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Re: [RC] saddle issue - use a saddle fitter!!! - SHEILA A WALSH

Dear list,
I had trouble with saddle fit and I didn't even know it. I remember the first thing I learned about saddle fit was the focus on width, but what I have learned from a professional saddle fitter is that the front to back fit is the most important fit, especially on my Arabs. He even says saddles made in England are all made on the same tree and that tree fits Thorobreds, not Arabs.

My mare was developing lameness in her hind legs. It was the saddle bridging on her back!!! This causes pressure points by the withers and on the small of their back.

So, my only advice to anyone with a saddle issue is to use a professional saddle fitter. They will save you thousands of dollars. They charge you very little for their time and every penny and minute is worth it. I have paid my guy twice and I am so glad I did. Now I have a saddle that fits an impossible mare and she's happy and I am happy and we get out thereand ride, really ride!!

I will NEVER purchase another saddle without a professional saddle fitter checking fit on my mount.

If you live in Arizona, I am happy to send you my guy's number, offline.

Cheers,

Sheila



As Winston Churchill said, "No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle." As Shakespear wrote in Henry V, "When I bestride him, I soar, I am like a hawk; he trots the air, the Earth sings, when he touches it; the basest horn of his hoof is more musical that the pipe of Hermes."





From: "Dolores Arste" <darste3@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Ridecamp Ridecamp" <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [RC] saddle issue
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:32:13 -0500

If the saddle needs repair, she can send it to us.

I've written to her off-list.
My husband is a fitter trained in the UK and we love the Wintec's. If the Cair panel
has failed, the saddle can be changed back to full flock.

I had a Baines Enduro that came as flock, was changed to Flair and back to
flock again. It's not easy but it can be done for less than the cost of a new
saddle.

Cair is a knock-off, albeit an improvement, of the Flair system.

Warmly,
Dolores Arste
Zen Horsemanship
Middle Grove, NY 12850

tel: (518) 882-6485
fax: (518) 602-9213
site: www.zenhorsemanship.com

Co-Author: 101 Ways to Improve Your Life
Improve Your Life with Horses and Zen.
Zen: Always the Beginner - Coaching Begins with You

----- Original Message ----- From: "Elizabeth Walker" <bwalker2@xxxxxxx>
To: "Ridecamp" <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "gina tabasso" <gtabasso@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 12:59 PM
Subject: Re: [RC] saddle issue


I am no saddle fitting expert, so hopefully others on Ridecamp will
jump in.  However, I have some suggestions for you.

Since you have a Wintec, I would suggest first buying the gullet gauge
that Wintec sells to determine which gullet width to use.  Since you
can't afford a new saddle, that is the cheapest alternative for
starting to figure out what is wrong.

Second - a too narrow tree can cause problems, and since you say that
you have put weight on your horse, I would tend to think than you
might want to go *wider*, not narrower.  That depends, however, on
where the sores are.  You didn't say, exactly, but it sounded as if
they were on top of the withers.  If they are on each side of the
withers, I would guess the gullet is too narrow.  If they are on top
of the withers, then the gullet is probably too wide.  (hence the
saddle gauge recommendation)

If the gullet width is right, and you are still having problems, (and
assuming the sores are on top of the withers), then you might try a
cutback pad.  If the saddle normally sits level, a cutback pad will
raise the whole saddle up, rather than just the front.  Some older
horses lose condition over their topline, which would have the effect
of "raising" his withers.

One final thought.  Have someone (like a saddle fitter) check your
saddle to make sure that there isn't something going on with it.  For
example, some of the Wintecs have air-filled panels.  If those panels
have stretched, or lost air, then your saddle simply doesn't have the
panel height it is supposed to, again making the saddle sit down on
the withers.  Padding may not be able to compensate.  I don't know
where to point you for repairs in that case, but you could contact
Wintec.

Hope this helps.


On Nov 10, 2008, at 8:33 PM, Steph Teeter wrote:

Gina - I'm forwarding your question to the Endurance discussion
group 'Ridecamp' (http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp) -

(Ridecamp: send private replies to gtabasso at hotmail dot com)

Steph


On Nov 11, 2008, at 2:47 AM, gina tabasso wrote:

Hello,

Someone directed me to your website and said that endurance riders
would have a solution. I was wondering if you or anyone you know
could help me. I have a horse who is 18. I've had him 11 years.
Bought my current Wintec saddle about five years ago (with
changeable gullets). About two months ago it started pressing on
his withers and rubbing bloody sores. I double padded. No help. I
tried a pommel/withers pad and it tipped the saddle backward so it
pressed on his lower spine. I tried a riser pad and that worked for
20 minutes until it worked its way out to the back of the saddle
and my pommel was pressing again. I put the narrowest/smalles
gullet in (one down from what I was using all these years). Nothing
helped. Last night I bought a swayback pad although he has a pretty
straight spine (16.2 thoroughbred with the withers of a shark fin).
I have to try it yet. But if this doesn't work I don't know what to
do or why my saddle no longer fits. I assume his body is changing
with age. I can't get a narrower tree and this saddle is all-
purpose and cut back pretty well. I can't afford a new saddle. This
one is like new. Worked all this summer and all of a sudden not. I
did put some weight on him for winter because he shivers it off and
maybe the weight gain did something but that would seem to indicate
a WIDER tree, not narrower. I don't know where to turn. I usually
ride every day and can't right now and he is getting batty and
dangerous again without being worked hard and galloped. If you have
any resources or advice, please let me know. I am going to the
experts! Thanks,

Gina

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Replies
Re: [RC] saddle issue, Dolores Arste