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After a year of searching and trying different saddles I finally found
one that fits! My QH, Taffy, is huge and has low withers. My 10 pound
Wintec Endurance saddle fit her so poorly she would bite at the saddle
whenever I put it on her. A friend let me borrow her 40 pound stock
saddle while I searched for a new saddle. Taffy liked the 40 pounder,
but I didn't. I could get it on with no trouble, but couldn't get it
off! Alas, that saddle also had dry spots. I tried several OF, a
Bighorn, a Sport Saddle, a dressage saddle, several Circle Y's, even a
McClellan...all to no avail. Taffy had dry spots with all of them, and I
hated the way many of them felt. Then I met Colin Dangaard of the
Australian Connection. I went to his place out in Malibu and tried out
several of his saddles. My husband (and Colin) said I needed to get the
"Saddle of My Dreams" on sale that week for the mere price of $1700. My
checkbook said, "Get a grip!!" I decided to go with Colin's Patrol Poley
($600). With all the saddles I tried on Taffy she always crow hopped or
bucked a little when I first got up. So when I put the Aussie saddle on
and climbed aboard I was expecting the same thing. Nothing. She just
took off walking. She headed straight for a steep hill she always gave
me trouble with and went right on down without so much as a "By your
leave". I only stayed out an hour, but we did the whole gammot - walk,
trot, canter, run, uphill, downhill, and flats. When we got back to the
barn I crossed my fingers and lifted the saddle off - NO DRY SPOTS! I
started rubbing and poking and searching for sore spots - nothing. All I
got from Taffy was a "mutual groom". When I do something she likes she
rubs my back with her nose giving me a massage too. I was ecstatic. The
next day I went out for 2 hours - no dry spots. Last night I took her
team penning for nearly 4 hours and when we got home everything looked
great. I still have to use a wither riser pad, but my tree is made of
wood and steel and can be adjusted to fit better if I so desire. I'm not
sure I want to take the chance and screw things up by having it adjusted.
Colin is coming to the Empty Saddle Club later this month to give a talk
about saddles and saddle fit to my horsemen's association and Taffy (and
my new saddle) are going to be one of the demonstration horses. Anybody
from Southern California (LA more specifically) that would like to drive
out and attend the meeting let me know and I'll give you directions to
the Club. By the way, the saddle only weighs 25 pounds, is leather, and
you sit so deep you feel like you're in an easy chair. It's really
comfortable, and it fits the horse! Can't get any better than that.
On a sad note, last night coming home from team penning one of the
fellows that was up penning was hit by a car. The horse had to be
destroyed at the scene and Jack was taken to the hospital with head and
internal injuries. As of this moment I don't know how Jack is doing. I
met Jack last night for the first time. He came over with a group of
penners from a local boarding stable. I was up ahead and only heard the
accident, but went back to offer assistance. It was obvious the horse
would have to be put down - I won't go into the details of the poor
animals condition. Having a calm disposition in emergencies I checked
Jack and told another woman to not let him move under any circumstances.
After 911 was called I asked if anyone knew if Jack had a family. The
only thing anyone knew was that he had a wife. I checked Jack's pockets
and he was not carrying any ID! People, please, carry something with
your name, address and phone # on it! Not even the police can find
relatives if they don't know where to start.
I won't say anything about helmets (no Jack was not wearing one - and his
head went through the windshield of the car). I will, however, say
something about night riding. A flashlight at the front of the group
isn't going to do anything for the people at the end of the group.
Reflective devices or lights are a must on every horse that is taken out
after dark (not one horse had reflectors on). Crossing small, dark,
winding, tree lined streets between two curves is asking for trouble.
Find a straight section away from any curves, especially if there are no
streetlights to brighten the area. And for God sake don't expect the
cars to be able to see you just because they have headlights. Remember,
headlights don't see around corners. I know this is going to sound cold
and callous, but that horse is better off dead than to be owned by
someone who doesn't give his safety and well-being anymore thought than
he gives to his own. It was a horrible way to die. No animal should
have to suffer like that. I feel sorriest for the poor woman that hit
them. I hold every single rider in that group responsible for what
happened to Jack and his horse for their irresponsible decision to cross
where they did. Use your heads out there, people, if only for the sake of
your horse.
My rantings done.
Tori
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