Saddle Up! – Part 1

What kind of saddle do you ride? Does it have a horn? If so, how do you use the horn?

In the riding environment I live in, western-style saddles far outnumber any other style of saddle. I occasionally see an Australian stock saddle or an endurance style saddle, but the default mode is a western-style saddle with a horn. Even some of the Aussie stock saddles come equipped with a horn.

A good number of riders in my region actually need a western-style saddle with a horn for their recreational roping activities. The heavily-built saddles with horns are necessary for anchoring the rope after the animal is roped. Nobody in these parts actually needs to rope and brand their cattle. Cattle in most areas of the U.S. are in fenced pastures and readily come into pens when feed is offered. It is true that some large ranches are on open range or something similar and roundups are an annual event utilizing working cowboys with roping saddles.

Cutting-horse riders use the horn for stabilization while the horse dances side-to-side  executing radical changes in directions. These horns do not resemble the horns for roping events. Horns for cutting-horse saddles are tall, thin handles, long enough for the rider to grip with both hands. Most do not have a cap on top to prevent the rope from slipping off as no ropes will be used.  These horns would probably separate from the pommel if a roped animal suddenly jerked on it.

Barrel racers use the horn for stabilization as the horse leans low turning the barrel and as the horse accelerates away from the barrels. The length of these horns is somewhere between a roping horn and a cutting horn, long enough and thin enough to give a female rider’s hand a full grip. These horns have a cap on top.

Many endurance and trail saddles do not have a horn. English-style saddles do not have horns. Military saddles such as the McClelland do not have horns. How does the rider stay on without a horn you ask? Well, except for cutting saddles and barrel saddles, the horn is not really there for the rider to hang onto. Moderately skilled riders can maintain balance without a horn. For those instances when additional stabilization is needed, the rider can grab the pommel on those saddles without horns. I have had a few times when I was pitched forward by an unexpected move by the horse and wound up wishing the horn wasn’t there as sensitive areas contacted the horn. This is the reason why the saddles used by saddle-bronc riders in the rodeo don’t have horns.

As a casual trail rider (as opposed to a competitive trail rider), the most common use I see for a horn is to grip while mounting the horse. The second most common use is to hold a pommel bag. Pommel bags are designed to fit over the horn. These are handy for carrying a water bottle or a few beverage cans or some snacks or whatever small items the rider needs. Many riders don’t feel comfortable without a horn up there on the pommel.

That about does it for horns on a saddle. If you can think of additional uses, please let me know. Meanwhile, thanks for reading this article and look for Saddle Up! – Part 2 which will discuss cantles.

Saddle Up! – Part 2

What kind of cantle is on your saddle? The style of cantle has a lot to do with how you can use the saddle.

The cantle has two main purposes. First, it holds the bars together in the rear of the saddle. Second, it provides support and stability to the rider to help prevent sliding backwards on the saddle when the horse accelerated forward.

Cantles come in all shapes and sizes. A high cantle provides high stability for the rider. It helps the rider stay on the horse. This feature also has a downside in that it makes mounting and dismounting more difficult as the rider has to swing the trailing leg over the cantle while mounting and dismounting.

Look at the saddles used by tie-down ropers in rodeos. These guys have to dismount very quickly after they rope a calf or a steer. They can’t afford anything that slows their dismount down so their cantles are low. A friend was telling me of his father who was a working cowboy in his younger days back in the 1920s. As a gift to the father, then in his 90s, my friend went to a custom saddle shop and bought a saddle. This saddle had a high cantle and would be good and comfortable for riding. However, this was not the saddle his father had used as a working cowboy. He wanted a low cantle like he used back in his working cowboy days. The father was unable to ride because of his health but he wanted a saddle that looked like the one he used to ride. Jim dutifully took the saddle back to the shop and was able to exchange it for a roping saddle. Dad was satisfied.

Stunt riders also need saddles with low cantles. This allows them to crawl all over the horse while the horse is racing around the arena. Did you ever see Roy Rogers vault up on the back of Trigger and then into the saddle? Well Roy wasn’t using a saddle with a 5” cantle (the bad guys would be out of sight before he got in the saddle).

On the other hand, team ropers and barrel racers like high cantles for the stability. They don’t have to dismount rapidly. More to the point, they don’t want an inadvertent dismount resulting from not being able to stay in the saddle during acceleration or change of direction.

Cantles on English-style or dressage saddles don’t really have much of a cantle. The seat is spoon-like with a low back and no defined pommel. This style of saddle doesn’t have a conventional tree, thus doesn’t need anything to hold the bars together at the back and front. 

Australian stock saddles tend to have a thick pad at the back and a spoon-like seat that results in a stable seat with a semi-cantle.

Several years ago, I was treated to some rides in Taiwan on Tiawanese cavalry horses through the recreational department of the U.S. Air Force base at Ching Chaun Kang. The ride was straight up and straight down (Taiwan means “terraced land”). The saddles were military-style with a high cantle featuring a projection about 1-1/2” wide extending about 3” above the main cantle. This projection was great for holding me in the saddle while going up the steep hills but it wore a blood blister right at my tailbone.

That’s about it for cantles. Thanks for reading this article I hope you enjoyed this information. Look for more saddle information to come in Saddle Up! – Part 3.