Re: RC: Podium Saddles

[WSAbg@t-online.de (Wolfgang Schwingenheuer)]

SeeUN100@cs.com wrote:

> Hi All-
>     Just got the new EN and noticed the Podium Saddle on page 52.  I have
> never heard of them and was wondering if anyone out there had??  Good? Bad?
> I would appreciate any comments on this saddle.  Thanks for your time.
>
> Johnna
> SeeUN100@cs.com

Hi all,

I do know the Podium well. Original it was an italian endurance rider
who designed and build the saddle.
Now there is a german company "Trail Horses Best" which builds the
saddle here in Germany with some extra's.
The tree of this saddle is a hollow-skeleton plastic one. Because of
this it is very lightweight and extremly strong.
Another benefit of this is the possibility to fill the tree with water
or sand or something else to make weight without making extra
pressure-points.
They build several models, depending on how much extra's you want. The
lightest (and cheapest) comes with a naked tree, a kind of booties,
stirrups, leathers and a girth.
The most equipped one has leather-covered tree, fenders and all the
other goodies.
The tree is available in some different widths. The special fitting is
made by some panels (no, not Ortho-Flex-Style) and equalizer-foam.
I am riding the Podium since 1995 with one year trying another one
(Skyrider by Skyhorse). The only problem with my Podium is the fact that
the tree is fitting absolutely well (angle of tree, lenght etc.) but it
is laying to "deep" so the tree got contact with the top of the withers
and the spine. So I have to put some extra foam (I use a closed-cell
foam like the mat you know from gymnastics, but more than an inch thick)
under the panels. I removed everything not necessary so actually I am
riding on the naked plastic tree with leathers made of safety-belt
(very strong, lightweight and easy to clean; not as stiff as biothane),
EZ-stirrups, fenders made of truck-tilt (?), booties and a
"three-point-girthing" (which I build an my own) with a 
neoprene-western-girth. The whols stuff weights about 5,5 kilos (about
12 lbs).
Since I use this saddle, my horse never had problems with his back
caused by the saddle. I feel fine in the saddle because the position of
the stirrups is - from my point of view - excactly where it should be
for trotting and cantering.

If you need more information you can contact Trail Horses Best or me. I
do have a catalog from them.

Happy trails,

Wolfgang + Ninja (not standing at the Podium, but racing under it)
Germany


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=