RE: Re: The "Reactor-Panel" saddle

["Kathy Mayeda" <kathy_mayeda@atce.com>]

Thanks for the clarification of your previous post.  I guess that I did
misunderstand your point.

Just a clarification for you about my previous saddle fits.  (Fits is the
operative word here....)  I rode in one of the saddles for three years and
never had a problem.  Then he grew withers, his topline totally changed
shape,
and voila!  No saddle fit him correctly last year, or would fit for a month,
then wouldn't fit at all. A too wide saddle can also cause
pressure behind the withers, too.  That is the other major reason why I
chose
the Reactor Panel saddle - it could accommodate all these topline changes
without
having to send it hundreds or thousands of miles away to get a custom
readjustment,
wasting valuable training time.

Kathy


-----Original Message-----
From: wsabg@t-online.de [mailto:wsabg@t-online.de]
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2000 1:55 AM
To: Kathy Mayeda
Cc: Reactorpanel@aol.com; ridecamp@endurance.net
Subject: RC: Re: The "Reactor-Panel" saddle


Kathy Mayeda wrote:

Hi Kathy,

> snip....  There is considerably LESS with the RP under the stirrup
bars.

this is correct, but in the German brochure they compare the RR with a
traditional saddle, one of those multi-purpose ones. These are not first
choice
for endurance, IMO. Here in Germany the ratio of show-jumper or dressage
rider
is much higher than endurance rider. We only have about 2500 registered
endurance rider (and only about 50 of them are real endurance RACER). So
the
German brochure and the representative, Mr. Meyer, are not really
endurance
related. One has to compare the weight distribution between a RR / RP
and a
saddle made for long distance (not for riding in a show circle).

> My first hand experience is that a lot of the shock absorption in the
> stirrup bar area is distributed over the flexible panels.  My previous
> saddles caused a lot of muscle damage and wasting away behind the
scapula.

Then your previous saddle was to narrow there!

> After I started riding in the RP, the muscle damage was reversed,
almost
> immediately!!!!  And his movement was so much freer - his stride
increased
> really dramatically you've never seen such a happy smile in a rider.
So I
> don't believe your model that the RP places more pressure under the
stirrup
> bars at all.

Haven't said that. I said that one can see that the pressure is
distributed over
a larger area with the rider sitting in the saddle (static) but this
area is
drastically reduced when the rider is standing in the stirrups. So the
concpet
of saddles like RR /RP and many others is not optimized for the
"standing
rider". With a few minor changes in the concept it is possible to
distribute the
weight over the whole panel.

> If the panels were stiffer, there would be more "bounce".  When I ride
in an
> Orthoflex, I immediately notice how "hard" it is compared to the shock
> absorption of the RP.

I don't think this is a problem of the panels. The OF has a stiff
connection
between saddle-tree and panel, concentrating the pressure on a
thumbnail. The RR
/ RP has a shock adsorbing connection, which is larger then the OF's
one.

> I am a lot less fatigued riding in an RP.

Could be the shock adsorbtion, could be a different riding position.

> I have no doubt that weight distribution MAY be better in the static
situation
> with a
> stiffer panel, but in a moving dynamic situation, the flexibility does
> absorb a lot of shock.

Agreed.

> And don't forget, as a stiff panel moves, there is
> pressure on the loins and at the withers to accommodate the pressure
in
> between.

This is when you take a fence plank as panel. But if the panel is formed
the
right way and the padding is ok, there will be virtually no pressure -
except
the saddle doesn't fit the horse and has a four-point contact, laying
hollow in
the middle.

> This in itself can cause a lot of problems with our short-backed
> Arabs.  I have heard of an OF owner talking about machining off the
ends of
> her panels because it was causing damage in the lumbo-sacral area.  I
don't
> dislike Orthoflexes - I know that there are a lot of happy OF owners
out
> there.  It's just the contrast between the OF and the RP was so
apparent to
> me that there is no question in my mind which saddle I prefer to ride
in.

If I had to choose between OF and RP, I also will take the one with
fewer
problems.

> I have to admit, I don't ride like you do.  In my experience, pressure
in
> the stirrup bars DECREASES the horses ability to move freely because
you
> apply pressure to the muscling behind the withers.

Agreed 100%! Weight distribution over the whole panel is the key.

> But that's another discussion that I really don't want to get into
right
> now....

But that's the problem occuring with to flexible panels.

> I'm a firm believer in "whatever works for you is okay by me."
>
> Kathy Mayeda

Me too,

Wolfgang


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