# Attaching a crupper to a western saddle?



## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

I got a crupper so I could ride the steepest of the trails I have access to (it's so steep that the saddle ends up halfway up Lacey's neck, no matter what).

However, I looked at it today and I cannot figure out how to attach it, at all.
I tried attaching it to the rings my saddle has for a flank cinch, but the crupper isn't that long... Help/ideas? I guess I could tie some baling twine though the flank cinch rings in a loop long enough to attach the crupper on each side...

Pictures:

The saddle (I don't have a better picture of the very back, I can get one if it's necessary...):










The crupper:

Leather Single/Double Strap Adjustable Saddle Crupper on eBay!


I had thought I had it all figured out. Apparently not! haha


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## aspin231 (Mar 20, 2010)

Is there any way you could get those straps lengthened (maybe by a saddler)? Either that or have a d-ring installed in the back, but I'm guessing that would be pricey.


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## lilruffian (Jun 28, 2010)

Most saddles do not come with crupper rings. You will have to buy one & have it screwed into the back of your saddle.


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## corinowalk (Apr 26, 2010)

I would think that adding a back cinch would help as much as a crupper would. Your saddle is designed for one and it would help.


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Well that's a huge bummer about the crupper! Lame. There is no way on this earth that I am going to add something to that saddle (it's old enough to be an antique and I don't want to ruin it's worth as one) so poo.  

Cori- You think a back cinch would help with it sliding forward? If you don't mind explaining, I'd love to understand fully how it would help (I don't doubt you at all though). A back cinch was actually the next "addition" I was going to buy for my saddle so maybe I'll just put that plan into motion a little faster and see if it does help. That would be really nice if it does help! 
There is some gorgeous scenery at the top of that steep trail and I'd love to get up there on a regular basis and not have to walk down on my own feet! haha


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## corinowalk (Apr 26, 2010)

A saddle like yours was designed to be used with a back cinch. It helps keep the saddle firmly in place, not just in the front but all around. The back cinch will brace a bit on her belly and keep the saddle from tipping and pulling forward. 






This guy has a good video but don't listen to the propaganda about how if you aren't using a rear cinch, you are abusive. I don't ride a rear cinch on Froggy because I don't have one. I am considering switching him to a triangular rigging once I get his new saddle in. 

So basically, by fitting the saddle down on Laceys back a little snugger, it will slip a lot less. 

He does mention it in the video but it is worth saying twice. Make sure that you have a tie holding the two cinches together. If the back cinch were to slip and become loose and get her around her hips, she is not going to like it...LOL The little tie will prevent that from happening.


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## lilruffian (Jun 28, 2010)

A back cinch would help some, yes. It depends on how steep the hills are that you're riding down. If they are super steep, a back cinch wont keep it from sliding over your horse's neck, but it will keep it from popping up really bad in the back. Regardless you would need a crupper in such a case.
Another idea would be to look around for a britching. It's typically used on pack horses, but when i went up to the mountains the other year I had to borrow one from a friend because my crupper broke.
Looked like this


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## aspin231 (Mar 20, 2010)

I still think that you could have the 'tug' straps lengthened and it would work...


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

My question is, is the saddle pictured on the horse that you are wanting to use it with the crupper on?


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Thank you Cori! That was informative, I knew about the back cinch kinda holding the saddle down a little better but I hadn't thought about how the saddle tips forward going downhill which makes it slide onto her shoulders worse if it doesn't have a back cinch. I will get one and see.

Thanks lilruffian! They're probably pretty steep in the scheme of things, but they might not be. The hills are certainly not as steep as pictures some members post of them riding their horses but they are steep enough that if you walk down it, you find yourself going faster and faster because of momentum! :lol:



aspin231 said:


> I still think that you could have the 'tug' straps lengthened and it would work...


Somehow I completely missed your first post. Oops! I wonder if it would work if I just buckled a stirrup hobble on to each "tug strap" (and didn't drastically change anything else) to lengthen the straps... That would be a cheap fix! I'll give it a try tomorrow. 



NdAppy said:


> My question is, is the saddle pictured on the horse that you are wanting to use it with the crupper on?


Yes.


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Well from the looks of that one picture, the saddle does not fit the horse. Can you get other pictures with and without the pad? Putting a crupper on a saddle that doesn't fit is only going to make the issues worse in the long run.


