positions were also developed. Custom built saddles may be designed with any of the above rigging styles. Modern western saddles for riders who need speed and agility, such as barrel racing saddles, often have a 3/4 rigging, the closest placement to a center-fire rigging seen on modern saddles. The most popular modern rigging placement is the 7/8 rigging, which allows a rider to have a secure seat but more easily stay centered over a horse's center of balance and is often seen on saddles used for western equitation. A "full double" rigging is seen most often on saddles used for team roping, where the weight of the steer puts tremendous forward stress on the saddle, requiring rigging set well forward and both a front and back cinch to support the saddle. A few saddles are built with a three-way rigging plate that allows a saddle to be rigged in the full, 7/8 or 3/4 positions. Rigging attachment styles The front rigging is attached to the saddle in one of three ways: ring, flat plate or in-skirt. Ring rigging is made of rings on heavy leather straps attached directly to the saddle tree. This is the strongest attachment method, but a disadvantage is that it creates bulk under the legs and inhibits the free swing of the stirrups. The second style of attachment is the flat plate. This type has leather layers that are riveted around a metal plate and attached directly to the tree of the saddle. This is also a very strong type of ring attachment that reduces bulk under the leg and does not inhibit the swinging of the stirrups, though it is not as strong as ring rigging. The third style is the in-skirt, where the rings or plates are attached directly to the saddle's skirt. The advantage of having an in-skirt rigging is that it provides the least amount of bulk under the leg compared to the other styles of attachment. Two variations exist, the built-in and the built-on. The "built-in" rigging design makes the attachment of the rings very strong by sandwiching the rings with layers of leather and then sewing and riveting them to the skirt. This design is strong enough for pleasure riding but not for roping. It has the least amount of bulk under the leg and is popular for show saddles. A "built-on" rigging attaches the plate to the surface of