I recently bought a Big Horn endurance saddle and I have problems
with it slipping forward. On one downhill decent it even slipped up onto my
poor boy's neck <gulp!>, thank God for his level-headedness!
I have switched to a shorter mohair (sp?) cinch (versus the felt one
I got with the saddle) for it's grippiness (is that a word? : ) and I have
cut down my cinch strap (mostly so I don't have a thick wad of nylon under
my leg). Both changes have helped but I am also avoiding those steep decents
out of concern...
I borrowed a friend's crupper (sp?) that she uses for her driving
harness but my gelding lost his mind when I tried to put it on. He clamped
his tail down, tucked his whole butt underneath him and ran in circles. I
have never used a crupper before and I am curious to any negative effects
its' use has on the tail bones or back bones - it just seems like it would
hurt to have something pulling on those base-tail vertebrate.
Another suggestion I have had would be to use the pack rigging that
hangs down on the hind thighs and comes across the flank.
My questions are:
What are the risks (if any) when using a crupper? How can you get a
horse used to one so that it is not a big deal? Could a pack-rigging type (I
don't know what it's called) be used without hindering hindquarter movement?
Any other suggestions on how to fix this problem?
Why can't I just need a breastcollar like everyone else! <sigh> I
have several other questions for this list but I am going to ask those
later, this is the most pressing!
Jacqueline
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Author owned by Winza, 13 year old Crabbet Arabian gelding