Maggie Read - Desperate search for saddle

["Linda Hedgpeth" <lth@thegrid.net>]

----- Original Message -----
From: Mieske <mmieske@netonecom.net>


> How about an Ortho Flex softsteel Patriot?  They are supposed to be all
> synthetic and are pretty reasonably priced, too, at $895.  Go to
> www.ortho-flex.com and look under distance saddles.
> Maggie

Hello Maggie,

I bought an Ortho Flex Softsteel Patriot shortly after they were first
introduced.  BIG MISTAKE.  The saddle was very comfortable to ride and my
horse seemed to like it.

At that time they were sold without the fuzzy protectors on the biothane
leathers.  After the second ride, the softsteel material starting wearing a
hole under the biothane leathers on both sides.  I was pissed to say the
least.  After the usual OrthoFlex company run around, with them claiming it
was somehow my fault, they agreed to take it back for repair "ONLY" (I
wanted my money back ---- not another defective product).  After four months
they sent it back to me with those stupid, white, fuzzy sleeves over the
biothane leathers.  That is their solution to the problem.  I asked them to
replace "that" area of the saddle with leather, but they refused.  Instead,
they fixed it with the same softsteele stuff as before.  That experience has
cured me from any future Orthoflex experiences.

Linda Hedgpeth
Janesville, CA
lth@thegrid.net