Re: RC: Rigid versus flexible saddles was Re: No More PoorSaddle Fit!!

[Lynne Glazer <lynne@glazer.org>]

Hi, Karen.

Allow me to offer some thoughts from the ReactorPanel camp:

>  > Lynda Townsend townsend.buggies.sleighs@qc.aibn.com
>>  There is a new sensor pad on the market, made by Port
>>  Lewis, the same people that make the cloud stirrups.
>>  This pad will tell you more then you ever wanted to know
>>  about how your saddle is fitting.
>
>I read their web page.......and also another that was posted within the last
>week that featured a saddle with very flexible panels.........but a rigid
>tree that attatched at four points,  and I still can't really believe you
>can put a rigid tree on a moving horse and have it fit......

You can if its flexible panel system actually contacts in *6* 
places--the points of attachment as well as the entire twist of the 
saddle, as much as 5" through the middle, when properly fitted.

We bought an Impressions Pad the moment they were offered, though I 
personally have only used it with one saddle shopper so far--she rode 
it as per the instructions--walk/trot/canter for 30 minutes with 
rider.  The pad showed severe bridging and pressure points in the 
wither/shoulder and the loins.  The mare had significant muscle 
atrophy from the withers to the midback, in an Albion dressage, FWIW. 
Fitted the mare with an RP, sent it home on trial, the rider bought 
the saddle--she is a ridecamper, maybe she'll post about her 
experiences thus far (August 5th on).  With such muscle atrophy, I 
would expect that the mare will need adjustment every couple of 
months to the front points of attachment, eventually moving from 
medium thickness to thins as she builds muscle again.

>
>I base this on years of riding bareback, feeling the back change shape and
>bend.......and also having very good luck over the past 7 or so years with
>Sport saddles.....but what really convinced me was taking Passion out  loose
>and following her.....
>
>She is a chesnut, with a darker countershading stripe down her back.  As I
>followed behind her
>(running loose), at all gaits, and over varied terrain, I could REALLY see
>how her back went up and down, and also seemed to snake and pivot side to
>side........I couldn't see how any rigid
>saddle could fit comfortable without jamming some part of the shoulders or
>even spine when she is moving...because that stripe is dead center on her
>back, and straight when she is standing still.....
>It was an eye opener watching that stripe!
>
>I think there is some great thinking and work being done with these flexible
>panel saddles......but it seems that no matter how well those panels conform
>and move with the back-once you attatch a solid tree you are putting
>pressure in those four points where the tree attatches (Orthoflex being an
>example).If the panels bend and distribute the weight, what the heck is the
>need for the uncomfortable tree?

Good thinking vis a vis other saddles with flexible panels--the only 
way they have to spread the pressure beyond those 4 fixed attachment 
points is shimming--an imprecise and imperfect solution.  There is 
also no way to alter the distance between the panels and the 
tree--one size fits all.

The rigidity of the most prevalent flexible panel system, combined 
with the significant height of the seat of the saddle over the 
horse's back, removes the rider quite a distance from the action of 
the
horse.  Some don't mind that.

The ReactorPanel saddles have wide shock absorbing attachment points 
(discs of Sorbothane) in different thicknesses, changeable/adjustable 
by the rider, and thus can accomodate asymmetries and conformation 
peculiarities like no other saddle on the market.  Our panels flex in 
all 3 dimensions, allowing them to conform to the horse's shape and 
allow more freedom of movement.

Having a rigid tree distributes weight in a predictable way for the 
horse, not a bad thing.  Sports Saddles work for certain riders--ones 
who either ride very correctly or are very lightweight, and don't 
mind the extra-wide twist, similar to the bareback position.  I rode 
in one for quite a while (I'm a featherweight), but it still rubbed 
the hair off of my horse's loins, and I always used pads with 
gullets--the Toklat or Skito with inserts.

The ReactorPanel is the first saddle of 5 where I've had unshaved 
hair or even hair at all on her loin area in late summer!  We did a 
horrendous 30 last weekend in very high heat, and I was so pleased to 
see her get As in back and wither, especially since I was sick the 
entire ride and wasn't exercising much riding skill.

>
>Sport saddles may not be perfect, but they sure have worked for me for a
>variety of horses and over hard terrain......also looking forward to better
>and advanced saddle designs over the next 10 years.

It is exciting to see so many new products that are oriented towards 
horse comfort.  In my case, along came that ONE horse out of 35+ that 
my Ortho-flex didn't fit, and SHE was the one I wanted to compete 
with, so the Great Saddle Hunt began again.

Most promising to me is the computerized saddle fit testing system 
that some vets have, by Saddle Tech, I believe.  Our saddles have 
been tested with them, and even used to do the initial fitting, to 
reduce pressure points to well under 1.5 psi, even when standing in 
stirrups.  The amount to which this is possible depends on the 
individual horse's conformation, of course.

My horse could always achieve a static fit in other saddles--but in 
motion, things were quite different, as you point out.

>Someone keeps mentioning a flexible saddle Valerie Kanavy is promoting, but
>I have never been able to get any info on it, or open the web site.
>
>Comments?

By the way, we don't sell RP saddles without the rider taking one on 
trial and really riding it, not doing mere arena work.  Rider only 
pays freight in both directions, unless the saddle was fit by one of 
us locally or at a fitting clinic.  No returns in a year of selling 
them with a money-back guarantee...which is good, but since they are 
so adjustable, my concern is that despite a fitting guide with lots 
of illustrations, not everyone has the eye or desire to do their own 
fit--local endurance riders like it because at any ride, I'll check 
their fit to insure it is still correct, or adjust it as needed, a 
quick procedure usually.

The ultimate test for any saddle design is whether they make it in 
our sport--at the 100 mile level, for both horse and rider.  Steph 
Teeter rode hers at the WEC.  So did Rita Swift.  The Rojeks ride in 
them, too, as does Wendy Merendini.

>
>Karen

Lynne

-- 
Ontario, California    http://www.lynnesite.com
ReactorPanel saddles http://www.reactorpanel.com
Norco Riverdance Ride (PS) 9/1/01
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