Dragon Tack Talk?

[AKEOLO]

Ok so since a lot of us came from the horse world through Dmitri's tumblr, wanna talk about dragon tack?

I found this awesome DA post, and I assume bridles/halters aren't a thing because dragons are sapient, but do y'all have saddle ideas?
A horn or a handle would probably be ideal, but what about saddle shape? Stirrups? Back on the saddle or no? Different saddles based on what you're doing?

If y'all give me some concepts, I can make some sketches. I already have my concept of Retiath's saddle, here:


It's basically an english saddle with a longer seat and a slight lift to the back of the saddle to provide some support on long flights, a horn to hang onto, two blocks to hold legs in place, a girth underneath the saddle, and a second stabilizing strap in front of it. There's no pad, but it is custom made to the dragon and sheepskin lines everything that touches the dragon. Ideally there would also be a crupper to prevent the saddle from slipping forward.

[DEARTH]

HELL YEAH DRAGON TACK

Okay, so, idk a lot of actual Tack Terms, but I do have SOME understanding of how a saddle would likely work on a Pernese dragon. So, the only place you could feasibly sit on a dragon is on top of the shoulders/neck, unless you had some really convoluted harness system and knelt in the saddle further on the dragon's back. That's already covered. But I think that dragon tack would likely be treeless and simply a thick leather pad (or several pads of varying materials) with straps in place to hold the rider via a belt harness and possibly some leg straps. I can see the saddle being elongated, with handles towards the front, so that the rider can lean in and maximize aerodynamic-ness and balance through turns, dives, and vertical ascents. In general, I think dragonriding takes a much more horizontal approach than horse riding.

Given the colossal size of Pernese dragons, I don't think that trees are necessary to distribute the rider's weight, especially when taking aerodynamics into account. The more elevated the saddle and stance of the rider, the more drag is produced. However, there definitely have to be a lot of straps to secure the saddle to the dragon and prevent it from slipping all over the place. My thought was one strap under the saddle around the neck, and a second strap off the back of the saddle but still before the wing that would go around the dragon's chest behind the foreleg, to prevent forward slippage and to help hold down the back end of the saddle.

And like the dA post brought up, I'm sure there's a bunch of different saddles for different purposes! Double saddles for bringing home Candidates, combat saddles, long-distance-travel saddles, utility saddles with lots of attachments for gear/cargo, and probably some kind of over-the-top decorative saddles for when dragonriders want to show off.

[AKEOLO]

I didn't even think about treeless saddles, thank you!!
That would make sense considering where the saddle would be sitting is very flexible and has to be able to move a lot with the dragon. Treeless saddles would also make more sense as the dragon is growing quickly. It would be a lot more expensive to buy a custom-treed saddle every week than to just have a flexible saddle. (I wonder if dragonriders oil their dragons with the same thing they oil their saddles with... *thinking emoji*)

That said, decorative and combat saddles might need to be treed either for looks or for sturdiness. In combat, it might be very advantageous to have multiple pommels (think roman 4-pommeled saddles, back before stirrups), both to hold on to and to balance yourself if you as the rider must do any mounted combat yourself. A belt would certainly help you not fall off, but doesn't offer much if you have to lean down far to slice a dude's head off or somethin'. (which, tbh, I don't even know if they do on Pern)

My thought on aerodynamics is that the dragon is a huge, immensely strong creature and the little bit of drag you create by sitting upright wouldn't have that much of an effect on how fast you're going, unless you're riding Ruth or a similarly tiny dragon.

Do you think it would be an insult for a dragon to wear a harness to pull something? It would probably not be very practical, but in a dire situation with a HUGE thing to move, what would the harness look like? I'd imagine a collar, since their shoulders are so strong, but what of the straps? They've got wings to get in the way of a lot of those things.
(Also, for some reason, I'm imagining a bunch of fire lizards hooked up to a cart, flying across the sky like santa's reindeer)

[DMITRI]

I was about to mention the 4 pommeled saddles as I scrolled down lol. I can see a saddle which is raised above and behind, and which has straps (seatbelt type maybe, over the thighs maybe) to keep the rider on no matter what. That last bit doesn't necessarily align with canon (people fall off sometimes) but I think it would be a necessary safety feature to be riding something so maneuverable, especially since they have smooth hide and can probably be slippery.

Also, multiple people get on a dragon without adjusting the saddle all the time in the books, so I also don't see a saddle which is strictly multi-pommeled for security, because there wouldn't be enough room for more than one person. It would be too snug.

[MOMO]

I was thinking re: the logistics of saddles on LARGER DRAGONS a la the chat discussions earlier today

To help deal with the necks being to thicc for humans to get their little leggies around them:


1. raised saddles, mb something akin to a camel saddle




or a horse saddle of near eastern flavors (esp the egyptian dancing horses)




2. less raised and more flat, a la the pteranodon saddles of dinotopia



(was also thinking of the really flatlined riding postures some motorcycle bike things have, but I couldn't remember the name or find a very good picture.)