Saddles

Saddles are an extremely wide topic, far too wide to cover everything in a single post. I'll go over early saddle history, and the major families of saddles first, and later do posts devoted to the details of specific saddle designs and uses.

The earliest "saddles" were probably simple cloths laid over the back of the horse, perhaps stabilized by a surcingle or other strap that behaved like a modern girth. Equipment more closely resembling modern saddles came out of North Africa, where the Moors devised simple padded saddles designed to increase rider comfort and stability for long rides.

The earliest saddle trees, the rigid frames that give modern saddles their shape and strength, have been found in Asia, dating to roughly 200 B.C. Treed saddles provided additional comfort to the horse, better distributing the rider's weight across a greater percentage of the horse's back. Saddle trees came into wider use as horses ridden in treed saddles were found able to travel further and faster, and to have a longer useful life before breaking down.

The Sarmatian people (of King Arthur fame) are credited with the design of metal stirrups, as well as metal spurs. Many sources claim that the Sarmatian saddles are some of the nearest to modern that the ancient world had to offer.

The purpose driven split in saddle designs effectively started with the Moorish invasion of Spain, and the meeting of the "a la estradiota" and the "a la jineta" seats. "A la estradiota" was the seat of the Spanish knights. Riders were held in position by extremely deep seats, their legs stretched forward to push the rider into a braced position for absorbing blows in battle. "A la jineta" was the seat of the Moorish riders. They favored lighter saddles, with less depth of seat and shorter stirrups that permitted much greater agility for both horse and rider. Eventually, the best of both worlds was combined into riding "la escuela de la brida"; the school of the bridle. Today, la escuela de la brida can be seen in the discipline of classical dressage.

With the Conquistadors the Spanish saddle came to America, and through centuries of modification to the requirements of the Spanish cowboys, the Vaqueros (from which comes our modern "buckaroo") became the western saddle so familiar today. The tree became larger, and the seat broader, creating a "work platform" for the rider. The distinctive saddle horn was added to the large pommel so that the rider could dally his lariat to the saddle when roping livestock.

The English saddle, as it is generically called in America, came to us as the "brida" seat was adapted to the needs of hunt riders. The conservative amount of leather allows for the greatest freedom of movement for the horse possible (so that the horse can easily cover country on the hunt) while not too greatly sacrificing the stability of the rider over rough terrain and obstacles.

Both English and western saddles in all of their incarnations will be featured in their own future posts.

Sources and more information:
http://saddlezone.com/html-top/saddle_history.htm
http://www.limebrook.com/saddlehistory.html
http://www.alacastinaswh.com.au/index.cfm?pid=111195