Your Saddle Fits a Horse That No Longer Exists — Letitia Glenn on Horse Care

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You measure with your hand while he stands there.

Then he takes a step, and the horse you measured is gone.

Saddle fit is horse care. I rode my whole life before anyone said that to me plainly.

I met Letitia Glenn, founder of Contour Saddlery™, at Road to the Horse. She had seen footage of me riding, and the first thing she thought—which she then said to my face, out loud—was that I did not know what I did not know about saddles. She was right. I brought her to Florida on the hottest day of that summer, rode in one of her saddles, and felt my mare Lady's scapula move with a freedom it never had on the whole road trip.

Letitia came to horses at 47, with a two-year-old Paso Fino stallion named Echo, and has spent the last quarter century asking one question: Why do so many saddles fit a standing horse, yet interfere with the horse once it begins to move?

She found part of the answer backpacking. Fifty-five pounds, eight miles, the Rocky Mountains. Picture the corner of a book pressed into your spine. You will contort away from it. Horses do the same. Pressure behind the scapula changes posture, alters movement through the entire body, and creates compensation patterns that no amount of riding can truly fix.

So we explore what she looks for: the upward head nod at the walk on a loose rein, the Four Bs, the belly tickle test, and the hollow behind the scapula that reveals chronic restriction. We also discuss why the interface (the space between the saddle and the moving back) matters just as much as the saddle itself, and how the Contour Saddlery™ Saddle System and the VersaFit™ Saddle Pad System were developed to help accommodate the horse's changing shape in motion by restoring shoulder freedom and improving pressure distribution.

We also get into the part of horse care that never appears on a bill of sale. Saddle fitters are often paid by the brand they recommend. Trainers sometimes receive commissions on the tack their students buy. An expensive saddle isn't proof of a better fit—it may simply reflect a larger marketing budget.

Lady gave me a scar on my stomach the first year I had her, reaching back for me while I tightened the cinch. I used to call that her temperament.

Now I wonder if she was trying to tell me something.

I wanted the horse world to hear this conversation because Lady had been telling me the same story for years—I just wasn't ready to listen.

Learn more about Letitia Glenn, Contour Saddlery™, and the VersaFit™ Saddle Pad System, and request a free saddle fit evaluation: website | instagram | youtube

This episode is sponsored by Contour Saddlery™

At Contour Saddlery™, we believe saddle fit should be based on the horse in motion—not standing still.

Our complete Contour Saddlery™ Saddle System and the VersaFit™ Saddle Pad System work together to create a dynamic fitting solution that supports shoulder freedom, accommodates your horse's changing shape, and helps improve comfort, movement, and performance. Whether you're looking to optimize your current saddle or invest in a complete saddle system, our goal is simple: Every Horse. Every Saddle. Every Ride.™

Learn how to improve the fit and function of your saddle:

Experience the difference a truly horse-first saddle can make. Visit Naturalhorsemansaddles.com to learn more.

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Thank you for your listening!

Chapters:

0:00 "Saddles are torture devices"

2:13 She doesn't know what she doesn't know

6:41 Lady's shoulder, and what freedom felt like

10:07 The fourth component nobody talks about

12:23 The upward head nod at the walk

16:08 The four Bs: bone, bulge, behind the bulge

17:17 The belly tickle test

22:20 The hollow behind the scapula

26:09 A steward at the end of the arena

32:00 Lady's scar and the cinch

33:41 The Black Stallion, age 47, and Echo

39:04 Dr. Stephen Peters: 27 saddlings a day

43:31 The Therm-a-Rest pad and the living interface

46:15 Where the shim goes, English and Western

50:41 A birdhouse roof on a beach ball

56:47 The free saddle fit evaluation

1:02:40 A body that changes

1:08:20 Rapid fire