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Re: [RC] Rigging options for existing sportsaddle - Karen SullivanHi Karen. I have ridden sport saddles on a variety of different shaped horses for 10 years, including ones, that, like you say, have the cinch slide forward to right behind the elbows, to hot-dog shaped horses where the saddle tends to want to slide back. My overall feeling is that the saddle is going to find the "right spot" on the horses back and sort of snug in. Cruppers and breastcollars should not be used for the function of keeping the saddle in some sort of place. Even with those horses whom had the conformation to nudge the cinch forward; I never had any problems as long as I pulled the leg forward after cinching. As to cinching from the saddle because some sort of compression needed on the skito oad...I have to say, WHOA, because you should not be cinching these saddles down tight. I typically put skito pad on, then saddle, girth up snugly, and maybe take it up another hole or two. It should never be really tight. My favorite cinch is a neoprene one with elastic ends, sold by Chicks, called a sweet spot cinch. The horses really appreciate the elastic. Using this cinch, I can cinch loosely and not have the saddle slip. Sometimes i even have a bit of air between cinch and horse. The only time I feel I need to get off and perhaps check a cinch is in the very cold winter, when the skito foam is hard.....and will not compress until warmed by the horses back. But I can fix this by putting the pad in my truck while hauling to a trail, or saddle the horse at home, haul her to the trail, then tighten. However, I feel the majority of people cinch too tight anyway....I do not believe in heaving it up with all your strentgh, or these belly buster devices..... Just my two cents worth.... Karen ----- I've had my sport saddle for about four months now, and I really like it - I'm finally getting used to riding in it. I only have one problem, and that is with the cinch. My mare is extremely round (and FAT right now), and the cinch keeps on sliding forward - I'm using a crupper to keep the saddle in place (she has round shoulders and almost no withers), but the cinch continues to slide up to right behind her elbows. To add another twist, I have a difficult time adjusting the cinch from the saddle - and since I'm using a skito pad, which compresses after warmup, I really need to be able to do this (If I get off to do it, it defeats the purpose - without my weight in the saddle, the pad pops back up). When I rode English, I had no problems, because there were two billet straps to adjust - I could adjust one, then the other. But right now, I keep losing the cinch strap when I adjust (I'm using sportacks quick cinch, which is easier than a standard cinch, but still a problem). I saw in one of the classifieds that someone has set up a "V" rigging on their saddle. Can someone explain this to me? It seems from the pictures that they loop the cinch strap through the back D ring on the saddle. An ideal situation for me would be a type of center fire rigging using the sportack option that provides two billet straps - but the saddle is not configured for that - just the standard endurance model. Any other ideas? Thanks! Karen and Mazzie _________________________________________________________________ Concerned that messages may bounce because your Hotmail account has exceeded its 2MB storage limit? Get Hotmail Extra Storage! http://join.msn.com/?PAGE=features/es =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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