Help, with saddleing a horse!!!?

Question

My horse keeps bloating whenever i try to saddle him, it takes me at least 30 minutes to be able to saddle him without sliding off even though the saddle slides around, i have 2 western saddles that both fit him but i watch him blow up like a balloon!! and my mom tells me to knee him in the side, not hard but hard enough to let the air out it doesnt work, ive also tried givin him an apple so he cant blow up, that doesnt work either, hes a smart horse plzzzz anything will help, im desperate.

Answer 1

Do the girth how you would do it normally. Right before you get on, do the girth again. He can't stay big like that after he's been walked to the ring, so if you catch him by surprise you can get the girth tight.

Answer 2

After you put the saddle on and such, tighten the cinch enough so the saddle won't fall. Walk the horse in a few circle and tighten it. Mount, walk/trot around, then tighten it again.

If that doesn't work, saddle him up then you could try to lunge him. After a few times around, tighten the cinch. This work with my horses.

Hope it helps.

Answer 3

Tighten it up and then get on, he should let it out when you get on and then just tighten it while you are on the saddle.

Answer 4

Lung him with his saddle on before you ride him then tighten him. My horse does that a lot.

Answer 5

when tacking up, tighten the cinch as tight as you can, then walk him into the arena, tighten up again, get on, walk/ trot for a few minutes, then tighten again.

Answer 6

O.K., well haven't had this problem in years, last time was with a morgan/quarter mare that was given to children as a "pet".  She learned quickly ALL of the tricks to keep the kids from wanting ANYTHING to do with her.  Bloating was one, backing up when she didn't want to do something was another.  Since at the time she was 10 yrs. old, these bad habits were well ingrained & even restarting her on ground work did NOTHING!!!  She was a the crazy ****** mare from h**l!!

Drastic times called for drastic measures as there was NO WAY I was keeping this "thing", but I wanted he safe for someone else.

Once you started out on her, first thing she did was tuck her head to her chest & start backing up, she didn't care what was behind her or to either side of her.  She was dangerous that way.  No amount of spurs in her sides or over & under worked.  You could pull one rein to the side all day long & get nothing.  So, one day, I purposely backed her into an electric fence.  The head came up, she went forward then tucked her head again & started backing up again, right into the electric fence.  This went on for what seemed like hours.  But, the next time we rode, the backing problem was less.  After a few more days & many more zaps from the electric fence, problem solved.

The next problem was bloating.  She was a pro at this as well.  You could do all of the walking & cinching a little at a time, but it did no good.  As soon as you stopped & walked back to tighten the cinch, she would bloat up as much as she could.

Now, I am NOT recommending anyone do what I did in this mares case, like I said, she was the crazy b*tch mare from h**l & drastic times called for drastic measures.

And I don't want to hear a bunch of "don't hit your horsey" lectures, since NONE of you had to deal with this "thing".  

Anyway, I did not place a knee in the sow.  After trying ALL of the techniques I knew that did not work, I went for the element of surprise.

I had tied her up, groomed her, threw the saddle on her loosely tighted the front & back cinch & immediately she bloated, so I walked away.

After letting her stand there for 10 - 15 minutes, I went & untied her, was leading her out of the barn, stopped & as soon as I went toward the cinch, the sow blew up like a puffer fish, so I let her have it, toe of the boot right in the gut!

She grunted, unbloated, went sideways & stood there looking at me in total shock.

I walked up to her tightened the cinch, put her bridle on her & we went out for a ride.  Never once did I have to resort to that measure again with her.

BUT, as I said.  I do NOT recommend others doing this!!!  And I have NOT had to use this method since.

Just remember, to cinch a horse slowly, don't just reef on the cinch, that would be enough to make anyone want to start bloating.

Once the saddle is on, snug it up.  Let the horse stand, snug it a bit more.  Lead the horse out of the barn or whatever, snug it up more.  Right before mounting, snug it up good.  Sometimes you do have to tighten a cinch after riding for a bit also.  If the saddle is cinched enough that you can safely mount, do so & ride around, walk, trot for a lap or two.  Dismount & give the cinch another tug.

Answer 7

when your saddling tighten it as much as you can while your tacking up. then when you take your horse out to the arena or where ever you ride tighten it again. by taht time most horses have let all the air out and you'll be able to tighten it the rest of the way. hope this helps!

Answer 8

Well, this is what I do with my horse.. Just a warning, you can't stop a horse from bloating, they think it is fun and games and also a way to keep the saddle off them..

     When you are tacking him up just follow your normal routine until it gets to girthing him. when you girth him just put it on the first hole.

