While you need plenty of accessories for successful horse riding, few are as crucial as your saddle. Not only does it affect how comfortable you are while riding, it also determines how comfortable ...

It’s been a decade since Natalie McCrary got on a horse to race, but July 9 was the right time to get back on the saddle. “Horse riding has been in my blood for as long as I can remember,” she said.

Near the gate to the dirt ring, a horse spins in small circles and then dances, a tightly muscled mass of nerves, as his rider starts to lean forward in the tooled-leather Western saddle. The gate ...