It’s A Cinch!

A word on back cinches.

If your stock saddle is double-rigged, I will go so far as to say you shouldn’t remove that rear cinch. Why? Because it’s there for a reason. Actually, it’s there for several reasons, so let’s take a closer look.

 

First of all, stock saddles are built on what we call bar trees. These ‘bars’ are long, curved pieces of hardwood, strengthened with rawhide if the saddle’s a good one. The underneath of the saddle must conform to the shape of your horse’s back. If it does not, that’s a big problem… but fit issues are worthy of long discussions on other days.

 

To secure the length of the saddle firmly on the horse, so that it doesn’t ‘wag’, tip up or shift, the saddle must either be secured near each end of the tree… or with one fixed point, closer to the centre of the bar. Anything else creates an unbalanced pressure point, easily seen when the opposing end of the saddle rises up.

 

When we remove the rear cinch on a double-rigged saddle, we create pressure points where the bars make contact just behind the horse’s shoulders. The rear of the saddle often ‘wags’ at the jog, creating friction points over the loins. This is commonly seen on the horses in western rail events, as people strive to ‘clean up’ their overall look.

 

The answer would be to ride saddles that are single centre-fire rigged. These, unfortunately, are few and far between among modern western show saddles.

 

So. We have our double-rigged saddle and even though we mightn’t rope, we’ve vowed to use the back cinch. This is a positive step in securing the saddle firmly and correctly on our horse. Have you ever gone hiking with a loose and flopping backpack? This is exactly why we don’t want a lot of movement in either our harness or saddlery. It’s all about the horse’s comfort.

 

Rear cinches can pose a hazard if they are used too loosely, or if they slide back.

In the first instance, a general guideline is to buckle them so that before we mount up, they are in contact with the underside of the horse’s barrel. These only need to be tightened snugly if the horse will be under a load that tips up the saddle, as in working on a rope.

The back cinch is tightened gradually, in stages, just the same as the cinch on the front. This keeps us from making a cinchy or cold-backed horse.

 

By adjusting the cinch so that it doesn’t hang loosely, it won’t pose a threat when the horse kicks at flies, or when riding in the bush. Sticks and branches will snag in a loose back cinch… and that’s not good.

 

Horses grow accustomed to this amount of pressure and soon think nothing of it. If you are unsure of your horse’s reaction to being properly cinched, gradually take up the slack while working him on the lunge. You’ll want to turn him sharply left and right before mounting up so that he feels the cinch back along his sides. Most horses are quick to accept this. Take care to have the cinch buckled evenly on each side.

 

The second issue of having the cinch move back, to become a bucking strap, is solved by the connector strap that runs from the centre, ahead to the dee ring on the front cinch. Periodically check the health of the leather. Clean and condition this modest strap, because it is an often overlooked key to your safety.

 

The last hazard I would like to mention is this. Saddling goes from front to back; unsaddling from back to front. Always. People new to riding western will sometimes unsaddle the main front cinch first, forgetting the still-buckled back cinch as they start to pull the saddle. This usually results in mayhem.

 

Make a habit of tucking up your near-side latigo neatly in the rigging ring. Then go ‘round to the off-side of your horse, buckling both the front and rear cinches in the holder before pulling your saddle. All of this is just good horsemanship.

 

Now. While we’re in the general area, let’s talk about latigos.

If you find your latigo end working free of your holder repeatedly, especially at the lope, try the method shown. Run your latigo end up from the cinch buckle, through the holder, then turn it back on itself and pull down fairly snugly. This tends to hold, come hell or high water.

While we’re at it, check that your cinch is centred on your horse with the D-rings lined up exactly between the front legs. If your cinch rings are close to the elbow, you’ll need a longer cinch. I like to see them sitting right between the level of the elbow and the lower edge of the saddle skirts. When you’re cinched up, the cinch itself should allow for a hand’s width between it and your horse’s elbow.

 

I know of three different methods of fastening my latigo. The quick-release tuck, the old-timey knot and the cinch buckle. Of these, using the buckle is my favourite. It lies flat under my leg and to me, is far preferable to the bulky old knot.

 

The safety of any of these methods lies in the health of the latigo.

While we never oil or soap them so as to keep them running smoothly, they are thrown out when they start looking dry or showing any cracks. We want to do this before there’s a wreck.

 

Cheap latigos are short, poorly laced to the saddle and are cut from wonky leather. A good latigo is dense, finely-grained and should be long enough to take at least two complete wraps between the saddle Ds and the cinch rings. Three wraps are even better as if something comes undone, these will still hold.

My only other comment on this important—and often forgotten—piece of saddlery is this. I still see far too many people tightening their horses’ cinches excessively, right when they’re first saddled. I say, do so at your own peril! Pulling right up is the time-honoured recipe for making a cinchy horse. Cheers for now, Lee.