Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Saddle Suggestions, Anyone?  Barb

 

I have an Arabian gelding that is built similar to your horse and I've been trying for a few

years now to get a fit that will work for him.  I've tried the Free N Easy and it gave him

bad loin rubs.  I purchased a Barefoot Cheyenne and it also gave him loin rubs and because

of his wide back it gave me hip pain.  I purchased a Reactor Panel and the panels are just

too long and stiff for his short, wide back and it gave him loin rubs.  I bought every type of

pad and used pads under the booties but it just won't work.  The Ortho-Flex I own gave him

the same problems.  The paneled saddles I'm sure work for many horses because I'm using the

Reactor Panel on my four year old now that has a much longer back and it seems to be working

so far.  The gelding that is having problems with saddle fit is slightly downhill and has a short

wide back that gets narrower toward the withers.  He is also very muscled and has a lot of

animation in his movement.  Unfortunately problems don't show up until the demo time is up

and then you are pretty much stuck with an expensive saddle that just isn't going to work.

 

I'm seriously considering having a saddle made by the SR Saddle Co because Steve asked for

pictures of my horse first to let me know if he could help me out before taking my money.

I've also heard great things about his saddles.  I've missed so many seasons of competition

because of these saddling problems.  There are a lot of great saddles out there and many

work for some horses while the same saddle just won't work for others. 

 

Good luck.

 

Barb