Mid life Crisis saddle

[enjoytheride]

Hello COTH!

I’ve got some baby horses and I like to pony them on trails before they’re started and that is a pain in an english saddle or my endurance saddle (no horn) so I have been looking for something with a horn. Which led to me purchasing an entirely inappropriate for my needs western saddle on my birthday.

I am calling it my Midlife Crisis saddle.

It has been YEARS since I’ve ever tacked anything up western and my endurance saddle has english billets. Can someone help me with picking the correct cinch and cinch size? I have ponies and their jumping girths are between 44 and 48 inches and their dressage girths are between 18 and 22 inches.

Also, midlife crisis saddle comes with a back latigo. I know from my days riding western that many saddles with back cinch options are used without. I’m not doing any roping. Do I need a back cinch?

[GreyDes]

Sounds comfortable and I hope you went all out and got some fancy tooling or bling!

You can swap the cinch strap to an English billet strap if you want to use your current girths. Taylored Tack makes a nice biothane converter - https://www.promoplace.com/tayloredtack/si/936696615/185051/cinch-converter-straps

[Bluey]

@GreyDes

Sounds comfortable and I hope you went all out and got some fancy tooling or bling!

You can swap the cinch strap to an English billet strap if you want to use your current girths. Taylored Tack makes a nice biothane converter - https://www.promoplace.com/tayloredtack/si/936696615/185051/cinch-converter-straps

Good old COTH, you always learn something new, thank you!

[OzarksRider]

@enjoytheride

Do I need a back cinch?

I ride western and don’t use a back cinch. I don’t need it and it just adds extra weight when I hoist the saddle onto my horse’s back.

[enjoytheride]

I have done something similar with my endurance saddle, makes it easy. I think this is enough of a western saddle it does need a cinch.

[RedHorses]

My cinch is the same length as my short dressage girth. Buckles/cinch rings above the. elbows.

[TheHunterKid90]

A 28” sounds about right. It’s a pretty standard size that can accommodate most smaller bodied 14hh to 14.2 with a bit of a barrel.
I would recommend you rethink the idea of the back cinch only because you say you’ll be ponying horses. Once you have to make the choice between letting go and almost pulling your saddle over your horses head because they sit back, you’ll be very thankful you have the back cinch.
Just make sure your pony horse is desensitized to the sensation of the back cinch moving on his belly a little and also grabbing his belly if one sits back while dallied.

[CableRoad]

Happy birthday, @enjoytheride!

A “midlife crisis saddle” sounds intriguing! Are you willing to post a photo?

CR

[OnAMission]

I was always taught if the saddle is designed with a back cinch that it should be used, not as tight as the front cinch but no daylight showing. If a saddle has a back cinch the front is moved further forward to accommodate the work of the back one to keep the saddle secure and balanced. Think of it like a bra strap with two hooks… they work together. Especially if you’re going to pony other horses you want your saddle to be secure.

[candyappy]

I’ve never ponied much with a western saddle and if I did I never dallied around the horn.

I hope your saddle is meant for roping type events and your horse is trained to be roped off of?

[jvanrens]

@candyappy

I hope your saddle is meant for roping type events and your horse is trained to be roped off of?

Why? You don’t need a horse trained for roping to pony a horse off of, or a roping saddle for that matter.

[enjoytheride]

I’m not roping anything, or tying anything solid to the horn, or dragging rank horses. A horn is going to make a 6 mile trail ride w a pony horse much more comfortable and a single daly is easily undone in a oh shit situation. My saddle horses are experienced at ponying obnoxious babies and will be fine with a session at home in an arena to teach them horn pressure.

But this is about my mid life crisis saddle and not a critique of my riding abilities or saddle choice. Which I do believe I already stated was entirely inappropriate for ponying youngsters in the first place.
Gotta love COTH sometimes.

[enjoytheride]

It’s not a roping saddle so no!

[Miss_Motivation]

30" is probably the most common western cinch size sold but there are lots of variables, including how the saddle is rigged, how far down the D rings, O rings, or rigging plate sits under the saddle skirt, and how you like the cinch to fit on your horse.

I tend to use a little bit longer cinch to try to keep the cinch rings up and away from the horse’s elbows a bit, but then your latigo (the actual strap that connects cinch ring to rigging ring) sometimes needs to be cut shorter so it doesn’t create excess bulky wraps near your knee. Two or three wraps is plenty.

