Comments on: Saddle Up! How to Bridle and Saddle a Horse

By: Tyler

Tyler — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 04:10:27 +0000

Step by step procedure for tacking up a horse:

1. Catch and halter your mount. I put the lead rope around the horse’s neck to hold them still and then put the halter on.
2. Tie lead rope off to a stable object like a fence post using a quick-release knot. The quick-release knot is an In Case of Emergency measure- if your horse starts bucking and rearing, you don’t want it tied. The nature of the knot allows you to undo the knot in an ICE situation, minimizing the potential for damage to your horse and yourself.
3. Groom the horse. Using rough to soft brush and a shedding comb if it’s spring or fall for their coat, and a hoof pick to take out any debris that may cause discomfort while riding. If your horse doesn’t have a bridle path cut in their mane, make sure it’s knot-free with a normal hairbrush.
4. Saddle pad. Make sure it isn’t sitting too far back or too high on the withers, and that it’s sitting even.
5. Saddle. Same as saddle pad. Front cinch first, then back cinch. Test for tightness, and if your horse seems to be blowing out (puffing their chest), distract them a bit and then tighten the cinch.
6. Bridle. Don’t bash their teeth, wait for them to take it. If it’s cold, remember to thaw the bit with your hand. If you don’t thaw the bit then your pony’s tongue sticks to the frozen metal. Not a fun time. You can bridle over top of the halter, just tie the lead rope off to your saddle.
7. Lead them around, make sure there’s no pinching with the cinches, and check again for tightness before mounting.

By: Cheyanne

Cheyanne — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 22:06:52 +0000

About the bridle, everyone does it there own way, but yes, it is safer to put it on after the saddling. The halter may also be called a harness- I’ve heard it both ways, by novice and experienced alike. This IS, though, a very manly skill.

By: Veganbeast

Veganbeast — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:54:25 +0000

I prefer bareback.

By: Judy alias know it all

Judy alias know it all — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 14:31:04 +0000

Um, nice try. But …
1. Saddle goes on first
2. Never chain a horse to anything, use breakable material in case it spooks
3. better off putting the halter around neck to hold horse while bridling rather than leaving it on. then remove it and attach it to saddle for later use.
4. Saddling instructions look fine, but after you get on check girth again. Loose girth = nasty ass fall.

By: J

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 01:12:43 +0000

I think you mean “halter” not “harness.” And as another person said, it is definitely safer to saddle before you bridle.

By: Henriette

Henriette — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 08:57:55 +0000

I’m missing something, besides saddle first. Let someone else check it out, untill you have done it a lot. An impropably placed saddle can cause serious injury to either the rider (falling of) or the horse (pressure wounds from standing up hair), even if you are confident you did everything right, a little mistake happens to the best of them.

By: Jonas

Jonas — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 05:28:58 +0000

You forgott to lift the pad at the withers into the gullet after putting the saddle on the back. This prevents the pad pressing on the withers when you get in the saddle (and therefore increase the weight). If you want to do it absolutely right, you also lift the backside of the pad a bit, before you tighten the latigo.

I agree that to tie a horse with a chain to some wielded can be a very dangerous idea.

Folks, always work with horsemanship.

Ride safe

Jonas

By: Isaac

Isaac — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 18:19:23 +0000

Since i started riding some 10-11 years ago, we always used two layers under the saddle. A navajo and a pad. Was also taught to push both up into the gullet of the saddle after doing up the cinch, leaving a pocket there.

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 21:45:49 +0000

Leave the stoggie down for safety. If a high strung young horse gets a whiff he could go into flight mode.

By: Don T Forget

Don T Forget — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 05:35:54 +0000

John and Charles Wesley would be proud of this post. Of course, then they would promptly saddle up their horse and ride across the American frontier, telling country folks about the Gospel (the Wesleys founded Methodism and wrote a ton of hymns). Speaking of the Gospel, here’s another manly skill: how to share the Gospel with kids: http://dontforgettothink.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-to-share-gospel-with-children-part.html