# How fast can you saddle and tack your horse properly?



## Saigold (Mar 21, 2019)

Not timed but in an emergency, I’d prob hop on bareback with a bridle and go. If I had to saddle fast and everything g was ready, 3-5 min. There would be no grooming involved. 

I heard of people leaving the tack on or loosely on and ready to go. Not something I ever had the need for. But if I was waiting to be ambushed then I’d prob sleep on the horse haha


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

We've had groom's races. They weren't limited to grooms.

I think the best was four plus minutes. That was untying, getting the gear, saddle, bridle, and the clock stopped when the rider was up. 

No brushing. No checking the horse over. 

I didn't win. But I didn't lose my horse, either.


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## jonbailey (May 7, 2018)

Many trail riders probably keep a gun handy and perhaps a guard dog for security while camped out. Maybe fight if need be before flight on the horse. Stand your ground. You won't have the services of a groom on the trail most likely. 

Possible threats could be wild animals, snakes or the criminal elements. Always have an emergency plan while riding in the boonies. Always have proper provisions. Food, water, canteen, compass, matches, first aid kit, snakebite kit, bee-sting kit if allergic. Ride with a partner if possible. The buddy system. A sat phone and a GPS is prudent.


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## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

How long does it take to saddle my horse? Is this before or after I've had my morning coffee???


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## jonbailey (May 7, 2018)

AnitaAnne said:


> How long does it take to saddle my horse? Is this before or after I've had my morning coffee???


No, this is when the yowl of a cougar, a wolf howl or a bear growl wakes you up at 3 AM in the woods while you are in your fart sack. That'll get your blood pumping in a heartbeat, forget the caffeine. Remember, you might have to hold a flashlight while saddling your pony. Personally, I would grab my gun instead of my saddle if I were to hear a wild animal. Ideally, you should be camped out with at least one other person in your party and people should exchange night watch shifts unless you have a good big dog in your company.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Flash light? It better be a head lamp. If you are well acquainted with your tack and the horse and have the process down completely then no need for light if all is in readiness. Besides you are outside where there will be moonlight on most nights unless it is dark moon or total cloud coverage with no reflected ground light so unless there is a fire going that reduces your night vision capabilities to slow you down until you adjust dealing with a light source could slow you down.. As for a groom I don't think boots is suggesting there is a groom but that that is the name for the races they have had to determine just who is the quickest.


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

When I worked on a guest ranch, we'd have 125 horses to catch, brush, and saddle/unsaddle twice a day. They came in at 6:00 am for grain and tack, went out to graze after lunch, and were caught again about 4:30 pm and saddled for the evening rides. The horses would come in and line up at mangers, and you'd go down the row and halter and tie them where they stood, leaving only a handful who finished their feed before the others to be caught. From the time one of us went out on a jingle horse to bring them down from the mountain to the time we started mounting the guests to ride was an hour. Considering it took about 15 minutes to get them run in, that left 41 horses per person in 45 minutes, so just over a minute per horse for a quick grooming, saddle pad, and saddle. We'd bridle as the horse was chosen to head out on a ride. That time includes walking to the tack room to get each horse's assigned pad and saddle/bridle in between horses. The fastest way was to go down the line, brush each horse, then go back to the start of your row and start saddling. Since each horse had his own tack, we didn't need to do much adjustment day to day, which helped.

My young mare stayed in, so was usually the jingle horse in the mornings as I worked nearly every morning early shift. I'd get there about 5:30, catch her from the personal horses in the corral and feed her breakfast, and have my coffee and pour the grain into the long rows of mangers. When the rest of the early crew arrived at 6, I'd saddle my mare, call up the barn dog (Border Collie mix) and lope up the alley to jingle, and we'd have the horses headed down to the corral by 6:05, then open the gate and run them across the road and down to the pens by 6:10 so they were settled and eating and we could start catching by 6:15. Guests started mounting by 7 am for breakfast ride. 

On an early fall morning, it was still pretty dark at 6 am. If you know your horse and you know your tack, you don't need light to do it. 

I never worked harder but never had more fun than that job. One of the holdovers is that I can still saddle a horse in about a minute and be mounted and loping off in an emergency. Doing it over and over twice a day for years makes it muscle memory and then you can do it quickly and still be safe. Last time I timed myself, it was 54 seconds, and that was with a double-rigged western saddle, pad, breastcollar, and bridle.


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## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

jonbailey said:


> No, this is when the yowl of a cougar, a wolf howl or a bear growl wakes you up at 3 AM in the woods while you are in your fart sack. That'll get your blood pumping in a heartbeat, forget the caffeine. Remember, you might have to hold a flashlight while saddling your pony. Personally, I would grab my gun instead of my saddle if I were to hear a wild animal. Ideally, you should be camped out with at least one other person in your party and people should exchange night watch shifts unless you have a good big dog in your company.