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Really? I've posted pictures of it and her before and was told that it was a pretty good fit, but that fit her last year doesn't necessarily mean it fits her this year! I actually took some pictures to post on Tuesday (which is when that picture is from) and I've been planning to make a thread to make sure it still fits. I'll try to get that posted tonight and I'll put a link in this thread. She's REALLY hard to fit, so yeah... Thankfully, I ride her bareback basically all summer so if it doesn't fit, I have some time to save up a $$ reserve to buy a new one.


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Well just from this pic it looks like it is sitting really, really high on her back. Kind of perching there if you get what I mean.


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

I do know what you mean! And I agree. It looks that way to me too, but down the gullet/over the withers it looks good, in my severely unprofessional opinion. *so confused*
I posted a critique thread: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-tac...e-critique-*picture-heavy*-85222/#post1016257 and I'd appriciate your input!


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## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

Regardless of the fit, 'cause I'm not helpful with that, You could probably fashion your own "adaptor" by making a "Y" out of wide nylon where the open ends of the "Y" attached to the back cinch rings and the tail of the "Y" is where the crupper would attach. I think you need an attachment like that for britching as well.


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## TheaOH (Feb 15, 2020)

You want breeching, not a crupper. A crupper will rub the horse where the skin is the most thin and sensitive (under the tail), and I think you would regret that in a hurry. Also, the tail is not strong enough to balance all of that weight. Breeching is designed to do exactly what you need, and with comfort for the horse. Even if you have to work out your own solution to fit your saddle's rigging, it is definitely the way to go.


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## Hondo (Sep 29, 2014)

Agree with the breeching. That's what I did to solve the problem. May not look politically correct but works. Must be adjusted properly. May seem to be fiddly at first, but I learned to just set the entire system on top of the saddle which left nothing to hook or un-hook. Maybe 15 seconds extra saddling time.


Here's where I got mine. https://www.ridingwarehouse.com/Berlin_Custom_Beta_BioThane_Mule_Breeching/descpage-BCBMB.html


This is about mules but it all applies to horses. This guy now manufactures breeching among other things on his mule ranch.


Steve Edwards: Sitting On The Neck of My Mule


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## SteadyOn (Mar 5, 2017)

Yes, please get breeching instead of a crupper. If the saddle is slipping forward THAT much, can you imagine how much pressure and weight you're asking the base of the tail to take on??


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

One thought I had is, and I am no expert with cruppers, breeches etc, is to give the horse a chance to get used to it and the feel or pull it gives on their body before heading out to those huge hills and have the horse get an unpleasant surprise the first time it pulls on them.
I agree that I think the crupper could really rub and hurt if the hills are so steep the pressure is extreme.

I hope you get up those hills to enjoy the scenery, sounds like a lovely goal.


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

If that's the saddle, it doesn't fit. One that fits won't ride forward much unless your horse has narrow shoulders and NO withers (like a mule) in which case, get a mule breeching. Even riding in steep terrain, I never had a saddle work forward more than an inch with a snug flank cinch and a saddle that fit the horse.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

2011 guys........Wallaby isn't even posting here anymore and I think Lacy passed away. :frown_color:


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## Hondo (Sep 29, 2014)

trailhorserider said:


> 2011 guys........Wallaby isn't even posting here anymore and I think Lacy passed away. :frown_color:



Spoil Sport!  We coulda gone on for a week or two and maybe never noticed.


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## TheaOH (Feb 15, 2020)

Hondo wrote: "Here's where I got mine. https://www.ridingwarehouse.com/Berl...age-BCBMB.html" 

Great product suggestion. FYI, the Amish harness makers in Berlin, OH -- where this product comes from -- are recognized as among the best anywhere. And if you call to order and want to sound really smart, this Berlin is pronounced "BUR-lun" -- not "Ber-LIN" like the one in Germany. : )


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## activeguy563 (4 mo ago)

SilverMaple said:


> If that's the saddle, it doesn't fit. One that fits won't ride forward much unless your horse has narrow shoulders and NO withers (like a mule) in which case, get a mule breeching. Even riding in steep terrain, I never had a saddle work forward more than an inch with a snug flank cinch and a saddle that fit the horse.


Be warned before you go out for the first time with a crupper. Saddle your horse and put the crupper on then take your horse to the round pen and lunge him. Some horse will not tolerate a crupper. I use a Breeching when I go hunting out west. My QH will not put up with a Crupper but she has no problem with Breeching.


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