I ride my reining filly in a breast collar AND a back cinch. If she goes on to be a roping horse as well, the addition of the two won’t bother her.
Not all the time, especially if we are just bee bopping the trails around my house. If we are heading out to the mountains though, we go through some pretty steep stuff- so then we always do.
Always.
Trail riding yes. I’m bad about not in the ring.
Well, I haven’t been. But I wonder if using one would keep me from having to stomp on the right stirrup to right my saddle again after I mount? It’s slippy.
Used to fit well until I gave horse a year and a half off. It’s getting better, and I’m using a corrector pad to fill in where muscles used to be (and are appearing again).
Maybe I’ll get one.
[QUOTE=pAin’t_Misbehavin’;8156869]
Well, I haven’t been. But I wonder if using one would keep me from having to stomp on the right stirrup to right my saddle again after I mount? It’s slippy.
Used to fit well until I gave horse a year and a half off. It’s getting better, and I’m using a corrector pad to fill in where muscles used to be (and are appearing again).
Maybe I’ll get one.[/QUOTE]
Breast collars, other than in a very active performance, or roping or in rough terrain and such, are similar to a seat belt, just there not doing anything until and when that one rare time they are needed and then you are glad it is there.
I am not sure they will keep your saddle from slipping a few inches this and that way, but it will keep it from slipping more than that little bit.
I rarely use one even when roping big, fat dry cows.
When we go to the mountains I might put one on depending on the horse I’m riding and I have a nice martingale (choker) that I show in.
[QUOTE=Bluey;8156906]
Breast collars, other than in a very active performance, or roping or in rough terrain and such, are similar to a seat belt, just there not doing anything until and when that one rare time they are needed and then you are glad it is there.
I am not sure they will keep your saddle from slipping a few inches this and that way, but it will keep it from slipping more than that little bit.[/QUOTE]
That might be worth it. 
He’s gotten a lot better, but when we first started back into work he had a pretty good spook-and-spin move.
I use one sometimes. If I’m not going to be riding faster than a walk or jog, I might leave it off. If I know I’m going to be working at a lope, I’ll put it on. I just use a plain old leather breast collar. I like the look of it and I like the idea of it saving my behind if the saddle shifts or something, but it’s not something I use all the time.
This is from the thread on fitting a new saddle:
[QUOTE=Aspen1;8158828]
You may find this link helpful. Good advice in the comments too: http://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/saddle-fit-and-your-new-saddle-from-a-tree-maker-s-view/
And no, don’t dunk your saddle. Some people think that even the stories from way back are old wive’s tales.[/QUOTE]
I thought this paragraph from the linked site was interesting:
We strongly recommend (and would actually prefer that it be an absolute rule) that you don’t ride with a breast collar for at least the first 10 hours with a new saddle, and preferably longer. That way the saddle will be totally free to “find it’s own spot” on the horse where the shape of the tree best matches the shape of the back. By not using a breast collar you for sure won’t be holding the saddle in the wrong place. (Please see our Proper Position of a Western Saddle page for more information.) If the saddle is held too far forward with a breast collar, it not only creates real problems for the horse, but it also affects how the shearling and leather get broken in.
I haven’t ridden a Western saddle in a couple of decades, but I grew up on a working cattle ranch and that’s of course what I learned to ride on. I was taught to get the saddle properly positioned and then attach the breastcollar leaving about a finger of slack to allow the horse to move easily. The comments in this thread seem to imply that most of you use them the way I do. Are there actually very many people using the breastcollar to hold the saddle in position under normal, non-emergency riding conditions? It seems to me that would create pressure points and injure the horse.
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My breastcollars are not tight at all, but would help in an emergency. I have a well fitting martingale type and a brand new pretty mohair with martingale straps. Both are comfortable and especially the mohair.
I always ride with my breastcollar. Ive been riding the same horse with the same saddle for almost 10 years, but the barn where I started taking lessons used them on their horses and it became a habit mostly. Mine is soft fleece type, but it matches my bridle, support boots, and saddle pad so I like to use it especially when hauling somewhere:cool: so my gelding is all decked out in his matching tack.
Its usually fairly loose though, never tighten it up, just want it to stay on and be available in case I need it.
Yes I always use one when I’m showing western, but when I’m just riding around the trails or in the arena, I usually don’t. It’s just one more piece of tack to put on, right?
Always. Helps prevent the saddle from sliding back too far climbing mountains. You can’t tell me a “properly fitted saddle” won’t move on a 45-degree slope. It’s just gravity.
So after I posted in this thread back in May, my breast collar saved my hiney last month.
We were booking it down the trail after riding for about an hour. We took a sharp turn and I learned the hard way that for the first time in a very long time, I hadn’t tightened my girth.
The saddle slipped to the side but the breast collar kept it from sliding under my mare. She came to a stop as I held on to the breast collar. Once she halted I dropped to the ground, fixed the saddle and headed off again.
Without the breast collar my mistake could have ended up a disaster.
[QUOTE=AmarachAcres;8310201]
So after I posted in this thread back in May, my breast collar saved my hiney last month.
We were booking it down the trail after riding for about an hour. We took a sharp turn and I learned the hard way that for the first time in a very long time, I hadn’t tightened my girth.
The saddle slipped to the side but the breast collar kept it from sliding under my mare. She came to a stop as I held on to the breast collar. Once she halted I dropped to the ground, fixed the saddle and headed off again.
Without the breast collar my mistake could have ended up a disaster.[/QUOTE]
Thank you for the telling example.
Maybe that story will save someone else from having a disaster, as you avoided there.
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Always use it on the trails but never showed in one at the Paint shows except in the Ranch Horse classes, but I was in a completely different saddle anyway
I use a pulling type breast collar.
[QUOTE=AmarachAcres;8310201]
So after I posted in this thread back in May, my breast collar saved my hiney last month.
Without the breast collar my mistake could have ended up a disaster.[/QUOTE]
Glad to hear you had the breast collar on when you needed it. Hope others listen to your story and add their breast collar to the saddle for every ride.
We have had similar experiences, kids on the horses were saved from going under the horse by the breast collar. ALL my saddles have breast collars, used every ride. When you need breast collar to work, they are already in place.
I can clean one extra piece of tack, because I am NOT BROKEN from a fall. Heck the fleece or felt breast collars just go thru the washing machine, even less work.
i ride in extremely steep terrain all the time without a breastcollar and my saddle doesnt budge. it fits my mare very well and she’s got good withers.
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i have a trick to remind me to tighten the girth before i get on: i wrap the latigo around the stirrup until the third cinching (i tighten the cinch in stages) . only after the third cinch do i put the latigo in the keeper.
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