RIDER PRESSURE AFFECTS HORSE TACK EVALUATION

The force a rider exerts on the horse’s back will shift depending on his or her position and should be included in any evaluation of tack pressure, researchers recently reported. “You need a force that is distributed over a certain area to make a good evaluation of the saddle pressure, therefore saddle measurements should be performed with a rider,” said Patricia de Cocq, MSc, DVM, of Wageningen University in The Netherlands. “The load distribution underneath the saddle should be as equal as possible to prevent saddle sores.” Continue reading…