If you need to shorten the latigo, shorten it from the end that goes around the saddle rigging- usually attached with a triangular set of three holes and a latigo lace- so you don’t have to punch all the cinch buckle holes and recut the pointy end. The pointy end usually has been skipped (thinned) a little bit to help it slip through the saddle and cinch rings easily too- you want to preserve that usefulness. Take a photo with your phone of how everything is attached before you take them apart!

I would consider using the back cinch when ponying as it will keep the back of the saddle from lifting up high should you have a baby run forward and hit the end of their lead wrapped around the horn. Lots of opinions on this but that back cinch, though it isn’t tight, does lend stability to the saddle.

Have fun with your Midlife Crisis Saddle… hope you love it!

[Bluey]

Western saddle rigging, how the cinch/cinches are set, is what makes a saddle needing a flank cinch or not.
If the rigging is a 3/4, you may get by without a flank cinch, the saddle is held down close to the middle of it.
If the cinch is set in a more forward position, the flank cinch helps to keep the back of the saddle down when pressure is put on the front thru the horn when pulling from it forward.

https://www.aqha.com/-/what-are-western-saddle-riggings-#:~:text=The%20“rigging”%20refers%20to%20the,rings%20from%20front%20to%20back.

[George_T_Mule]

Hi Enjoytheride
For your cinch, try a Centerfire, or “Y” rigging, which eliminates the need for a back cinch for most applications. There are a number of ways to accomplish this, but what we do is attach the strap to the back D on both sides. It then is led forward, thru the cinch buckle back-to-front, up thru the front D front-to-back, back down thru the cinch buckle back-to-front, snug and buckle. You can simply set the off-side and leave it. Girth/cinch; probably 28 or 30, but you’ll have to try it and see what works. Most places will let you trade for a different size as long as the cinch is clean.
I will comment that the Weaver Leather “Smart Cinch” is an ideal solution for this.
Here is a foto of George showing off his Synergist saddle, with Y rigging, and a Weaver Leather cinch.

[candyappy]

@enjoytheride

I’m not roping anything, or tying anything solid to the horn, or dragging rank horses. A horn is going to make a 6 mile trail ride w a pony horse much more comfortable and a single daly is easily undone in a oh shit situation. My saddle horses are experienced at ponying obnoxious babies and will be fine with a session at home in an arena to teach them horn pressure.

But this is about my mid life crisis saddle and not a critique of my riding abilities or saddle choice. Which I do believe I already stated was entirely inappropriate for ponying youngsters in the first place.
Gotta love COTH sometimes.

Don’t get so bent out of shape. I was concerned based off the info you gave us and replied accordingly, thinking of your safety.

@enjoytheride

I’ve got some baby horses and I like to pony them on trails before they’re started and that is a pain in an english saddle or my endurance saddle (no horn) so I have been looking for something with a horn

Not all western saddles with horns are up to the task if for some reason you don’t get them loose and horses should be accustomed to having another horse pull hard if you are using the horn to secure a horse to. That was advice I was given and I imagine it is still valid decades later.

Sorry I offended you by thinking of your welfare.

[Djones]

@candyappy it’s not necessary to have a roping saddle to pony babies. She’s not dallying off and dragging a bronc up a mountain in a snowstorm

[candyappy]

@Djones

@candyappy it’s not necessary to have a roping saddle to pony babies. She’s not dallying off and dragging a bronc up a mountain in a snowstorm

I agree you don’t need a roping saddle but you better have a saddle that can stand up to being pulled on hard if for some reason the rope gets caught on there-- is all I am saying.

I have ponied many babies and horses in lay up off the track out of an arena with nothing but my english saddle so I know you don’t need a roping saddle–but using the horn has it’s risks when unexpected stuff happens.

[Belmont]

My smaller cowhorse rides in a 26.
Our bigger cowhorse rides in a 28.

A 30 is huge for both of them, but even though our One Time Royalty is 15hh - he is sort of slab sided. My horse is ROUND but maybe 14.2, but he doesn’t swallow a cinch despite being a fat boi at the momet. He also rubs pretty easy when his cinch is too big, so I keep him in a 26 or sometimes a 28. Like right now SO & I swap saddles a lot, so both saddles have a 28 on them.

As for your back cinch, we always use a back cinch but we do ride performance horses. I come from a family of cowboys, so I’ve rarely ever not used them. If you’re doing hilly trail rides, I’d recommend using to keep your saddle in the correct balance point and avoid pinching/comfort issues for your horse and balance issues for the saddle. If you’re just doodling around the arena, you’ll probably be fine without.