Tacking Up
How you tack up your horse is an important aspect in building a relationship with your horse. How you treat your horse will influence how willingly he respnds to you. If you are abrupt and impolite, throwing a saddle on his back and shoving a bit in his mouth, you should not expect your horse to look forward to working with you.
I consider proper saddling and bridling a matter of being polite to the horse. First, make sure the horse is properly groomed. You don't need to spend hours brushing and washing your horse, but you should at least make sure the areas where the tack contacts the horse are brushed clean of any dirt or other foreign material which might cause discomfort. You wouldn't want to perform with a stone in your shoe. Be sure your horse's feet are clean. Even if there is no stone in the shoe (or hollow of the foot if the horse doesn't wear shoes), a buildup of mud can make the horse unstable. This would be like trying to perform in platform shoes.
Place the saddle pad or banket on you horse's back a little in front of where it should be and slide it back into place. This will ensure that the hair is lying flat. Then, place (don't throw) the saddle onto the horse's back. You wouldn't want someone throwing something onto your back if you were on your hands and knees.
While few people can afford saddles custom built to their horse's anatomy, you want to find an “off the rack” saddle that spreads it's weight over a large area while leaving room for movement of the spine — especially the withers. Also, the saddle should not be so long it interferes with the action of the horse's hips.
As you tighten the girth, be sure not to pinch the skin. I like to check several times as I'm tightening to make sure the skin doesn't double up. Don't let the girth crowd the front legs. I don't don't like things digging into my arm pits, and I'm sure a horse doesn't like something digging into the area between his chest and legs. As you tighten the girth, remember: you don't have to get it extremely tight when first saddling. Just snug it up. Then, walk your horse to the mounting area, and before mounting, check and tighten the girth again. You might be surprised how loose it is after walking a few feet. This is a polite way of doing the same thing as kneeing the horse to make it expel any air when you're saddling.
Don't get in a hurry when bridling. You probably don't appreciate people trying to force things into your mouth, so why should you expect a horse to like it? If you're tall enough, you can do what I like to do. I rest my forearm on the horse's head and let the headstall lie gently on the back of my fingers. Even if you're not tall enough to do that, you still want to be careful when inserting the bit. Simply bring the bit up to your horse's mouth. Don't try to shove it in. Don't even push it against the horse's teeth or gums. If your horse doesn't willingly open his mouth, slip your thumb into his mouth between the front and rear teeth. When he says, “Yuck!”, simply slip the bit in the opening provided.
If a horse has had a bit forced into his mouth, he may not be anxious to take the bit willingly. Be patient. If you take your time, the process is bound to get easier. If you rush, it will probably be harder the next time.
Adjust the throatlatch so there is room for at least a couple of fingers between the leather and the horse's throat. You don't want it putting pressure on his throat when moving. If your bridle has a noseband, adjust it tight enough to look good but loose enough not to cause discomfort. The noseband should not be used to tie a horse's mouth shut.
(Top)