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[RC] Saddle fit problems (So. Calif question) - beth glover

Anybody in southern Calif . know of a professional saddle fitter? 

My five year old mare is causing me grief. When I saddle her and ride her in the arena, on the flat, she is generally very willing and cheerful about it. Last week I rode her with a bareback pad, and she kept trying to reach around and itch her right side and she banged my shin with her teeth (like a hammer! yow!) That is behavior I have seen her do previously on the trail.

I have ridden her in two western saddles (NO Good),  a Synnergist, A Gorenscheck,  my Stubben Survival, and the response is always the same. When we are going up or down a hill, or if she gets sweaty, she tries to reach around repeatedly and bite her right side under the saddle. One friend thought she was colicky once, but no she is not. Her skin is intact, there are no bruises, swellings, bug bites, scars, rashes. Nothing. The mare is narrow chested at this point, with reason to believe that she will widen (geneticallyl) but she is sometimes high necked, has good withers, moves like a country English horse (ha, she doesn't trip nor stumble like my others! ha ha) Last week she was completely evil with the Stubben. My friend had to pony her with me on her, because she began to balk. I was swearing at her and threatening to send her to the trainer for months. But I truly think its not a training issue, its a saddle issue. Because when I got off and led her later, down a hill, she kept turning around t o bite under that saddle. When we unsaddled her later, she twisted like an unusual pretzel to itch that right side with her teeth. The next day, there were wet spots on her side from her itching there. When I did take off the Stubben, I found two dry patches of about 3 inches, under the stirrup bars.   So then I made a wire tracing of her back, and made a drawing and took it to the Big Broken Horn sale. The tracing did fit under the wide tree Stubbens. I showed it to the saddle repair/ sales guy, and he noted that she seemed narrow (high withers) but then she branches out. He compared it with the saddles too. He told me he didn't think I needed a different pad, I am using those close cell foam pads.  His determination was that I need to bring my Stubben in to have the stuffing removed and re-done. Because it's probably lumpy.  I went home and looked and it is not lumpy, appears pretty smooth. I don't trust him  very much , and neither does my husband because he was the guy who told me to redo my D ehner show boots because they were too loose in the calf, and then made them way too tight, thus reducing $400 Dehners to consignment crap. I really don't want to trash several thousand dollars worth of saddles that fit the other horses.  And I don't have more thousands to get another custom saddle. Suggestions? Please? I am getting very frustrated.  I do have a tiny little old Courbette that seems to fit the filly best...perfect, a 30 year old flat show saddle that is totally unsuitable for trail. Now what!!!??

Oh and by the way, Kudos to the PAC riders and especially my friend Jonathon Bowman riding the incomparable Kitt!!!

Thanks Beth Glover



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