Traditional attire and tack of a buttero, utilizing a crupper. A crupper is used on riding saddles when riding a horse or mule with low withers in steep terrain. Cruppers are most often used in activities such as endurance riding, mounted orienteering, competitive trail riding, and for recreational trail riding in mountains. When riding, cruppers are particularly useful on animals with low withers, because this conformation allows the saddle to slip forward as the animal travels downhill.
|
|
"Fitting a McClellan" Web page accessed August 31, 2008"McClellan Saddles" Web page accessed August 31, 2008 Cruppers continue to be part of the ceremonial tack for some cavalry regiments and tent pegging teams.
|
|
These include breastplates, overgirths, cruppers, and, on pack saddles, breeching. Studies have shown that, although girths may restrict the movement of the ribcage in the horse, they have no effect on the horse's ability to take in air.
|
|
Crupper on a harness without breeching. A crupper is used to keep the equipment placed on a horse's back from slipping forward. Cruppers are seen most often on horse harnesses. They are also used on the surcingles of bitting rigs, riding saddles, and, occasionally, pack saddles.
|
|
Tatum, Vicki. "English Saddles" Muleinfo.com Web page accessed September 1, 2008. Cruppers are seen on the saddles of some horses used to work cattle with a lance (such as horses of the buttero in Europe), but not on horses used to work cattle with a lasso.
|
|
The wives and little children of the Hazaras escaped on foot to the snow-covered hillocks. The army then halted at the huts of the Hazaras. The winter snow lay very deep. Off the road, it reached up to the horses’ cruppers; the picket appointed for the night-watch round the camp were obliged to remain on horseback till daybreak, in consequence of the depth of the snow.
|
|
A crupper needs to be snug enough to keep the saddle or harness in place, but not so tight that the horse is irritated or the skin of the tail is damaged. Cruppers are adjusted to engage only when needed; pressure is not meant to be constantly applied. If a crupper is too tight, it can cause severe chafing, discomfort and sores. If it is too loose, the saddle or harness may not stay in the proper position.
|
|
Google BooksAlonzo Fernandez de Avellaneda, A continuation of the history and adventures of the renowned Don Quixote de la Mancha, tr. William Augustus Yardley (1874), The Novelist's Magazine volume 16, page 112. Google Books Cruppers were once part of the standard design of cavalry saddles. The McClellan saddle used by the United States Army utilized an optional crupper into the early 20th century, though difficulties with proper fitting eventually led the army to discontinue its use.
|
|
"Crupper" It usually attaches via a snap or buckle to a crupper ring at the center of the cantle of the saddle, or to a pair of rings (dees) on either side of the cantle. Many riding saddles today are manufactured without properly placed rings, though rings can be added. Or, in lieu of rings, a design used on English saddles utilizes a t-shaped brace that is inserted under the saddle between the rear panels and the tree."Crupper" from SmartPak Equine Web page accessed September 1, 2008 Cruppers are not common on western saddles, but some English saddles are designed with crupper rings, particularly those designed to fit mules.
|
|