b'This picture below is the underside view of an Australian saddle, which is far too long. It extends well past the T17-T18 rib insertion that is the furthest back weight should be borne by the equine back. It also has a lot of bridging (gap of no contact of saddle with the weight-bearing section of the horses back; Rurik has more rock in his back than this saddle has), so this saddle will place a lot of pressure on the shoulders and loin. Not a good fit. This image shows the center of the back of the 3D model, where there is bridging.If you have the saddle to try on your Fjord, you can do an even better investigation than just making the 3D model. You can place the saddle where it naturally wants to sit on your Fjord, and put tape on the saddle that matches the tape on your Fjords body. Then you can take that saddle off, flip it over and fit the 3D model into the saddle, lining up the cross-pieces with the tape locations, and then evaluate how well the saddle tree matches the shape of your Fjord.You can dispense with the printer paper and directly draw the shapesontocardboard,butindoingso,youloseyouroriginal pattern. The value of the paper is that you can keep that pattern for the future, send it off for a custom saddle to be made, duplicate it easily, or use it to compare the shape of the horse over time by overlaying the papers and looking at the differences.I hope this article gives you the skills and knowledge to make a 3D model of your Fjord for finding the saddle that is a great fit for his or her particular back shape!All photos by Cherrie NoldenFjord Herald Issue #149Winter 2023 23'