This page is very much a “work in progress”, I will be developing it

Numnah panels

Panels have been made of felt (numnah) and fitted to the side bars; by themselves they are insufficient protection to the back. They must be used with a blanket, and are then useful. Strips of numnah of varying lengths may be usefully employed in making a saddle fit; two, three, or more layers may be cut out, kept together by a stitch or two and bound to the side bar. This will again be referred to in dealing with sore backs, for which purpose strips of Numnah are of the greatest value.

Blanket
A blanket beneath the saddle is a most admirable method of protection. It does not lend itself like a panel to graduated variations of thickness, but on the other hand, it can be dealt with by a person without any instruction in the trade of a saddler, and the changes he can effect by altering the method of folding may be brought about in a few minutes.

Thick and thin blankets
A good thick blanket is economy, a thin blanket an abomination; a good blanket folds, a thin blanket wrinkles; a good blanket saves a back from bruising, and lasts some time; a thin blanket has a short life, and is never satisfactory when horses are losing condition.

Uses of a blanket
The great recommendation of a blanket is that so many useful adjustments may be made by alterations in its folding when a back becomes worn or injured, and this will even be the chief recommendation of a blanket under a military saddle. In fact, a blanket is the only means of immediately replacing artificially the amount of flesh a horse loses, and so enables us not only to prevent the ribs from becoming bruised through the whole weight of the rider being brought closer to the body, but also to keep the arches of the saddle clear of the spine. We must not forget that every ounce of flesh lost on the back brings the saddle nearer to the delicate parts below, and increases enormously the liability to injury.

All of the above can be influenced by the design and fit of a saddle.

Often, a horse will come to a new home with problems inherited from its past.

Where saddling is concerned, it is always possible that a horse will have been fitted in saddles that have never been truly comfortable from the first day that he or she was backed.

Where muscle wastage and posture problems exist, it is sadly a common practise for a new saddle to be fitted to the contours of the incorrect shape. This can only compound the problem and will not help the horse in the long term.