Ride "height"

["Raymond O'Donohue" <rayo@cfw.com>]

Angela C. McGhee wrote:
> 
> Man, oh man.  Don't want to start any saddle wars, but I can give an
> opposite answer to most of these examples.  Fact is we've all had good
> and bad experiences, and the saddle that stinks for us today, might be
> the answer to our dreams for our next horse.  Take any comments like "All
> Western Saddles are the worst"...saw a rider at the ROC with an old
> Barrel saddle.  Said she owned most of the major brands of endurance
> saddles, but this one "worked" for this horse.  Took nerve to be seen on
> it!
> 
>  Western styles are just about
> >the
> >worst.  They pinch the horse, cramp the rider, are cumbersome and
> >heavy, and
> >the horns have been known to crack ribs.
> 
> I find that the problem with pinching usually comes form English saddles.
>  The Western saddles are more prone to being wide.
> 
>   PLEASE don't find this out
> >the hard
> >way!  Aussies are wonderful.
> 
> I'm sure some are.  We bought an Australian saddle, made in Australia of
> excellent quality and workmanship back in 1988, at the very beginning of
> the craze.  It pinched our horse so horribly behind the withers, and I
> was sooo dumb and didn't know it...that he began to refuse to go uphill
> at all...would rear and do a roll back...something he had NEVER done
> before, and quit after a change of saddles.  I know some work great for
> some people, but that one was a nightmare!
> 
>  >ride like a sofa
> 
> The polies bruised my thighs horribly.
> 
>   All this goes for specialized endurance
> >saddles as
> >well, only the cheap endurance models fall apart and rot
> 
> Have some friends who have ridden the cheapest of them for thousands of
> miles.
> 
>  while a $200
> >aussie
> >will last for 200 years--there's proof!
> 
> The $200 ones I saw had very uneven stuffing and it was stapled on the
> bottom.  If I were going to get an Aussie, I'd get one closer to $800
> level.  Some pretty bad immitations came out back in the early 1990's.
> 
>   The best you can go for in
> >any
> >distance event is an English close contact or jumping saddle, a
> >good-quality
> 
> I guess that's your experience.  Mine would put all but the dressage
> model at the bottom.  I've had good luck with my Express...so far.  If I
> had to get another saddle when that one didn't work, I'd probably try to
> get a good custom fit on the Desoto saddle, but I prefer the stirrup set
> up of the Express.  The Sharon Saare has been very good for some of my
> friends, but for the money, and considering that I'm near enough to get a
> custom fit, I'd opt for the Desoto.
> 
> I started out on a jumping saddle.  Liked the convenience, and weight,
> but it had more horse sore by the withers and in the cantle area, and I
> had constant lower back pain.  Had to give it up.
> 
> Angie McGhee...whatever works for you...use it!
> 
> _____________________________________________________________________
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> Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]   Re the Saddle Thing:Yes,it's all unquantifiable.For me 
personally,there's a major dimension/parameter that makes it even 
trickier:seat "height".I ride poorly,I'm tall and no great athlete,my 
horse is hot and froggy,etc,etc.He is gaited,thank God,and I have 
modified my saddle/pad combo to put me as close to his spine as 
possible while still keeping him comfy.To me this business of ride height 
is perhaps the most important consideration in a saddle,but I rarely hear 
any mention of it in saddle discussions.I don't think the fact that most 
E horses are non-gaited is relevant here,but I'd like to hear what others 
think re this business of seat height.I sold my OF Patriot Officer 
because it put me about 2 inches higher than my Buena Vista.I see folks 
posting downhill at a trot with their heads bobbing up to about 9 
feet....lots of polar momentum there....I'm not sure re non-gaited,but it 
seems like a high seat would be even more of a problem in that type of 
horse:The stirrup length which seat height leads you to select puts your 
entire body that much further from the center of the horse's body,and 
that much harder for him to work with.That much is simple physics,and it 
may be that most saddle designers just don't want to worry about this 
difficult design area.But just one inch drop here can be a big 
improvement.Female riders have a big advantage here re polar momentum.My 
size 12 feet and big head weigh more than my butt,so,I need all the help 
I can get!