Just rec'd my SS!

[KarenBrat1@aol.com]

I rec'd my new endurance Sports Saddle two days ago and if the first 10 miles
are any indication, I'm going to love it!  First mounting was, aaahhhh, so
comfortable I couldn't believe it.  Like sitting on a springy pillow.  I am
using it with Carousel's Skito Equalizer pad and Hi-Tech Trail's stirrups, and
am very suspicious of the rough-feeling felt that the cinch came with so used
my current fleece-lined nylon one as I have a very thin-skinned, easily sored
horse. 

The saddle IS very broad and flat, really just a glorified bareback pad, so I
can see where people who like a narrow twist wouldn't be comfortable, but I
found it quite comfy even though the horse I rode with it has quite a broad
back.  

As I've read elsewhere, the stirrup straps (thick nylon with a reinforcing
piece of leather down the middle) are very bulky and force the covering flaps
out to where they interfered with my calves.  When I first sat on the saddle
on my saddle rack I was wearing shorts, and thought uh-oh, these flaps are
going to chew holes in me.  For the ride however, I was wearing riding tights
(Carousel again) with a fairly substantial synthetic knee patch which
protected me from any rubbing.  The flaps still caught on the swell of my
calves though... I have Amazon Woman calves from 17 years of carrying the
mail!... and I fairly often had to hitch my legs up to un-catch them.  I plan
to get the biothane stirrup leathers to do away with the bulk, and probably
one of those full-length woolskin saddle covers that will cover the flaps as
well and prevent any rubbing/catching.

It was much easier to post in this saddle and a less bumpy ride in general,
because I was closer to the horse's back?

And the biggest plus is the way the horse behaved with this saddle.  This mare
is 18 years old, on loan from a friend.  She is 3/4 Arab and has hardly been
ridden the past 7 years at least.  She is very well trained for arena work and
a super trail horse, not spooky, and will go anywhere she's pointed;  you can
shoot off her and even chainsaw limbs while standing on her back.  But she was
used a lot for gaming when she was younger and so can be very chargey,
especially on the way home!  She's been a real pain to ride because both she
and I are streaming sweat by the time we get home, she fights to run
constantly.  Two weeks ago, I set up corral panels in the trees outside the
P.O. fence... the new annex is in a still mostly undeveloped business park
with a lot of thick forest still standing.  (I have no idea who owns the
land... but I'm not hurting anything, I'll keep it cleaned up, you can't see
the corral from the road unless you know it's there.  They're not going to do
anything with that parcel this year at least, it's too late in the year to
start clearing thick forest and building!)  So I rode twice last week and
twice this week, 5 miles each way.  The men all think I'm a complete fruit
loop-- the women all think it's cool!  What is it with (most) men anyway??  So
many of them forget how to have fun and enjoy life-- with obvious exceptions
here on Ridecamp, LOL!

Anyway Lanista, the mare, was ok going to work, she loves to trot and we do
about half walking, half trotting.  (Last year we let her come along loose
with us trailriding and she lead the way almost always at a trot, going around
a bend in the trail then trotting back to us wondering why we weren't keeping
up, then trotting off in the lead again when we caught up)  I lead her the
first mile and we walk/jog in about 1/8 mile increments (boy do I feel out of
shape).  But coming home she is a raving maniac.  Day one in order to get her
to "walk the last mile in" I had to get off and lead her, and even then for
1/2 mile she was trotting in orbit around me on the end of the lead rope,
self-longeing!  (I am using a plain snaffle bridle with no martingale/tiedown
etc of any kind, if anyone is wondering, I don't like more severe bits and I
*really* don't like tiedowns etc)  Day two I kept her head tilted to one side
to keep her speed down-- we did a LOT of very fast sidepassing til she caught
on-- letting loose when she slowed then taking her head to the other side when
she (immediately) tried to take off again.  And when I let her really trot,
every time she broke into a canter I made her whoa, turn around, and back up
10-15 feet.  She really hated that.  I still got off to lead her the last half
mile in but she was calmer.  Day 3 she was better, but still pulling to go; at
least she actually kept it down to a controlled jig the first mile and walked
as well as jigged the last 3/4 mile home.

Day 4, yesterday, I used the SS for the first time and I don't think Lanista
could have changed her attitude THAT much overnight, the saddle must be a big
factor!  She was incredibly relaxed on the way to work... I had to urge her to
trot.  Not just tired, she was actually RELAXED in face and attitude, which is
unusual for her!  On the way home, she shocked me by doing an absolutely flat-
footed, four-even-beats walk the first mile away from the office, on a
completely loose rein and with her head and neck down.  She perked up more
along the highway, I think the traffic gets on her nerves as it does mine, and
we did a lot of trotting, but she slowed immediately when asked.  She walked
the last mile home with only a few little jigging spots.

So I'm already a diehard fan of the Sports Saddle, if it can change the
attitude of a horse that much!  Of course, that was only one day, I'll see how
she does as time goes on :-)

Karen Bratcher and Lanista the gorgeous black bay 3/4 Arab in Hayden ID,
and Ben Dallal aka "Spike" or "Bender", in Oregon learning to be a trail horse