My name is Dr. Steve Katz. I’ve been a chiropractor for 40 years. I received my certification for animals and started doing chiropractic work on horses over 30 years ago. I had a mixed practice of humans and horses for about 17 years, but I gave up my human practice and have been working exclusively with horses now for the past 15 years.
My interest in saddle fitting came early in my equine chiropractic career. Early on, it became apparent that saddle issues were a contributing factor to the back discomfort and performance in horses. In the early 90s, there was little access to trained saddle fitters. It was frustrating to me from a chiropractic standpoint because when I knew that the saddles were causing the issues I was seeing, I wasn’t able to correct them. I could make the horse more comfortable, but I couldn’t correct the problem long-term.
I made the decision to learn how to properly fit saddles. At that time, there were no schools in the United States that taught saddle fitting. There are now, thank goodness. So, in the beginning when I was living in South Florida, I shadowed a few saddle fitters that came from the Northeast for the winter. The horses that had saddle fittings regularly seemed to have fewer issues. So, I decided to go to saddle school in the UK which I did sometime around 2001. I went to the Cumbria School of Saddlery and I also took courses by the Society of Master Saddlers.
I was an independent saddle fitter for many, many years before my wife and I purchased Duett Saddlery in 2017. Over the last 30 years of working with horses I’ve fit thousands upon thousands of saddles. I have guided people in selecting proper saddles for their horses, for both English and Western disciplines. I have also been to Walsall, England and have seen all aspects of saddle manufacturing from the making of the trees, cutting the patterns, flocking and assembling the saddles.
I have wanted to do some type of blog or education for a long time, and I’m finally at a point in my career where I have some time to sit down and share the things I’ve learned as a chiropractor, working with horses suffering from back pain and how saddle fitting fits into this whole picture. I could literally write a book.
I’m going to do a series of blog posts, and I’m going to start from the beginning and answer questions like:
- How do I know if my saddle actually fits my horse properly?
- What are the signs of a poor saddle fit?
- Is there a way to check saddle fit myself without hiring a professional?
- What’s the best way to measure gullet width for a wide horse?
- Can a poorly fitted saddle cause back problems in horses?
Then, I will discuss how to help a horse recover from back issues from a chiropractic standpoint and how I have helped many horses rehab successfully by working with vets and other practitioners.