Forces On The Equine Back

Part 3. Feeling.

The short video illustrates the many forces acting on the horse’s back. Some forces are intense, others are light, others are brief. They are the words, the verbs and the sentences of the conversation between the horse and the rider. 

Riding is essentially dynamics. Riding is an interaction of forces between the horse and the rider. The saddle needs to allow such dynamic conversation without creating shifts and other disturbances. 

The Macel Samba is stable, allowing the clean feeling of the forces interacting between the horse and the rider. Placing the rider high above the horse, the thick padding and unnecessary wide tree and wide gullets saddle distorts the interaction of forces between the horse and the rider shifting right and left with every stride.

Lateral bending is always coupled with transversal rotation. The rotation can be proper, as illustrated here with the red arrows.

The rotation can also be inverted as illustrated with the green arrows.

Inverted rotation is a common muscle imbalance. It can be corrected with an appropriate education.  A thick padding saddle with tree and gullet wider than necessary creates disturbing shifts altering the rider’s ability to properly educate the horse. This saddle is resting on a saddle rack

By contrast, a stable and close contact saddle does not aggravate the horse’s muscle imbalance, allowing appropriated gymnastics.

This is the Samba on my horse Chazot.

This is a Samba S in Tan.