Positioning an Australian Stock Saddle on the Horse’s Back

Australian stock saddles come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes; some are ‘long in front’, some are ‘long behind’, some are straight-shouldered, some are sloping-shouldered, some have long flaps, some have short flaps, some have extended panels – and so on!  Horses also come in a variety of different proportions, and you may well come across people who tell you that the ‘ideal’ placing for an Aussie saddle is x-many inches in front of (or behind) an English / Western saddle.

There’s one cardinal rule which will put your saddle in the right place on your horse’s back.  Find your horse’s natural girthline.  This runs from just behind his withers on top of his back, through his ‘girth-groove’ under his chest bone.  You should be able to see the girth groove on your horse quite easily.  The natural girthline on the horse below left is shown by the red line.

Now just sit your Aussie saddle on your horse’s back so that the overgirth follows the horse’s natural girthline, and the girths do up comfortably nestled into his girth groove, as in the picture below right

Provided that you have the right width tree for your horse, this should give you the perfect fit for that saddle.