How to Fit Your Western Breast Collar

Western Breast Collars have a very simple but useful purpose. They keep your saddle from sliding back and help the saddle to stay in the best fitting position on your horses back.


The fitting position is also determined by how how well your saddle fits on your horse, the better your saddle fits the less it will move around. So be sure you start with a quality saddle that has a proper fit.

Your decision on which type of Breast Collar to use will be based upon the type of riding you do and your personal preference.

The wider the Breast Collar the more the pressure is spread out across the chest.

Here is a list of the Styles of Breast Collars used for different various types of horse riding:

A breast Collar with a Narrow-1"style- used for a Flat trail, Show ring, or Light performance,

Endurance equestrian sports where lightweight is a factor...

A Breast Collar with a Mid size-1 1/2"-2"- used for a Mountain trail, Barrel racing, Gymkhana,

Cutting, any medium to high performance events.

A Breast Collar with a Wide width of- 2-3"- for Packing, Roping, Ranch branding work, High performance were you will need to dally on your horn.

You have many styles available to match your saddle or personal preference with beautiful hand tooling, stamping, and conchas or rawhide braiding.

Lets talk about fit. Most of the Breast Collars on the market today fit around on the shoulders and connect to the cincha ring. Riders are discovering that this fit is a little restrictive and rubs across the shoulder.

Many saddles now come with a dee ring mounted up higher on the front, for a better Breast collar position up over the shoulder at the base of the neck. Like an old harness collar for pulling a wagon.

An analogy would be the fit of your back pack. If the shoulder straps fall down onto your upper arm it is very uncomfortable.

This over the shoulder fit at the base of the neck is becoming very popular!

Different Breast Collar styles are being made To fit this way--

Many now have an over the neck strap which connects at the upper rings on the Breast collar and goes up over the neck between the saddle and the mane holding the Breast Collar up for proper fit. This strap can be purchased separately.

Some are called Buckaroo Breast Collar, Nevada Breast Collar, Old Martingale Breast Collar, and pulling Breast Collar.


The pulling breast collar pictured on the right is designed to fit any saddle as it wraps up through and around the pommel with one strap on each side of the horn fitting any saddle... even without the upper front Dee rings on your saddle.

This style breast collar is ideal for all medium to ultra high performance events.

Quality Finished Leather Breast Collars are extremely important due to the pressure on the front of your horse. When manufactured the edges of the Breast Collar must be finished off and rubbed down so there are no sharp edges to prevent chaffing.

Always check your Quality Leather Horse Tack for safety reasons and make sure there is not any build up of hair, sweat or dirt on the underside against your horses hair as this can chaff and create problems.

Buckaroo Leather has quality American Made Breast Collars on sale in our Valentine Specials category..... take a look at this......

Breast Collar Old Martingale style "Choker"

Price: $171.50
Sale:$150.50
You Save: $21.00

Hand crafted from the finest Hermann Oak Rough Out Oiled Golden Bridle Leather w/ chap lining, this Old Martingale style shaped breast collar (some in the sage call it a "CHOKER") features an over the shoulder fit for a better pulling position. Also featured is the adjustable neck strap and billet. The breast collar is hand edged, rubbed and finished with nickel hardware.

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