As a saddle fitter, I get to see alot of different horses, and riding styles. I received a call from a woman who was in tears. Her horse had been getting more and more defiant, and that day was unrideable. He did not show outward signs of back soreness, but she had gone every other route to try to solve this problem, to no avail. When I saw the horse, he was in a bad way. On cross ties in the aisle, he was extremely nervous, to the point he was shaking. Examining the saddle on his back, I could see nothing wrong, but the horse was very agitated. I asked the woman to tack the horse up the way she normally would. She placed the saddle a good three inches in front of where I had originally placed it. As she started to tighten the girth, the horse almost droppped to the ground. I explained to her the correct saddle placement was behind the shoulder, and not on it. She disagreed with me, and a long discussion of correct saddle placement ensued. She was adament on keeping the saddle forward on the shoulder, as her coach insisted it be there. I asked her to try placing the saddle behind the shoulder blade for one week, and see if her horse's behavior improved. She agreed to try, but I could see she really did not believe me. I asked her to call me after the week had passed, and if there was no improvement, I would come back out. The week passed without a word. She called the following week to give me the news. Her horse had ceased all bad behavior, and gone back to the wonderful pleasure horse he had been. She was somewhat embarassed to admit she had not believed me, but with no other options, decided to give it a whirl. She was thrilled and somewhat surprised to learn the lesson of proper saddle placement, and how much a difference it can make.