Re: RC: Abetta Saddle

[owens <owensall@sierranet.net>]

Dear David;
	Funny that this discussion should start now.  Just yesterday my friend
took apart her Abetta saddle to see what was bothering her.  Her horse's
shoulders were sore, and something was bothering her under the thigh.
	The Abetta saddle is made on a ralide(plastic) tree.  Nylon webbing is
screwed into the tree for the rigging, and there was a piece screwed
in(in three places) directly under the thigh, for no apparent reason.  
That explained what the thigh problem was.  Ouch.  The parts screwed in
were not matching on both sides.  We found that the seat piece was
loosely stapled into the tree, from the underneath side of the bars, all
over the place(seemed like glue might have worked a bit better, and
safer).  After disassembling, she tried the bare tree on several horses,
and found that the bars are too narrow in the front(I've heard that
before), and didn't seem to have enough flare to not pinch the shoulder
muscle.  The skirts of the saddle are material, and have no ability to
spread the rider's weight, hence are there for mostly looks.  	The
ralide trees typically are fairly wide under the rider's legs, and this
was no exception.  I can understand why these are called "entry level
saddles", both in the craftmanship and the inexpensive materials used. 
I would guesstimate that the total cost of materials used in these
saddles is well under $200(I'm being generous here, I've been told that
the ralide trees cost about $35, where a handmade wood tree can cost up
to ten times that), which explains the intitial purchase price.  The
ralide type tree is used in some of our higher dollar endurance saddles,
too. 
	When she puts this saddle back together she is going to do some
experimenting to see if anything can be done to improve fit and comfort.
Heck, just changing the rigging will improve it dramatically I'm sure!
	IMO, the very first thing to making sure the saddle you ride is
comfortable for your horse is to set the naked tree on its back to see
how that fits.  Finding a tree to fit your horse is the key.  There are
plenty of folks who try to make do with what they have, and the horses
are paying the price.  BTW, some of the signs of this discomfort are the
horse that carries his head high and back dropped...probably
short-striding front and back...often tuning the rider out, and even
being difficult to control.  A change of saddles to one with a tree that
actually fits will make an amazing and instant difference in many cases.
Katee

> 
> At 09:14 PM 11/29/99 -0700, Freedom, T'Lara wrote:
> >The Abetta Endurance Softee I ordered August 11, 1999 finally arrived
> >November 25, 1999. I know we've had some discussions about saddles which
> >included this brand, but could I have feedback from those who have
> >experience with Abetta saddles. Feel free to respond privately if you wish.
> 
> We have 2 -
> 
> >I haven't used the saddle yet, although I'll be fitting it later this week.
> >After waiting so long for it, it better fit my horse!
> 
> Check this carefully.  It fit one of our horses really well, and the other
> developed her pulling back problem I mentioned due to the Abetta not
> fitting her properly.  Doesn't seem to bother our other Arab, so it will
> fit some and not others.  OTOH, a custom saddle is expensive.
> 
> >From looking it over I wonder how well the neoprene underside will stand up.
> >It looks so vulnerable to tears and punctures. Same applies to the neoprene
> >part of the girth. Also, the neoprene part of the girth is quite thin;
> >appears to me as though I could tear it with my hands.
> 
> We haven't had any problems with the undersides, and I replaced the girth.
> 
> >And, yes, the breast collar and crupper Ds are only attached by nylon
> >webbing and stitching, not attached to the tree. It looks as though it will
> >stand up to average use, but if you're in a real bad situation I do think
> >they could tear loose.
> 
> They will tear loose even under moderate loads.  I lost the breastcollar D
> ring after only 4 hours of use.  Abetta refused to let the retailer just
> exchange it for me.  It was 'used', they said.  I called the manufacturer,
> who told me it was a 'cheap throw-away saddle'.  I find this to be a really
> poor attitude, and a horrible thing to tell a customer.  Ended up shipping
> it back to them for repairs, and was out a saddle for 4 weeks.  I should
> have just sewn it back on myself.  It would be smart to give it a few extra
> stiches with some strong thread like bicycle racers use on sew-up tires.
> We also lost the d-ring for the crupper at the start of a race, so that was
> annoying.  A friend back east had his fender come completely off.
> 
> That's the bad - on the good side, it is really inexpensive, and fit my
> wallet at the time.  I also like how comfortable it is to me, and it is
> easy to clean.
> 
> >It is quite light - 16.1 pounds, which I like.
> 
> That's something I like, too.
> 
> >Another thing I noticed is
> >that cat hair sticks right to the cordura parts of the saddle. So I imagine
> >any sort of outdoor debris like burrs, dandelion fluff, etc. will stick,
> >too.
> 
> >Looking forward to comments.
> 
> I hope it works out better for you than it has for me.  I ended up spending
> $1200 (including pad, girth, etc) for a custom saddle, and complained about
> the amount of $$$ I was spending.  Then I ended up riding in it all summer,
> and have now made the down payment on another custom saddle from the same
> person (Marilyn Horstmeyer).  You do get what you pay for, and the money
> seems cheap in retrospect.  Feels really good to pull the saddle off after
> a long ride and see no rubs on the horse.
> 
> David LeBlanc
> dleblanc@mindspring.com
> 
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