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My first saddle was an Aussie and I still have it, tho I haven't used it
in 6 years because it didn't fit Lakota. I keep saying I'm going to sell
it but I just can't make myself do it. <g>

I rode Lakota in that saddle for about a year and a half (before I figured
out it didn't fit him that well, which didn't show up until we tried our
first 50) and I never came out of it, not once.  After the Aussie, I rode
him in a variety of saddles, several English APs, two Stonewalls and a
DeSoto, and I came out of every single one of them. <BG>

The DeSoto is by far my favorite of those and I still have it too (now
looking for a new horse who can wear it :) but even the DeSoto isn't quite
as secure as the Aussie.  That deep seat and those poleys really give a
security that cannot be matched otherwise, I don't think, and the poleys
were never in the way (you only feel them when you hit them on a
spook-and-drop or spook-and-spin, and when you hit them you're glad
they're there :)).

The main problem with Aussies is finding one to fit a wide-backed Arab.  
Secondary problem is the weight and the heat associated with those very
long panels, although they do make the rider more comfortable I think, and
I always had good contact with the horse (slightly better than my DeSoto
with fenders).

A standard dressage-style pad will fit, and the Toklat woolback pad is my
favorite.  You need an Aussie girth.  They usually come with
sorta-English-style loose-swinging stirrup leathers that are wider than 
regular English leathers, about 2-1/2" wide, which I consider the best of 
both worlds.  Those are my favorite leathers and I have used them on 
regular English-style saddles.

Sometime I'd like to try one of the Aussie-style models made by the 
various panel saddle makers.  Anyone have any recommendations on those?  
Specifically the American-Flex?

-- 
Glenda R. Snodgrass

Before you begin, consider ... The Net Effect
http://www.theneteffect.com
(251) 433-0196


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