The Agricultural Marketing Group at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM, has undertaken the first scientific saddle fit study of Western performance saddles. Using a force sensor array (FSA) pressure pad, which shows exactly how the saddle applies contact to the horse, different levels of pressure are shown in different colors and in three dimensions.

The focus of the study is on barrel and roping saddles, but the results are applicable to all types of Western saddle users.

Using this latest innovation in saddle fit diagnosis, the computer pressure pad, the students are examining all aspects of saddle fit, including how both movement and padding effect saddle fit.

Several hundred horse-and-rider combinations are being scanned and catalogued. The results will be tabulated and released sometime later this fall and promises to provide new insights into horse and rider comfort and health, as well as challenge some traditional ideas on ways to improve saddle fit.

For information or to access to the results, contact Bill Gorman at New Mexico State University at [email protected] or [email protected].