In the course of fitting and selling saddles a very common question that I get is about the width of the gullet or the space between the panels for the horse’s spine.

One of the issues that come up a lot in fitting saddles, and more specifically dressage saddles, is saddles sliding forward.

A dust pattern is the dirt or sweat that naturally comes up when a horse is ridden without a saddle pad. Whenever we do a saddle fitting it is extremely important (if possible) to have the horse ridden before and after the fitting to see how the saddle fits and to get a dust/sweat pattern.