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Today I ordered a Sport Saddle. But even though I paid extra to express it, 
I still have a month until it gets here.

For those of you who don't know my story, I had a bad riding accident last 
fall, and I just returned to riding recently. My mare, always a hard to fit 
horse anyway, gained some weight, and because she carries her extra weight 
around her shoulders/back (vs her belly), I cannot find a saddle to use 
while I wait for the Sport saddle. And of course, I don't want to spend the 
big bucks when I have a perfectly good saddle being made for me. And, I'm 
not as tight in the tack as I used to be - that will take a while - so I'm 
not really keen on riding her bareback right now.

This is what I've been doing - tell me if I'm crazy. I have a Wintec AP that 
I was using - of course now, even the XW plate is not wide enough. I took 
out the gullet plate completely and put the saddle back together with no 
plate in there. Mazzie doesn't seem to mind this arrangement at all - the 
saddle is a little tipsy side-to-side, but that's not much different than 
the saddle when the gullet plate is in there. The longer I ride, the flatter 
the saddle gets, but I always have gullet clearance. I'm thinking of adding 
a riser pad to give a little lift in the front, but I need to find my girth 
extender first. It is not the most comfortable way to ride, but it's the 
only thing I've found that works right now.

Is this insane? I've only been walking/trotting, and only around the barn, 
not on the trail. Haven't had any problems with this setup, and I'm 
wondering if I should just bite the bullet and start hacking her in the 
gulletplate-less saddle so I can get her back into shape. Any ideas? I'm 
still hoping to get in a few CTRs near the end of the season, but both 
Mazzie and I need to get some training miles in first. I'm thinking there 
must be some safety issue here, but I haven't had problems yet - although 
the last thing I need is another accident.

Ideas? Suggestions?

Thanks!
Karen and Mazzie, the great expanding Morgan

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