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Re: [RC] Using breast collars on flat trails... - TypefI actually thing I wouldn't ride without a breastcollar either, just from my own experience. My horse spooked at a flock of birds on the river, did a 180 spin down an embankment, leaving me in the dust. But not before my foot pulled the saddle halfway down her side. She ran home 3 miles with the saddle on her side, only because I had a breast collar on. Otherwise, I'm sure it would have been under her, with those metal caged stirrups banging her feet for sure! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dr. Liz Faletti, DC" <efaletti@xxxxxxx> To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2003 12:03 PM Subject: Re: [RC] Using breast collars on flat trails... I whole heartedly agree. Breast collars help keep the saddle in place on all terrain. Especially for those horses without withers. Before I got consistent with using my breast collar, my horse spooked big and I fell off, got tumbled around underneath my horse, stepped on, and sent to the hospital on a backboard. Nothing broken. But i remember seeing that saddle at a 45 degree angle off Meriqa's back because I hadn't tightened the girth and didn't have a breast collar on. That fall changed my life as I changed careers and became a chiropractor after having chiropractic get me riding in 11 weeks! Liz Faletti, DC ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lucie Hancock" <lbhbhnck@xxxxxxxxx> To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2003 3:18 PM Subject: [RC] Using breast collars on flat trails...Everyone, This is an issue that was recently brought home to me in a very personal and profound way. I am only just finding out the full details. Most of us use breast collars on hilly terrain. On flat land and easy trails many of us do not use them. Well, here is one lady that has learned the hard way to use a breast collar ALL the time. At the Pyramid Challenge, my plans were to ride for the front. I had prepared my horse and myself. I knew we were fit. In fact, he was so "fit" that he bucked at the start of the 50 mile ride, and the saddle slipped. I came off and he ran off with the saddle underneath him. Somehow the entire stirrup leather got pulled off the saddle, so we had to have it repaired. We ended up going out about half an hour after everyone else. We maintained a steady pace. I knew I couldn't top ten, but I thought we would ride at his regular "working" pace and ssee what we could do. At the end of the third loop, with only a couple of miles left, he quit. He suddenly decided to walk. He had not felt "off" at all. To me he seemed to be moving just fine. He just decided to walk and eat grass. He acted very hungry, so we slowed way down and he came in to the third vet check already pulsed down. At the trot out for the vet, he was a little off. They wanted me to bring him back before going out for a re-check. Something told me to stay in camp. I've aleways advised people to "err on the side of caution" so we did not go back out for the last ten miles. The end of the story is that we had travelled together for forty miles of muddy trail with a saddle with a broken tree.No wonder he was a little off at the third vet check.... On getting back home I took the saddle to a repair shop in Camden. The owner of the shop told me that he could put a new tree in it if he knew what tree to order. Instead I sent it back to the original maker of the saddle, Marilyn Horstmeyer. She found that it was broken on both one side and the fork. She has been able to repair it. All this could have been avoided, IF (what a big word) I had used his breast collar. As many years as I've been riding, I should have known better. Things happen. It's Murphy's Law that whatever can go wrong will go wrong. So... I've learned a valuable lesson. It is costing me the saddle repairs, and worry over what might have gone wrong with my horse. It is costing me time out of the saddle waiting for the one that fits him. (He has a very wide back) He was fine after he rested at the camp and is moving fine now. But I am so glad I did not take him back out for that last ten miles of trail. I guess what I want everyone to think about is the importance of preventing problems. We have equipment that is designed to protect us, and our horses, and a breast collar can even protect a saddle. In my case hindsight is better than foresight. I hope my experience can prevent some one else from having a similar problem. Lucie Hancock and HH Trinity =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= http://www.endurance.net/ads/seabiscuit.html Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. 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