Saddle Fit

[Marv Walker <Marv@MarvWalker.com>]

> You know this stuff about the Impression pad is seeming to be an awful lot
> like advertising. I for one am getting tied of hearing that it walks and
> chews gum at the same time especially from someone signed on as a guest.
> This pad, while it is a very nice idea, does nothing to correct the fit. It
> only tells you if it doesn't fit and why isn't anyone asking how it measures
> how off the fit is. We all know if there is no putty at a certain spot that
> the saddle doesn't fit. But, that bad a fit may also be seen by looking at
> the saddle. How do you measure if there is 1/4 inch of putty in one spot and
> 1/8 elsewhere. That's enough to cause imbalance or pressure. How come I'm
> the only one asking these questions.

Let's say that a mold maker makes a mold of a horse's back 
and then you send that to a saddle maker who fits the saddle 
to the mold.  Would you (general "you" here) say that saddle 
"fits" the horse?

What I've always wondered with saddle fitting is, how do we 
know that the saddle that fits today will fit next week, next 
month or next year.  If I get Summer out of the pasture in the 
spring for some leisurely trail riding then get the Tevis dreams, 
her body shape will be continually changing as she becomes 
better conditioned.  It seems to me the saddle I start with 
won't keep up.

To me, saddle-fitting is an ongoing process that requires constant 
observation and a lot of uncertainty.  Since most horse owners 
cannot afford a steady succession of saddles it seems to me that 
one reaches a happy medium and depends on the saddle pad to take 
up the slack for as long as possible.

Luckily I don't seem to have saddle fitting problems.  Not real 
sure what I'll do if I ever do have.

Marv "Never put a wide saddle on a narrow horse, never put a 
narrow saddle on a wide horse." Walker 

-- 
Upcoming 2000 Clinics 
Madison (Atlanta) GA Oct 14-15, 2000
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