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Re: Re: Sports saddle



Hi Marilyn,

I have a couple of comments that I will adress separately, as I feel some of
your comments were unfair.....

----- Original Message -----
From: "Desoto Saddle" <desotosaddle@voyager.net>


> If your horses are wide at all and I know Peruvians tend to be, the
treeless
> saddles will do you wrong in the end. That little half tree in the front
of
> them that allows you to mount the horse without the saddle rolling too
much
> are all pretty narrow and when putting wgt in the stirrups it puts a lot
of
> pressure on the  withers.

This can be a problem, IF the saddle is set too far forward (as many do), or
cinched too tightly (as many do also).  I have found these
saddles work best for people who can mount easily, and even when cinched
loosely, mine don't slip. I have had them, over the past 8 years' on all
shaped horses and the only soreness my horses had was once, when a bad rider
bounced hard on their backs at the trot and canter..

Also, the stirrups DON'T put unequal pressure on the front part of the
saddle; they are hung equally from both front and back tree pieces.

 It is the same as having any ill fitting saddle.

It is not at all the same as an ill fitting, standard saddle.

> If you are not very acquainted with treeless saddles also then you don't
> realize that all horses get sore after a period of time because of your
seat
> bones making pressure points and no weight distribution.

Again, I feel this statement is untrue, "all horses" do NOT get sore after a
period of time; and I feel between rider weight (seatbones), and stirrup
weight, the weight is VERY well distributed.  I have done many, many rides
and miles in these saddles, on many horses, and not had them come up sore.
I DO personally feel, that the standard stirrup position is too far forward,
encouraging people to sit back.....mine all have the stirrups set back 2"

I have custom built
> saddles for 35 years and I have seen a lot of very sore horses in the past
> from these saddles. The other thing many of them do is rub the hair off
the
> loins as they don't really conform well to the horses back, especially
those
> short backed guys.

My experience is the  opposite; I have seen much more damage from saddles
with trees.  A good friend rode for years with a Big Horn endurance saddle.
Her horse started getting white patches on either side of the withers (wide
horse).  He was also slinging his head and acting uncomfortable.  We gave
her about 5 different sizes and models of Sport saddles to try, and then she
was able to buy a good one used.  Her horse's behavior changed for the
better,  and the white patches started being replaced by  normal hair.

I still do now understand how people think a saddle with a hard tree,
cinched down tight, can ever be comfortable.  I have seen myself, how much a
horses back flexes side to side.  And, yesterday, I was comming up the
trail, and my mare took a deep breath.  I could feel the ribs expanding
right under my upper thighs......making the back widen several inches for a
second.  How would the back be able to do this with a hard tree?

Karen Chaton has logged many, many miles successfully with Sport Saddles,
her horses getting A;s on their backs.

My very new mare was uncomfortable at first with the SS.  She acted "goosey"
because she could feel the riders weight shifts so much better (like a horse
you ride bareback the first time).  After a week, she was just fine.

A horses back changes shape when they bend and turn, or take a deep breath,
or round up. I can't imagine how a hard tree can accomodate all this.....


Karen
>
> Marilyn Horstmyer
> Desoto Custom Saddlery
> (231) 775-5612
> E-mail  desotosaddle@voyager.net
> Web site www.desotosaddle.com
>
>
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