nice comfortable leather saddle most of the time.  It gives us security and we can appear to ride much better than we would be bouncing around without one.

It's also compulsory to ride in a leather saddle if we want to:

• Compete in any of our chosen fields, e.g. Dressage, Showjumping, Cutting etc. 
  
• Join a club, e.g.Pony Club, Riding Club etc.
  
• Have formal riding lessons.
  

So... please for yours' and your horse's sake, investigate thoroughly the type of leather saddle you have in mind before you make that all important decision to buy!