Tacking Up Safely: A Step-by-Step Guide

with Catherine Shelley

NCAS EA SSTA/ CE Level 2 General Coach, NCAS Level 1 RDA Coach, Dip. of TB racing - Melton Equestrian accredited with EA Ready, Set, Trot program.

Preparation is Key

Like many other things we do with our horses, we put our saddle and bridle on from the left-hand side, or as us horsey people say, the ‘near’ side. Be prepared and have all your tack out ready to put on. We do not want to put a saddle blanket on our pony, and then go and grab our saddle from the tack room, as the wind or the horse’s movement may dislodge it and give our horse a fright as it falls to the ground.

Always check the saddle blanket before you put it on to make sure there is nothing on the underside that could irritate the horse, such as a grass seed. Place the saddle blanket on the horse’s back, with the front edge of the blanket resting about halfway across the horse’s shoulder and on top of his withers. This is further forward than the saddle will eventually sit, but it is better to slide the saddle blanket and saddle backward with the direction of the horse’s coat to give a more comfortable fit. Also, check to make sure the saddle blanket is sitting evenly on both sides of the horse and reposition if needed.

Placing the Saddle

Once the saddle blanket is on, it’s time to place the saddle on. Once again from the left side of the horse, pick up the saddle with your left hand holding the pommel and your right hand underneath. Before placing the saddle on your horse, make sure the stirrups have been run up securely and the girth has been threaded through the stirrup iron on the right, to ensure they don’t accidentally bang your horse or get the stirrup iron caught under the saddle as you lift the saddle onto their back. It’s important that the girth is clean too, so that it doesn’t rub the horse’s sensitive skin and cause girth galls.

Place the saddle on the saddle blanket with about 5 to 8 centimeters of the saddle blanket in front of the saddle, and move both the saddle and saddle blanket back into their correct positions, making sure the girth points line up with the girth line of your horse. Using your left hand, lift the front of the saddle blanket as high as it will go, touching the saddle and making what we call a tent-like shape. This ensures that the saddle blanket will not rub on the horse’s withers and allows some air to get underneath the saddle blanket.

Carefully make your way around to the other side of your horse, standing close by and letting your horse know you are there. Remove the girth from the stirrup iron and gently place it in the correct position, then go safely back around to the near side of your pony. We now need to bend over and grab the girth under the horse’s belly, lift the girth up towards the buckles, and gradually and gently tighten the girth. Some horses can be a little grumpy or move a bit, so take your time. Try to make the girth an even tightness on both sides of the saddle, and then place the girth points into their keepers.

Putting on the Bridle

With the saddle on, it is now time to untie your horse and place the bridle on. Again, while standing on the near side, place the reins over the horse’s head. This way, we have less to try to hold onto, and your horse cannot accidentally step on them or get tangled up in them.

Next, place the headpiece in your right hand, as well as gathering up the noseband if it is a drop nose and throat latch. The reason we hold the noseband and throat latch up in our right hand is to stop it from banging against our horse’s head or hitting him in the eye. In our left hand, we hold onto the bit, placing it between our thumb and ring finger. As we take our right hand with our bridle in it up towards the horse’s ears, we take the bit up to the horse’s mouth, making contact with the horse’s mouth with our thumb and finger, tickling their lips and the side of their tongue, asking them to open their mouth and take the bit. Always be very careful that you do not bang the bit onto the horse’s teeth.

As the horse opens its mouth to take the bit, we raise our right hand and place the headpiece of our bridle over our horse’s ears, taking care to be gentle with their ears, and to make sure that the mane and forelock are sitting neatly and comfortably underneath, while gently sliding the bit into the horse’s mouth at the same time. Ensure the noseband goes underneath the cheek straps and do up the buckle, placing it inside the keepers. We know that the noseband is not too loose or too tight if we can put two fingers between the noseband and the horse’s jaw.

We then do up our throat latch, with the correct tightness being three fingers’ width between our horse’s cheek and the throat latch, making sure our straps are placed into the keepers after buckling.

Final Checks

Before you mount up, take your horse for a little walk to allow him to breathe, and you may be able to tighten the girth another hole.

Happy horsing around and keep safe. Next month, we will talk about position and basic control of your pony while in the saddle.

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