Re: lopsidedness

["Desoto Custom Saddlery" <desotosaddle@voyager.net>]

What most people don't seem to understand is that the saddle should not sit
that far foreword on top of this lopsidedness. The large shoulder muscles
are more developed on one side because all horses are right handed or left
handed just like people and you even find some that are quite ambidextrous.
A right handed horse likes to take his left lead predominantly and a left
handed horse likes to take his right lead. If he gets away with doing this
under saddle a lot of the time it will build up the side that he takes the
predominant lead on. These large shoulder muscles should never have a saddle
placed on them as it will restrict their movement and pinch causing a
multitude of problems. If the saddle wants to crawl up on the shoulder
muscles chances are it is too narrow of a tree or the pitch of the bars are
wrong or both.

Marilyn Horstmyer
Desoto Custom Saddlery
(231) 775-5612
E-mail  desotosaddle@voyager.net
Web site: http://www.desotosaddle.com
----- Original Message -----
From: <DESERTRYDR1@aol.com>
To: <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2001 11:40 PM
Subject: RC: lopsidedness


> My mare had a big shoulder.  I measured her for a blanket one day.  She
> measured 70 inches from center of chest to center of tail.  Imagine my
> surprise when I went around the other side, measured from center to
center,
> and she measured 74 inches!     I measured her several times on each side,
> and the results were the same.  Lest you think I don't know how to measure
or
> read a tape, I used to be a millwright, a craft that requires precise
> measurements down to .0001 inch.    I was not evident to the naked eye
that
> she was so crooked.  I quit riding her in a western saddle.  Couldn't
afford
> a good english saddle, and didn't know what I wanted to be anyway.  so I
rode
> bareback, with a pad for about a year.  Not only did it improve my seat,
it
> got me in the habit of placing my seatbones on each side of her spine, and
> got me out of the habit of relying on stirrups to balance.  Best news,
since
> I pracitced riding straight, and concentrated on working my mare equally
to
> both sides, the big shoulder went away.  jeri
>
>
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