Re: Youth Endurance Saddles

[rides2far@juno.com (Angela C. McGhee)]

On Fri, 16 Jan 1998 20:19:58 -0700 lyoness@castlenet.com (Joane Pappas
White) writes:
>A couple of issues ago, someone wrote that they had a youth endurance 
>saddle
>for sale and would have it at the convention. Please contact me 
>directly. 
>
> My little friend Morgan, age 10, needs an endurance saddle.  He is
>currectly riding in a 40 year old Hereford Saddle which is great for 
>roping
>but has its limitations for distance.
>
>Today he commented that his knees were bothering him--something I 
>thought
>was limited to we "older" riders.  My knees kill me in my western 
>saddle but
>never bother me in our endurance types.

The first thing I would check if someone's knees hurt is stirrup length. 
My rule is, "If your knees hurt, let the stirrups down.  If your thighs
hurt raise them."  It could be that Morgan has had a growth spurt and
nobody has let them down.

2nd.  I am in the process of finding a saddle for my daughter, 11, to do
endurance on her 13 hand Welsh pony.  I went to American Saddlery here in
Chattanooga, and they loaned me a 13" tree.  It fit the pony well.  I
wish I could get 14" for the daughter, but the 14" bridged badly on the
pony.  There are lots of backyard saddle shops in this part of the
country, and I have a fellow who is going to do an experiment for me. 
We're going to take  a standard western saddle seat and  saw off the
horn.  We'll mount English stirrup leathers, and have flaps on the side
like an English saddle.  I think I'll use a dressage girth set up.  The
billets may come from underneath, or be part of the flap.  

I've had a lot of trouble with saddles for children because they are made
like little adult saddles.  As an artist, I can tell you that a child is
"5 heads tall" while an adult is "7 heads tall"  That means their legs
are much shorter in proportion to their bodies.  That's why by the time a
child can reach the stirrups on his 12" pony saddle, he's ready for a
bigger saddle.

The English saddles will take up well, but offer little security.  If
this actually works, and he is able to make it fairly inexpensively
(really shouldn't cost more than new kid saddles in catalog)  we may try
to market a few.

I guess it will actually look like an Aussie without the polies.  And I
hated those things when I posted.

Let me know what you settle on .

Angie McGhee  
>
>WHICH SADDLES DO OUR JUNIOR RIDERS USE?  I measured Morgan's saddle 
>and it
>is a 13 inches western saddle.  Please recommend a youth saddle for 
>Morgan
>and Baby Tzar who has no withers.
>
>Thanks, Joane
>                                 
>
>