Tony Gifford Custom Saddlery
Australian Stock Saddles
Measuring Up for a Saddle
The fit of an Australian Stock saddle is very critical to the comfort of the saddle, therefore you need to take accurate measurements and supply photos of yourself sitting in the saddle you currently ride in (on a horse) and photos of your horses from the side and from the rear looking down over the top of the horse's back. Best way to do this is to back him into a rail and you stand on the rail above him taking a photo over his back including his wither. Should you have special requirements for your horse, with respect to the making of the tree, there will be further charges incurred over and above the price of the saddle, if the fit is outside the "normal parameters".
Measure hips
Over your jeans, place the tape measure on the widest part of your hips - usually 7" or 18cm below the narrowest part of your waist
Measure thigh
Over your jeans, place the tape measure around one thigh about 4" or 10cm below your crutch
Measure stirrup length
Measure from the middle of your saddle seat down to the stirrup tread (where your foot rests) on the saddle you are currently riding in. This can be in either inches or centimetres.
Measure your horse
To send a tracing of your horse's wither/back measurements you need to place a wire coat hanger as per the illustrated imaginary line. This line is 2" behind the back of the shoulder blade. Form the coat hanger into the horse's back shape then trace onto paper. You can also place a wire on the lowest part of their back and trace both these shaped wires on an A4 piece of paper, scan in and email to us.
It would also assist us if you could measure the distance between the wither wire to the lower part of the back wire (usually 6"-8" [15cm-20cm] apart). Another photo that would be helpful is if you back your horse into a rail and climb up above him and take a photo over his back so we can see the width which helps with the tree measurement.