Trace Your Horse's Withers
I saw something that I had not thought of the other day, and I think it is an excellent idea. It is to use a flexible ruler to make a mould of your horse's withers. The point of this is so that you can conveniently take it with you when you go saddle shopping! The flexible ruler is often sold under the name Flexicurve and you can generally buy them for under 10 dollars from stationery shops or Amazon.
Basically all you do is to place the flexible bendable ruler across your horse's back about 2.5 inches back from the shoulder blade. Make sure that your horse is standing square and on level ground when you do this procedure. Mould the bendable ruler to the shape of your horse's back, press it down gently but firmly so that you have a true outline.
Remove the ruler and transfer this outline to a piece of stiff cardboard or tagboard. Cut it out and mark the name of the horse and today's date on one side.
There you have it, a tracing of your horse's withers. It is something that anyone can do, and the outline can be faxed to a seller if you are buying a saddle online, or if you have any doubts about whether the saddle will fit your horse.
Use it occasionally too, just for a record of how your horse changes shape over time. Some people like to keep a scrapbook, a diary or notebook of their horse's progress and it is interesting to look back and see how he has changed or how you have got more experienced.