new SS query

["Tamara Jane Habberley" <tamarahabberley@lineone.net>]

I had  a SS imported at great expense to here in the Uk. My horse seemed
happy enough with the saddle when ridden but hated the rigging. It sat about
five inches back from his elbow ( his girth line is set back furhte than
normal), what he hated was the western cinch being tightened as he hates
girthing up. He also used to 'hide' at the back of the stable when I
appeared with the saddle so somethign obviously upset him. Dosnt do this
with his current saddle a cheapo Wintec GP.

 Anyway I had two problems:

1. he usually tended to strech his neck down to the ground when trotting fat
as though he had a shoulder/ wither problem. the Chiro found tightness in
the withers when his back was checked at the end of last season.

2.  I had awful hip problems which lead me to sell the problem. Literally
collapsed after one ride, dont have this problem with a normal GP.

 I hadnt considered that this may have been caused by my horses action,
rather than the saddle. Due to a previous back injury my horse tends to
travel almost in shoulder in with his right shoulder leading and left hind
pushing. I suspect with a treeless saddle the torque this caused generated
my hip problem.  With a normal GP I have no such problem. BUT and its a big
but, the Gp slips to the right due to my horses movement and muscle
development. So whilst the Gp suits me it will probalby end up damaging him,
and vise versa with the sports!

I honestly didnt realise this movement problem affected my saddles fit
 think I knew it subconsciously) but a classic trainer was on the same  ride
as me yesterday and pointed this out , and it ties in with my saddlers
measurements of my horse.

Anyone else had similair problem with the sports, or with their horse for
that matter? If so how did you ovecome it?

 I really subscribe to the idea of a treeless saddle but am to poor at the
moment to do mcuh. Am seriously considering developing a GP pad saddle for
myself out of desperation.

Tamara




----- Original Message -----
From: Snodgrass, Bonnie <snodgrab@ncr.disa.mil>
To: <lb@nismat.org>; <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Monday, March 20, 2000 6:37 PM
Subject: RC: RE: (Fwd) Placement of Sport Saddle


> Yes, the forward placement may not work for your horse. I would venture to
> say that all horses would be better off with saddles placed about 2"
behind
> the shoulders. However, western style saddles (and western style endurance
> saddles" evolved from a design that sat up over the shoulders. Look at a
> well designed stock saddle and you will see that the front of the saddle
> flares outward to give more room to the muscles. I don't care for all the
> "saddle" that is in front of you in a western style saddle. A horse's back
> can support the riders weight best when it is placed right behind the
> withers. A well designed english saddle enables the rider to sit fairly
> close to the withers while the bars of the saddle are small and placed
just
> back of the shoulders. Some english saddle have bars that point somewhat
> forward and these can cause shoulder problems as they tend to poke the
> muscles as the front legs move back.
>
> By the way, I sold my SS after it wouldn't work on two horses in a row
> because of their conformation and because of the placement of the cinch
> rigging. So this type of saddle may not work for your horse. The rigging
> change to further back may help but I'd rather not constrict the
ribs/lungs
> by binding them with a cinch. JMHO.
>
> Bonnie Snodgrass
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Beth Glace [mailto:lb@nismat.org]
> Sent: Monday, March 20, 2000 8:08 AM
> To: ridecamp@endurance.net
> Subject: RC: (Fwd) Placement of Sport Saddle
>
>
>
> Hi Jeri,
> well, you could be right about where I am placing it.  I have been
> placing it just behind her shoulder blades.  You are supposed to
> place it over the shoulder blades??  This might be an even worse
> problem for her.  She is half Standarbred, with big shoulders and a
> big stride.  Wouldn't placing the saddle on the shoulder blades
> result in tenderness, or limit their way of going?
> Thanks for your help, everyone!
> Beth
> .  The sport saddles I've seen fit like a western
> > saddle, with the front of the saddle going over the horse's shoulder
> blade.
> > Maybe you are trying to position it like an english saddle, and placing
it
>
> > too far back.  Good luck, jeri
>
> Beth Glace, MS, CDN
> Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma
> Lenox Hill Hospital
> New York, NY
>
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
> Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
> Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
> Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
> Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>
>