     Next, just start walking him over to the arena but STOP on the way over there. Start to rub him all over and make your way to his girth. Once you so tighten to the second hole.

     Then finish walking over to the arena. Once you get in the arena, pretend like you are going to mount your horse. Once you put your foot in the stirrup take it out. Finish tightening the girth and if you get it to where you like it rub your horse and tell him how wonderful he is.

Hope this helped!!

Answer 9

Quit the kneeing your horse in the belly..will only make his habit worse as he anticipates this and will automatically "blow up" as a defensive posture against your "knee".

Put your saddle on your horse, begin to cinch him up, bring that cinch up so that you have pretty good contact with his belly, walk him forward about 7 to 10 steps, bring that cinch up in small increments, continue to walk him forward after each time you snug that cinch until you have it in the position that you want it.  You may ride him a few paces and jump down and test your cinch again....but DON'T knee that horse in the belly.   You'd tighten your diaphram too if you thought someone was going to plant a knee in your belly.

Answer 10

I'm glad you asked this question because I think it is often just expected that saddling should be a one-two you're done process.

I've always thought getting the saddle on properly shouldn't be rushed.  I routinely check the condition of the leathers, the pad, etc. when saddling.  I start by tightening the girth only enough to keep the saddle in place.  Then I lift the horse's both front legs forward (knee bent) to work out any pinches..  Then I walk the horse a short ways, and tighten again.  The last tightening is in the arena right before I get on.

When I was  first starting out riding, I was told to do the same thing with my knee.  Every horse I rode, until I finally figured out that it was stupid, became a bloater.

So, the first thing to do is stop doing that!!!!that's why they bloat in the first place!  Well, that and if you are so hurried that you tighten the girth too much too fast.  It may still take 30 minutes for awhile, but the walking will help and hopefully if you quit the kneeing, he'll improve.

Answer 11

as soon as you get the saddle on tighten your gurth. then id tighten it more, then it might not take you 30 minutes to put it on and if your short that can be a problem to but u might not be short but if you are use a stool. but i ride english so im not sure abotu western so much.  

                     Charlie

Answer 12

Like Sovereign and Blue Sage said a knee to the gut is enough to make anyone tighten up and blow out. Try to take things slow.

*Don't worry Blue, I've had an evil SOB that needed a little rougher approach to it too! LOL*

Along with some of the advice they gave, you could also try having a friend or someone at your barn lead him and while she's walking tighten up. Any way you can get him to move his feet go for it. Sideways, backwards, turning on the forehand/haunches, etc. Some horses learn the 'pattern' when you walk them, stop tighten... Walk them, stop tighten, etc and then will blow everytime they see you stop and walk over to tighten up. So try not to be too consistent.

Answer 13

I'm not sure about western saddles but with an English saddle, if you move it forward then the girth should fasten just behind their front legs and then if the horse is bloated it shouldn't make much of a difference because the saddle is not round the middle.

Answer 14

I had a horse like that, too. Unfortunately, previous owners and riders had also "kneed" him in the side before saddling him, so he would 'blow up,' too.

I found that putting a nice smooth blanket/pad on his back and then WAITING for a few minutes, meanwhile talking to him and petting him, 'picking' his hooves, etc., made him less likely to puff up.

It also helps to be tall and strong...I would put the saddle onto the pad, then flip up one stirrup and have the cinch very loosely set in place. I believe that the time set aside to let the horse relax is more important than getting the horse saddled quickly. Finally, I begin the cinching-up process; when the cinch is tight, I wait and look at the horse's side...waiting to see if/when it exhales: when I see the horse exhale, I give the cinch a firm tug, making sure that I can still slide my flat hand under the cinch. Then I pet the horse again and give it a treat, like the tip of a carrot or a small cluster of sweet-feed, and then finish getting ready to ride, then mount the horse.

After a few minutes, I will stop, dismount and tighten the cinch. Bottom line: the horse should not fear being saddled, cinched, or ridden, etc.

Answer 15

When you first saddle up your horse, tighten the girth as best you can.  From there, get your bridle out and hang it near where you are tacking up.  Check the saddle again and tighten as needed.  Once you have the bridle on, tie your horse and check the saddle one last time.

The basic idea is to give your horse a few minutes to let out the air he's holding in.  You may even want to walk him around for a minute or two before bridling him to help him blow out.

You don't necessarily have to use force to get your horse to release the air he's holding in.  Just give him a few minutes after you have saddled him and he should let go of that air.

Keep in mind that the saddle will loosen as you ride, so it may become necessary to stop on your ride and tighten the saddle again.  A breast strap can help keep the saddle from slipping while you ride, if you'd like to try one.