Saddle Fit Solved
Equine Back Capture Tool System
Know your horse’s shape.Know what to look for in a saddle.
Back-shape information you can bring into saddle evaluation.
Capture your horse’s back with a shape-retaining tool. Keep a traditional tracing or request a digital measurement report—and learn how that information relates to the saddle you are evaluating.
For horse owners, riders and saddle fitters, whether you are shopping independently, working remotely or assessing saddles in person.
From a contour to useful information
A tracing is only the beginning.
Being handed a tracing is not the same as being shown how to use it.
What does that slope tell you to examine in a saddle? Where does width matter? How does the front-to-back shape relate to the tree and panels?
Those questions matter whether you have a fitter beside you or are trying to make progress between appointments, through a remote consultation or while looking at saddles yourself.
The goal is not to turn every owner into a professional saddle fitter. It is to give you a clearer description of your horse—and enough understanding to ask useful questions, investigate relevant saddle features and participate in the decisions.
The physical tool
Capture the contour. Choose how to keep it.
The articulated tool is formed directly against a selected area of the horse’s back using light, controlled hand pressure.
It retains the captured contour when lifted away, so the shape remains available for tracing or photography.
Mark the locations
Identify and mark the areas being recorded.
Form the tool
Follow the selected contour with light, controlled contact.
Lift and preserve
Remove the tool while keeping the captured shape.
Trace it, photograph it—or both.
Paper tracing
Keep a paper tracing
Place the retained tool on ordinary tracing paper and trace the horse-contact edge. Label the record so you can return to it, compare it with another tracing or use it when examining a saddle.
The physical tool remains useful without the digital reporting service.
Optional digital reporting
Request a digital measurement report
Photograph the retained shapes according to the supplied instructions and submit the original images with the horse, date and capture-location information.
Saddle Fit Solved turns the submitted captures into an organized measurement record, with profiles and measurements supported by those captures. Keep it for your own reference, share it with someone helping you evaluate saddles or use it as the starting point for a later comparison.
From measurement to saddle evaluation
What can I do with these measurements?
A measurement becomes useful when you understand what it helps you investigate.
Below, actual report excerpts are paired with explanations of the saddle features and fitting questions they bring into focus.
Side-specific saddle-bearing-area angles
Compare the slope the saddle has to accommodate.
The report gives a numerical description of each side of the horse through the defined approximate saddle-bearing or tree-rail region.
In this example, the behind-scapula profile measures 49.4° on the horse’s left and 44.4° on the right, measured from vertical through the stated region. The two sides are preserved separately rather than reduced to one overall angle.
What this helps you evaluate
Use these measurements alongside the saddle’s geometry, tracing or template comparisons, and the rest of the fitting information when investigating whether the corresponding bearing surface follows a compatible shape.
At the front of the saddle, the openness of the tree head and clearance around the withers also need to be considered.
The reported horse angle describes the captured contour. It is not a prescribed tree angle or an instruction to shop for the same numerical angle in a saddle.
Widths at different depths
“Wide” is not the whole description. Wide where?
The contour near the top of the back can be quite different from the contour farther down.
At this example’s behind-scapula station, the captured profile is 5.10 inches wide at a depth of 2 inches and 9.35 inches wide at a depth of 4 inches. These are two measurements of the same contour—not two different saddle sizes.
What this helps you evaluate
When examining the front of a saddle, consider how its opening accommodates the horse at different levels—not just the distance between two points.
These measurements help you compare the captured profile with the saddle’s front opening, tree-head shape and panel arrangement while considering clearance. They also give you a more precise question to take to a seller or fitter than “Is this saddle wide?”
Horse-left and horse-right measurements
One total width can hide two different sides.
At a depth of 3 inches, this example has a total width of 7.19 inches. That consists of 3.95 inches on the horse’s left and 3.24 inches on the right.
The overall width alone would not tell you how that shape is distributed around the centerline.
What this helps you evaluate
Bring the separate sides into your assessment of panel contact, lateral balance and how the saddle sits.
Does one side have a different contour to accommodate? Is the contact comparable on both sides? Does a panel or flocking difference deserve closer investigation?
The record helps preserve the distinction between what was measured on the horse and what you observe in the saddle.
Topline shape and longitudinal drop
Look beyond the front of the saddle.
The Topline record shows the horse’s captured front-to-back contour and where the transverse stations sit along it.
In this example, the lowest-back station is 1.97 inches below the horizontal reference through the behind-scapula station. That describes a relationship within this capture, not a change between dates.
What this helps you evaluate
Consider the complete Topline profile, station relationships and transverse contours together when investigating the saddle’s front-to-back tree and panel geometry, balance and contact.
Does the longitudinal shape appear compatible with the horse’s support region? Where should you check for gaps in panel contact, bridging, rocking or a balance problem?
The transverse profiles add information about the back on either side of the centerline. Together, these records help you investigate the relationship of the whole saddle to the horse.
An individual drop measurement does not prescribe a specific amount of saddle-tree rock.
Putting the comparison together
Understanding the horse is one half of the comparison.
The other half is understanding the saddle.
The Tool System gives you information about the horse’s captured shape. Lori’s The Complete Guide to a Successful Saddle Search explains how to investigate the corresponding saddle characteristics: tree-head shape, tree-point angle, width, longitudinal rock, panel shape, channel clearance and panel length.
Together, measurement and education help you move from “Here is my horse’s tracing” to “Here is what I need to examine in this saddle.”
Learn how back-shape information can be used when evaluating saddlesFor owners, riders and professionals
Useful in your hands—and in the conversations that follow.
For horse owners and riders
You should be able to understand and use your horse’s back-shape information, even when a saddle fitter is not standing beside you.
When shopping independently, use the record to identify the saddle features you need to investigate and the photographs or measurements you need to request.
When working remotely, share a dated record with clear locations and separate sides, so the discussion can be about your horse rather than a general description.
And when you already have professional help, use the information to understand the questions being asked and carry that understanding into the next appointment.
For saddle fitters and equine professionals
Capture the selected contours, preserve their location and orientation, and bring the resulting information into your existing assessment.
The physical tracing option supports familiar work. The digital record adds organized profiles, measurements and graphics for client discussions and follow-up.
Choose the Core workflow for sequential capture, or the Complete Set when simultaneous shape retention, extended-depth records and prompt PRE/POST work are important to the session. The record supports your interpretation alongside the horse, saddle, rider and movement.
Professional fitters interested in evaluating the tools, submitting captures and reviewing the reports can indicate that interest in the inquiry form.
About Lori / Saddle Fit Solved
Developed from hands-on saddle work.
I’m Lori Anderson, CESMT, an independent saddle fitter and equine bodywork practitioner behind Saddle Fit Solved.
My work brings together twenty years of experience in saddle evaluation, tree and flocking analysis, rider balance, used-saddle selection and practical owner education, both in person and remotely.
I developed the Equine Back Capture Tool System to help preserve useful information about the horse—and make it easier to bring that information into saddle evaluation, communication and follow-up.
Equine Back Capture Tool System — Patent Pending
