Limited Edition

as in ANY DISCIPLINE there are “bad trainers” I’m sure you’ve heard of Jackie McConnell. the thing with saddleseat is that the horses pick their feet up high, and this is a key factor in how tell your horse does, it’s part of saddleseat conformation. saddleseat horses are build ALOT differently than jumpers too, they are shorter, and their conformation MAKES them, high headed, high stepping, short backed horses. their center of gravity is centered in their back, instead of up by the withers. allowing the rider to sit further back.

many people who have never been in a mainly saddleseat barn only see the bad aspects of it. in reality, these horses are bred to pick their feet up high, to go fast, and be proud “high strung” horses.

“A well bred gifted Saddlebred has a lot of natural motion with its knees, many have terrific hock action too and it is not unusual for colts to exhibit this motion totally barefoot and before any training” (Source) (that website is actually pretty good, maybe take a look at it?)

i mean, some saddleseat people put those huge weighted shoes and pads on their horses, but the way i look at it is if your horse was bred well, you wouldn’t really need to do this, simply for the fact of they were bred correctly. i will admit to putting weighted shoes on my horse, but nothing outrageous. i did sometimes ride him with ankle weights at home, but if the weight isnt crazy this does the same thing for the horses legs as it would do for you if you went to the gym and lifted weights. i did sock my horses tail, i dont see any problem with that. i left enough tail out to swat flies, and he wore a fly sheet and mask whenever he was outside.

saddleseat riders use Double bridles, IDK if you have ever used a Pelham, but its basically the same thing, just has 2 bits instead of one (and your snaffle bit is legit the smallest thing ive ever seen)

i think uneducated people have made saddleseat look bad through people such as Jackie. what he did was AWFUL and i would NEVER do those things, or allow them to happen if i saw them going on. hunters/western/dressage/carriage driving/whatever rider you are, we all have people in the industry who do things they shouldnt, but those people arnt in horses for the horses, they are in horses for the money. i just wish people would be more accepting and want to acutally learn about saddleseat, rather than write it off as cruel and harmful to the animals.

if you have any specific questions feel free to ask me. i know i went of on the weirdest tangent ever. sorry <3