My post was meant to lighten the subject, comic relief it is called. 

IMO, if one have to go to those extremes to camp out with one's horse, it is not worth it to me. I feel more safe camping with my horse (who by the way would be alert to danger) than I do boon docking in a Walmart parking lot (which I have also done). 

However, I do bring my little rat terrier, and she is inside sleeping under the blankets with me. She is some sort of protection I guess, by alerting me to problems. 

When it is my time, it is my time. No need for extreme combat preparation...I think a first aid kit for horse and humans is important.


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## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

A fart sack? What the heck is that?


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

We camped out in the backcountry of Montana a lot. Nobody ever did 'night watch', either-- at least not for animals. Sometimes we had a dog, more often we didn't--- a dog will actually draw in coyotes and cougars as they view a domestic dog as easy prey, even a big dog. Most people who live in cougar areas figure out pretty quickly not to take a dog with them. 

Keep at least one horse in and tied if you hobble the rest out. Usually we'd turn the horses out to graze hobbled while we made camp and ate dinner, then they were caught and high-lined over night. Then I KNOW my horse will be there in the morning. Use basic safety precautions in bear country--- keep food in bearproof containers or hoisted into trees well away from camp. Don't leave snacks and trash about. If there's a big predator, your tied horses will start shifting around and let you know. If you're a sound sleeper, put a bell around the neck of the highest-ranking horse you have in. You'll soon learn the difference between the gentle dings as the horse snoozes and eats his hay as opposed to the sharp rings if he gets worried and snorty. 

We did have a gun with us at all times, but it wasn't really for protection from wild animals. We carried it in case we had to put a horse down 40 miles from the nearest road. Your biggest worry in the backcountry is other people, not wildlife. It takes a very good shot and a cool customer to stand up to a charging grizzly if you're ever faced with one. Much better to keep your food away from camp and avoid them. Coyotes and cougars will rarely bother with a full-grown horse. If they're around your camp, they're usually just curious and seeing if you happen to have a dog... If a cougar is hunting you, you won't see or hear him. If you see or hear him, he's likely not going to bother you. Coyotes won't hurt you or your horses. A black bear is a nuisance, but not much of a threat if you've used precautions with your food. Once he realizes you don't have an easy meal, he'll go away. In wilderness areas, most wildlife are spooky of people anyway. I can honestly say in dozens of overnights in backcountry areas, we never had cause to worry about the wildlife. We'd see them in passing, but they never bothered us. We did spend one night taking turns staying up because we'd met a creepy guy back in the woods who seemed threatening and we wanted to make sure he wasn't going to come back during the night... I still wonder if that was Ted Kaczynski, but will never really know. The timing and area was right, but there are more nuts than you'd care to know about in the wilderness of North America.


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## SwissMiss (Aug 1, 2014)

> Last time I timed myself, it was 54 seconds, and that was with a double-rigged western saddle, pad, breastcollar, and bridle.


 @SilverMaple, if I ever have the pleasure of riding with you I will start getting my horse ready half an hour early :wink:

I have gotten faster, but would not consider me quick at all :rofl:


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

I don't plan on camping anywhere with my horses ever where I would need to tack up and prepare for battle instantly. Usually we're in a nice state park campsite (or privately owned field) surrounded by plenty of other people. I generally have 2-3 50+ lb dogs with me as well who would provide some sort of protection if needed. By the time I climb down from my Queen bed, find a jacket and boots, and get outside how fast I tack my horse probably doesn't matter anymore. My emergencies are generally "crud why is one horse neighing, his buddy must be loose run outside to catch said escapee" not requiring any tack.

I do however think I can tack up my horse fairly quickly as we generally tack and untack 3-4 times during a ride and taking longer to tack means less time to relax/eat/use the facilities. I've never timed it but if my gear is out and I'm not brushing or picking feet I would say it likely takes less than a minute to tack up (saddle, cinch, breastcollar, bridle).


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

I timed myself saddling an bridling an mounted in just under 2 minutes. Could tack up in the dark no issue ,no need for a flashlight. 

Even faster if I just bridle and jump on bareback.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

Man, you guys. It takes me half an hour on a good day. When I've been horse camping with a group I always get my horse out an HOUR before anyone else and I am still usually one of the last people on the ground. 

Lessee ... catch the horse, bring her in, tie her up, throw the goats back into the pen because they managed to squeeze out. If horse is mellow and just stands and waits to be caught: 5 minutes. If she has a wild hair and runs around and gets everyone else all excited: 15 minutes. 

curry, dandy brush, body brush, face brush, comb out mane and tail: 5 to 15 minutes depending on cleanliness, tangles, if anything needs a trim or a wipe. 

pick out hooves and put boots on all four feet: 5 to 8 minutes.

saddle and bridle and breastplate: 5 minutes. Longer if I have to fuss with a quarter sheet or saddle bags.

put on half chaps, phone thigh belt, helmet, and in summer riding fly mask, fly spray or winter, riding skirt, winter gloves: 5 minutes

check girth, mount up, settle in, walk off, remember that I forgot my (phone, fly whisk, sun screen, belt knife -- it's always something), ride back .... 

