|
Why an Australian stock saddle? This
is a question I am asked several times a day since 1979, when I introduced the
saddle to the US.
Obviously, as selling these saddles are my
business, I have given the question much thought.
Now consider, I am a horseman not locked
into any particular discipline. I
jump in a jumping saddle, steeplechase in a jockey saddle, do dressage in
a dressage saddle, rope in a roping saddle, shoot
competitive in a vintage Western saddle and I blast through the
Malibu hills at night in an Aussie saddle.
I fear no saddle. I am
familiar with many.
However, it does surprise me how locked-in so-called Western riders are
to Western saddles. Or how locked-in
so-called English people are to English saddles.
I say so-called because the difference between the styles are actually
very little. There is only good
riding or bad riding. And as far as
the horse is concerned, there is even less difference.
For the horse, the saddle either fits, or it doesn't fit.
It hurts, or it doesn't hurt.
Each camp, however, seems to know little about
Australian saddles, although opinions abound.
Each desperately clings to dogma invariably incorrect as far as
Australian saddles are concerned.
Most just do not know, and do not want to know. The Australian saddle is, quite
simply, a BIG DRESSAGE SADDLE. The
stirrups hang in a dressage position, and they are free swinging.
Many Aussie saddles I have designed since the early 80's incorporate
aspects of Western saddles I have always liked Big D western rigging, fleece
lined panels, fenders, even horns (which I don't particularly like!
But at least half my customers do!!)
So, the Aussie saddle is actually a FORWARD SEAT, as in an English
saddle, and certainly NOT A REAR-READING SEAT, as in a Western saddle.
Interestingly, the Aussie saddle is somewhere in between.
At the walk, the rider sits in the back of the saddle, with the leg
slightly forward, and the heels down.
This spreads the bearing weight of the rider not just under the butt, but
also under the thigh, making it more comfortable for the rider.
Which is why we sit in the back of chairs, not on the
edge of them. This rider
position does the same for the horse.
The bearing weight of the rider is thus spread over a greater surface of
the tree, lowering pounds per square inch for the horse.
It is also a much SAFER way to ride.
If the horse at the walk puts his foot in a hole, and drops on his knee,
you may not go over the front, BECAUSE YOU WILL ALREADY HAVE YOUR FOOT IN A
POSITION TO PROP AGAINST A FALL. You
will also be helped by the knee pads, or poley's.
They are there to STOP you going over the top.
The straight up and down leg, as in dressage, and as in Western pleasure,
is deadly on the trail, although it does look pretty in the arena.
If the horse stumbles, and your ankle is inline with your elbow, which is
in line with your shoulders, you will not have time to tell your brain to tell
your foot to get forward to prop against a fall.
You will already be on the ground.
Now, the faster you go in an Aussie saddle, the more your weight comes
forward, so, at the full gallop, you should be in the jockey position, with
your thighs secured against the knee pads, your head down, back straight, reins
short, and your leg will AUTOMATICALLY be in full dressage position.
This will enable you to control direction of the horse with leg pressure
and body weight shift a good thing in thick timber at a flat gallop.
Yank mouth, and you'll certainly buy bark.
And if you think this is not a good position for a rider on a galloping
horse, check out where they ride on racetracks with million of dollars in the
balance! Put simply, there is NO
saddle more comfortable for the trail horse, AND the rider, than an Australian
stock saddle. It evolved over two
centuries into bush-perfect. The
pattern belongs to nobody. The R and
D was done by countless Outback riders who depended on the saddle for their very
life - - and livelihood. When modern
riders discover this unique saddle for American trails, that
is about all they ride.
With such precision equipment, there is, of course, a key factor.
It must fit the rider precisely.
Same goes for the horse. Many
new modern American saddles are copying aspects of the Australian saddle, and
they are enjoying good success. The
closer Western saddles get to Australian saddles, the more suitable they are for
the average backyard equestrian (who is aging) riding trails that are growing
precipitous. (I confess I've
borrowed from the Western saddle too.)
But I hope they don't copy ME too much, because the REASON I am in
business is because so many Western saddles do NOT work on trails for either
horse or rider. Traditional Western
saddles were designed for working cattle in the traditional American way - which
is a style peculiar to the Americas.
It has more to do with tradition than efficiency.
If roping cattle one at a time was efficient, all the cattle people in
Australia
would be riding Western, because, second to
America, they are the largest producers of
cattle in the world. And when you
consider the population of Australia
could fit into Southern California,
THAT will give you some idea of how many people in
Australia
are on horses chasing cattle. Fact
is, it wouldn't occur to the average Outback ringer
to tie a raging 1200-lb wild steer to a saddle strapped on an 800-lb horse 300
miles from a phone. The Outback
style and equipment has nothing to do with tradition.
It has everything to do with money, and staying alive.
English saddles work in limited circumstances, for horse and rider, but
there is NO security, and minimum bearing surface for the horse.
Again, they were invented by the landed gentry in
England, so they could look grand galloping
their thoroughbreds over fences chasing foxes.
Everything to do with tradition.
If English saddles had worked when they were first introduced into the
Australian bush, along with the first European settlers, they would still be
using them today. Western saddles
are well known in
Australia, but
they are not used on Outback cattle properties.
If they were better for that job than Australian stock saddles they WOULD
be used. Again, its about money,
not tradition. The fact remains,
there is no one saddle to meet all needs, cover all disciplines, satisfy all
styles, fit all horses.
But I'm working on it........Cheers Colin Dangaard
|
