The Equipment, Part 2: The Horse

It's not quite so easy to get the horse's equipment right. Hoss can't tell me that the saddle doesn't feel right, or that the girth is pinching him. These are things I have to find out through inspecting him before and after every ride. Is his back sore? Is he twichy about a spot on his belly? Is there a raw spot? I also have to pay attention to how he's going. All of these things tell me how he's feeling about the equipment we use.

Hoss modeling our saddle

We have the saddle dialed in, quite possibly the most expensive and toughest piece of equipment to get right. Not only does it have to fit the horse's back, it has to fit the rider's butt. I lucked in to this saddle. My trainer, Beth Smith, was working with another horse whose saddle fit neither horse nor rider. While riding in it herself, Beth realized that it fit just precisely the way saddles I like fit. Eyeballing it, she thought it should fit Hoss nicely. She was right. It fits both of us quite well.


When I got the saddle, it came with a mohair girth and leather flank girth. I used this set-up for quite some time. The girth had a wide spot in the middle which I couldn't get to quite sit over Hoss's sternum. Since he was going smoothly and not complaining even a little bit, I didn't worry about it. I really hate mohair girths but was dithering about what to replace it with. My dithering came to a halt after the Warner Springs ride in January. A few days later, I found a truly huge girth gall just behind his right elbow, right where the wide area on the girth was resting. How the ride vets missed it I'll never know. All during the ride, I had been annoyed with Hoss because he'd been tripping on the right front. I thought he was just being lazy. Turns out he was in pain! He finished 50 miles, though, and passed the vet check at the end. I promised Hoss I wouldn't ride him until I'd replaced that girth! I found a new girth that is synthetic and elastic. It also has a feature that makes it much easier for me to get tight enough on him without over stressing my shoulder or jerking him around. Hoss has been going quite nicely in this girth since. No more girth galls, and my saddle doesn't move around as much, either. Two problems fixed with one piece of equipment!

I also found a nice, fleece saddle pad that keeps his back cool and reasonably dry on long rides. I'd love to get him a really high-tech saddle pad that I've seen, but it's hard to justify $250 for a saddle pad under a saddle that fits as perfectly as this one does. Many riders end up using saddle pads to compensate for saddles that don't fit *quite* right. Since our saddle fit is so good, I get to skip that step.

Hoss modeling our bit and other gear

Phoenix modeling an S-hack (the ones I took of Hoss suck

The bit has to be selected on the basis of what the rider likes and what the horse will put up with. Too much bit and you hurt the horse. Too little, and your ride is going to be way faster than you planned on. I use a relatively heavy bit on Hoss. He's got that big ol' hammer head and if he wants to, he can overpower me with little effort. I have found, however, that he's somewhat more responsive when I ride without the bit at all. It's like he feels the need to defy me if I have him bitted up, but feels more cooperative if I don't. It could also be that, without the bit, I am more aware of my riding, and am riding better than when I can depend on the bit to control him. I purchased an S-hack for him before the Manzanita ride, that I switch out with the bit when he's calmed down. He goes well in the hack for the second half of the ride. The first half, not so much. We may some day get to the point where we can ride in a hack for an entire endurance ride, and very little could make me happier, but it won't be soon.