Total time: 25 to 50 minutes. That would be the norm.


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

AnitaAnne said:


> A fart sack? What the heck is that?


Slang term for a bedroll or sleeping bag


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

The OP should watch Craig Cameron's show on RFD TV he has cowboy races and tacking and untacking is part of it. We used to have tack races at horse shows. You ride your tacked horse in run to the end of the arena - shed your tack (except bridle) run or ride your horse to the other end of the arena (around a barrel and turn and ride back to your tack - throw tack on and ride back to the gate. Most of us younger kids got pretty good at riding in our saddles that were not tightened.

In a pinch I can tack up in probably 5 minutes. Long enough time that whatever is stalking me would have me eaten and my horse run off.


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

^ We used to do those, too. I admit to cheating by using an English saddle and only tightening one billet. Saved time over threading the latigo on a western saddle, and if you used a saddle pad that had the little straps that connect it around the billets on your English saddle, you can throw the whole works on in one toss! Ten seconds, done.


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## redbadger (Nov 20, 2017)

If I want Tobes to get tetchy with me... lol he likes some adjustment time to the girth. He won't dare bite but he'll stand there and grind his teeth if I do it too quickly. 

If I had the tack right there, vs. going to the tack room... Well now I want to time myself. Maybe 10 minutes? One time there was a big ride and people were running late and I tacked three horses pretty quickly including brushing the saddle area. I think I could do it in the dark if I absolutely had to. Medic school taught me I can do a lot in adverse conditions with the proper practice. 

I often think about what I'd do in any given emergency on the trail, but I think about that at work as well (ambulance and gym).


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

Yeah, if your horse is cinchy, he might need a bit more time 

When we'd saddle at the ranch, we'd tighten the cinch enough to keep the saddle on, then tighten it again before the rider mounted, and again after a few minutes of riding. Because most of those riders were not very experienced, and it was rough terrain, we'd have that saddle tighter than we'd have the saddles on our own personal horses, in most instances--- a novice may not realize a saddle is starting to slide or that they're sitting crooked until it's too late! 

For everyday riding, I tack up the horse, then untie him and bridle, walk him in a circle or two, tighten the cinch again, then get on. Know your horse. Some you can tighten once and go, others need more time. You also have more leeway if you can tighten your cinch while in the saddle vs. having to get off and find somewhere to remount, especially if you use a mounting block due to mobility issues or a very tall or round horse that makes remounting from the ground difficult.


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## secuono (Jul 6, 2011)

In an emergency, no way I'd bother with a saddle, just the bridle with its clipped on reins.
Never tried to speed tack. I do know that I'm slow, since I hate it so much and forego it half the time. Lol
I'm a little obsessive about making sure the saddle is in the right place. I run around several times to make sure, it's not necessary, but I can't help it. =/


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## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

SilverMaple said:


> Slang term for a bedroll or sleeping bag


:rofl: I thought it was like a whoopee cushion :rofl: 

BTW that is a disgusting name for a sleeping bag :shock:


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

A bed. Believe it or not, you pass the most gas when you are sleeping.


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## jonbailey (May 7, 2018)

AnitaAnne said:


> A fart sack? What the heck is that?


army slang: sleeping bag or bedroll


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## redbadger (Nov 20, 2017)

SilverMaple said:


> Yeah, if your horse is cinchy, he might need a bit more time <img style="max-width:100%;" src="http://www.horseforum.com/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Smile" class="inlineimg" />
> 
> When we'd saddle at the ranch, we'd tighten the cinch enough to keep the saddle on, then tighten it again before the rider mounted, and again after a few minutes of riding. Because most of those riders were not very experienced, and it was rough terrain, we'd have that saddle tighter than we'd have the saddles on our own personal horses, in most instances--- a novice may not realize a saddle is starting to slide or that they're sitting crooked until it's too late!
> 
> For everyday riding, I tack up the horse, then untie him and bridle, walk him in a circle or two, tighten the cinch again, then get on. Know your horse. Some you can tighten once and go, others need more time. You also have more leeway if you can tighten your cinch while in the saddle vs. having to get off and find somewhere to remount, especially if you use a mounting block due to mobility issues or a very tall or round horse that makes remounting from the ground difficult.


He's smart enough that I think he'd understand it was Emergency Time, but yes, ordinarily he (and the other horses for trail rides) get cinched snugly and put back in their stalls. They're not bridled until they're led out, and not tightened up until their person is about to mount up.


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