Starks Saddlery
(541) 536-9503
Ill-Fitting Saddles Can Cause Pain in the Back
By Lynda Layne, Freelance Writer
LA PINE, Ore. — Saddlemaker George Stark is no stranger to lower back pain. Years ago, he worked mornings galloping racehorses on a track. Then, in the afternoons, he worked as a farrier. Both jobs are back busters. And since his farrier career spanned 30 years, there were a lot of days that “ouch” wasn’t a strong enough word to describe the soreness in his lumbar region.
Stark knows that even normal everyday riding can be a problem if a saddle does not fit the rider, especially in not-so-young riders who begin to experience wear and tear of the back. He has spent a lot of time riding his own horses in Western saddles and began developing theories on what would help a rider with back pain.
As a result, several years ago he became interested in building custom Western saddles. He took a course in saddle-making, and then dived right in to the process. Now, he builds them full time and does all sorts of leather work from his business, Stark’s Saddlery, in La Pine. And of course, one of the first saddles he made was a keeper.
“Since I started building saddles and built myself a good one, I’ve had very little back pain,” he said.
His ideas of saddle design that would keep a rider’s back comfortable fell right in line with the thoughts of James Warson, a retired neurosurgeon who spent 20 years in a Colorado clinic treating riders who were suffering from chronic back pain, some from previous injuries or complications, but all aggravated by time in the saddle. Warson worked to get them back in the saddle again, even when other doctors had told them to dismount and stay that way.
Warson said that there are a number of factors that can cause riding to hurt, but that sometimes, alleviating back pain is simply a case of modifying tack. He’s not a fan of cheap saddles and the problems they cause from bad fit.
“If you can afford it, have a custom saddle made for you and measured for the horse you ride most of the time,” he stressed.
He explained that not only does the wrong kind of saddle hurt a rider, but also the horse. And when the horse’s back is hurting, it travels rougher. That concussion goes right up through the seat of the saddle into the rider’s hips and lower back.
Stark agrees 100 per cent. And when he had been successful in creating a saddle for himself that made riding a pleasure once again, he was anxious to put his theories to use for others. He got his first chance about two years ago, when he lived in Coos Bay, Ore. A local horsewoman, suffering from sciatica, was experiencing so much pain both during and after riding that she was feeling she might have to stop riding altogether. And, since this activity was her passion, she was facing a devastating decision.
At the time, she had several factory saddles. In fact, one had been specially ordered, with the factory representative saying it would be just the ticket for relief of her pain. When it arrived, Stark recalled, “She saddled her horse, rode around for about 20 minutes, then put the new saddle back in the box and shipped it back to the factory.” It just didn’t work.
The woman’s husband had seen her go through so much pain, that he suggested she get a saddle made to fit her and the Tennessee Walker she rode. The couple had discussed this with Stark.
First, Stark needed to establish which type of tree would best work for this horse. “I went out and tried several and found one of my old ones that fit. I took the dimensions from that,” he recalled.
Using these dimensions, he found a CS Reiner tree that gave him a foundation to work with in building a saddle.
There were several “fittings,” as the saddle was being made. She would sit in the saddle-in-progress and tell Stark where she felt pressure. Then, he would carve pressure areas away from the leather that now covered the tree. This went on, “Until we eliminated all the pressure points possible,” he said.
“I built it so that it conformed to her hind end. And, I narrowed it, to take all the spread out of her hips.”
When the saddle was finished, Stark twisted and set the stirrups. This, he said, takes pressure off of the rider, from the foot that would otherwise be straining to position the stirrup, clear up through the knee and beyond.
Warson also professes the importance of this feature, because if a rider is fighting with his feet and knees to twist a stubborn stirrup into place, the alignment changes all the way up to the hips. That can cause lower back pain.
He does this on all the saddles he makes. And, he said, “Quite a few people bring their saddles into the shop and want me to twist stirrups.”
The next step was to be sure the saddle and pad worked together to help the process. When Stark builds a saddle, he never uses synthetic products underneath.
“When I put the sheepskin on the skirts, I turn the back of my skirts to the front of the wool, so the fibers are pushing forward. This really helps hold a saddle pad in place,” he explained. That keeps everything still, without yaw, making it more back-friendly for a rider.
Most horsemen, Stark said, have witnessed problems with pads. “You’ve seen it happen. Saddle pads fly out from under their saddles.” This often occurs with poorly made, ill-fitting saddles.
Another yaw-eliminating feature that will help riders with back pain comes with choosing the right type of saddle pad in itself. Stark stressed that there is a big misconception about the thickness of pads required. “People think more is better,” he said. That, he feels, is not the case. Piling up blankets can lead to shifting of the saddle, even if it’s well-made.
“If the saddle fits your horse, use minimum pads,” Stark said. “You can get by with one Navajo blanket. That should be all you need.”
Stark said, “A horse will tell you” when its back is hurting. That could explain to the rider why his own back is taking on more concussion. “If your horse is going down the road switching his tail, with his ears back, and he’s looking cranky, then you’ve got to start thinking about what’s going on.”
Most horse owners want to spare their horses from unnecessary back pain, but also spare themselves from the same. So, problems of pain, saddle fit and padding mistakes have to be carefully analyzed.
Sometimes, just pulling the saddle off at the end of the ride will offer clues to how the saddle fits and how the pads are working. “You want to see pretty much of an even sweat underneath,” Stark said. Dry spots indicate that, at those points, there is excessive pressure. “A little bit of it is not a big deal. But if there’s a lot of it, you’ve got to be concerned.”
So, Stark’s keys to helping riders relieve back pain is to have a saddle that fits both the horse and rider, and to pad it properly. It worked for the rider who previously had sciatica symptoms during and after riding. Since she has been riding in her custom saddle that fits the way it should, Stark said, “She says she can ride four or five hours.” She told Stark that she might experience normal fatigue and a little soreness of the type that most riders have after that long in the saddle, but the stabbing, crippling pain she once had no longer haunts her.
INFO: 541-536-9503
For more information on Stark's Custom Saddles and Leatherwork's,
visit George's Web site at starksaddlery.com