What to Look for in a Roping Saddle

Horse Fit

• It is probably as important to have a saddle that fits your horse as it is to have a saddle that fits you. If your saddle pinches, jerks or sores your horse, he will be less willing to work to the best of his ability. He will be distracted by avoiding the pain of an ill-fitting saddle.

  A calf roping saddle usually fits closer to the horse's back than a team roping saddle does, says Levi Fisher, 15-year veteran of calf roping. The bars, which run through the saddle parallel to the horse's spine, are spaced wider apart in a calf roping saddle. This gives it a lower profile so the force of a calf hitting the end of the rope pulls the saddle forward rather than down. If it pulls down the saddle can pinch the horse's withers.

Person Fit

• A roping saddle has a smaller seat than a pleasure saddle. The size of the saddle seat depends on the size of the rider's seat. Someone who rides a 16-inch pleasure saddle may ride a 14-inch roping saddle. Most ropers ride saddles that have seats that are 15 inches or less. This is because you want to be at the front of your saddle from the time you leave the box until you are done roping. A smaller seat will help keep you at the front of the saddle with less effort on your part.

Horn

• The saddle horn on a calf roping saddle is shorter than one on a team roping saddle. A team roping saddle horn has to have room for the roper to dally, or wrap his rope around it while he's roping. A calf roper ties his rope to the saddle horn, so a tall horn isn't as necessary. A shorter horn also lowers the point where the force of the running calf hits the saddle. This serves the same purpose as the wider bars, making the force more of a forward motion than a downward motion.

Stirrups

• Calf ropers like wide, leather covered stirrups that give them plenty of surface area to stand on. The wide stirrups are also less likely to slip, and are easy to kick free of. Team ropers tend to ride with aluminum stirrups that are taller on the outside than they are on the inside. That helps reduce the pressure on the outside of the foot.