How to tack up English style
Tacking up a horse can be very tricky and sometimes even simple. Today I'm going to explain how to tack up a horse using our english tack. There are several parts to english tack. The parts to the english tack include the saddle and girth, the stirrups,leathers, saddle pad, sidepull and reins. Once you have all that out you are ready to tack up your horse.
The first thing you alway need to do before starting to tack up is make sure your horse is tied up so they do not go anywhere while you are tacking. You get on your horse from the left side so you should also tack them up on that side. The first thing you put on your horse is the saddle pad. The saddle pad gives the horse the comfort they need while you are on top of the saddle. It also helps so the saddle does not rub on the horses back. The second thing you put on is the saddle.The lower part of the saddle(pommel) goes towards the horses head. The higher part of the saddle(cantle) goes closer to the horses tail. After putting the saddle on you want to put the billets through the strap on the saddle pad to hold it together. Then you will attach the girth to the saddle. You want to keep the girth tight but not too tight while tied up. Once we go to the arena the instructor will tighten the girth. Next, you will put the stirrup and stirrup leathers on. The stirrups are what you put your feet in so you can have enough support while riding. So to attach the leathers to the stirrups can be a little difficult. So you take the leather and put it through the rectangular hole on top of the stirrup and hook both end together. After the leathers and stirrups are together you lift the skirt of the saddle and you put the leather on that hook.
Now, all you have left to put on is the sidepull and reins. The sidepull goes on the horses face and the reins attach to the sidepull so you are able to steer your horse. To put the sidepull on you have to unhook the halter and put it around the horses neck so you have something top pull on incase they try to walk away. Then you can put the sidepull on and attach it by the throatlatch which wraps around the horses throat dont put it on too tight you want to be able to fit 4 fingers between horse and throatlatch. Now you can hook the reins. You put the middle of the reins on top of the horses neck and you hook them to the ring on each side of the sidepull.