Riding and Training Stable Skills Tack Tack and Equipment Western Riding Young Rider

How to Tack Up with a Western Saddle

By Heidi Melocco -

Even if you’ve saddled your own horse for every ride, it’s good to step back and make sure you’re doing it correctly. Putting on a western saddle includes many connections, and you must tack up in a specific order for your own safety and to keep your horse from getting hurt. Read on to find out how to properly tack up with a western saddle and tack.

Trail riding in the woods.
Photo by Heidi Nyland Melocco

Saddle Pad Placement

Once your horse is groomed and ready for saddling, tie him in a safe location or have a friend hold him while you tack up. The first step is to place the saddle pad. 

Make sure to put the pad forward of where you want it to sit, then slide it back toward your horse’s tail and into a balanced position so that it rests at the base of your horse’s withers (1). If you put the saddle pad on in the middle of your horse’s back and need to push it forward, you’ll rub your horse’s hair the wrong way, which can create sores.

The first step to tacking up with a western saddle: placing the saddle pad.
1. Slide the pad back in the direction of hair growth to the base of the withers. Photo by Heidi Nyland Melocco

Western Saddle Placement

Lift your saddle up and onto your horse’s back so that the bars of the saddle don’t restrict his shoulders. When slid back into place, your saddle should sit evenly on your horse’s back, creating a level seat. Pull the saddle pad up into the saddle’s gullet to help reduce tension over your horse’s withers (2).

A western saddle horn.
2. Pull the pad up into the saddle gullet before cinching. Photo by Heidi Nyland Melocco

Next, walk to the opposite side of your saddle to make sure that the front and back cinches aren’t twisted or tangled. This is also a great time to make sure that if you have both cinches, they are attached securely with a hobble so that the back cinch doesn’t move up to agitate your horse. 

Main Cinch

The main cinch is the main reason your saddle will stay on your horse. Always start attaching the saddle to your horse with the main or front cinch. This is the first piece to be attached, and it should be the last to come off. Without it, the saddle could slip and no other attachment can hold the saddle safely onto your horse. 

With your hind end toward your horse’s hind end, bend down and grab the main cinch from the opposite side of your horse. Then slide the long latigo down through the metal cinch ring (3). Continue to wrap the leather neatly until you reach the part of the leather with buckle holes. Once you find the holes, place the buckle through a hole (4). 

Threading the long latigo through the main cinch ring and continue to wrap it until reaching the cinch holes.
3. Thread the long latigo through the main cinch ring and continue to wrap it until you reach the cinch holes. Photo by Heidi Nyland Melocco
Buckling the cinch.
4. Buckle your cinch, but not very tightly yet. You will need to check and tighten it before mounting. Photo by Heidi Nyland Melocco

Next, you’ll pull on the top layer of your long latigo until the buckle aims up and locks into place. Place the excess latigo up into the latigo keeper (5). 

Tucking the excess latigo strap through the latigo keeper while tacking up with a western saddle.
5. Tuck the excess latigo strap through the latigo keeper. Photo by Heidi Nyland Melocco

Tip: For now, make sure the cinch is tight enough to help the saddle stay on as you continue to tack up. You’ll want to check your cinch again before you mount up and once again before you move at a faster gait. Remember, check the cinch tightness down at your horse’s midline, not just behind the latigo.

Back Cinch

Next, move to the back cinch. Your back cinch helps the saddle stay down when you ride on hills or move at speed. Hold the back cinch and make sure that it doesn’t twist as you pull it into place. 

Make sure to buckle the back cinch so that it isn’t tight (6). It should be close to the horse’s side and belly without causing constant pressure. However, you also need to make sure it isn’t too loose. You don’t want your horse to catch a hoof in the back cinch while he reaches up with his hind legs.

The back cinch on a palomino horse.
6. The back cinch shouldn’t be tight enough to create constant pressure, but it also shouldn’t be loose enough that a foot could get caught through it. Photo by Heidi Nyland Melocco

Breast Collar

Finally, walk to the opposite side of your horse and grab the breast collar. The breast collar should remain attached to the horse’s right side. Pull the loose end around the front of your horse and buckle it to the left side of the saddle.  The middle strap will hang down directly between your horse’s front legs (7). Secure the snap to the front cinch by connecting it between your horse’s legs (8). 

A breast collar on a palomino horse.
7. Connect the breast collar to both sides of the saddle so that the middle strap hangs between the horse’s legs. Photo by Heidi Nyland Melocco
Securing the breast collar by running it between the horse’s front legs and snapping to the cinch ring while tacking up a horse in western tack.
8. Secure the breast collar by running it between the horse’s front legs and snapping to the cinch ring. Photo by Heidi Nyland Melocco

Walk around your horse from a few paces back to make sure that all of your work looks correct. Now you’re ready to tighten your front cinch and mount up for a great ride! 

Thanks to Colter Ralston and Mike Brashear for sharing their saddling processes. 

Further Reading:
◆ The Complete Guide to Parts of a Western Saddle — Plus a Quiz
◆ Tack Safety Checklist

This article about how to tack up with a western saddle appeared in the November/December 2023 issue of Young Rider magazine. Click here to subscribe!

Heidi Melocco

Heidi Nyland Melocco holds a Bachelor's degree in English from Ohio Wesleyan University and a Master's degree in journalism from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University with a concentration in magazine and photo editing. At the latter, she was named Master's Student of the Year. Her stories and photographs are seen regularly in many equine publications, including Horse Illustrated and Young Rider. Melocco is an author of Western Horseman's Understanding Lameness, Western Horseman’s Legends 6 and 9, and Goodnight’s Guide to Great Horsemanship, and she’s a contributing photographer for the Certified Horsemanship Association's Instructor Manual, Hitch Up & Go, The Revolution in Horsemanship by Rick Lamb and Robert Miller, DVM; and Breed for Success by Rene Riley and Honi Roberts. She and her daughter are currently writing a new children's book called Pony Powers—all about what it's like to keep a pony at home. Melocco's photos have won awards from the Equine Photographer's Network and an AIM Award. Melocco holds first-prize awards from American Horse Publications (AHP) for training stories and equine photography. She has had more than 35 magazine cover photos. Melocco continues to write about and photograph horses and also works in video broadcasting. She directed and produced a popular RFD-TV show for more than 10 years. Melocco stays up to speed with social media and has grown accounts to reach and engage with hundreds of thousands of fans. She served on the Board of Directors for the Colorado Horse Council and has presented social media seminars at the PATHi and CHA International Conferences.She started riding Ponies of the Americas at age 5 at Smiley R Ranch in Hilliard, Ohio, with Janet Hedman and the W. E. Richardson family. In college, she was president and later assistant coach of the Ohio Wesleyan University Equestrian Team, coached by world-champion-earning trainer Terry Myers. Keeping active as a rider and riding instructor, Melocco began studying Brain Gym—an international program based on whole-brain and active learning. As a 4-H advisor, she used the simple movements to help horseback riding students relax and achieve their goals in the saddle. Melocco became a registered instructor with Path International, helping to combine horse knowledge and therapeutic experience with horsemanship training. Melocco has presented demos at Equine Affaire and at the Path International and National Youth Horse Council Annual Conferences. She taught at the Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center in Longmont, Colo. Melocco resides on her small-acreage horse property with her husband, Jared; daughter Savannah; registered AQHA gelding, Charlie; pony, Romeo; dogs Lucy and Rosie, and three orange barn kitties known as the "Porch Patrol."

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