Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

> I'm posing this fitting dilemma to the whole ridecamp bunch because I'm seriously in danger of losing my mind over finding suitable saddles for my two horses.  The first horse is nearly figured out:  an extra-wide County Competitor dressage saddle seems close to fitting him--it's leaving ever-decreasing dry patches behind his shoulders.  I'm hoping that one of these things is true:  1) the stuffing is conforming to his back and will eventually allow for no dry patches, or 2) he is using his back more and more so taking the pressure off that area (is that an insane thought?), or 3) the saddle-fitter can move the stuffing around a tiny bit so that I wind up with the elusive perfect fit.  He moves out splendidly in it for what that's worth.
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> Suggestions about the dressage saddle are welcome, but, here's the real issue:  a beautiful Fred Hook saddle, correct size on paper, is resisting my best though awkward efforts to fit it to Salima (an Arabian mare and my best friend).  
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> Marlene Moss suggested:  "Go look at the shoulder and the area right behind it. ?Is it smooth or does the shoulder stand out clearly with hollows behind??Now, find the point of the shoulder (furthest back point) and put your palm over it and have your horse walk forward – what happens to the shape/contour of the area around the shoulder??If the point of the shoulder kind of disappears and you don’t feel any muscling bulges and the whole area is generally very smooth, then saddling is typically very easy and almost any good fit will work. ?If things are more complex, then you have to fit the “biggest” shape of the stride, ensure sufficient flare"
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> I heard and obeyed Ms. Moss.  Salima has virtually no wither--just a smooth, flat-topped hill from the bottom of one shoulder, over the wither, down the other side.  Traveling from the side of the neck back, there is a drop off behind the shoulder, then her back rises into the loin area.  When she walks forward the point of the shoulder melts into her back and a bulgy muscle flexes over it.  When she walks, that area presses up into the flared part of the tree.  Meanwhile, the back of the saddle, which has no skirt to speak of, seems to have very little contact with her back. 
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> Ok, now, if you're not too sick of this, here is what I've tried:  a saddle fitter suggested shims to fill in the dip behind her mutton withers so I ordered two sets, one that is 1/2" and one that is 1".  The larger one worked for the left side but was not enough to free the right shoulder which definitely needed the whole 1 1/2".  With shimming the bridging was nearly gone but this wide saddle (quarter horse bars) still pinched.  (I have no idea if I'm even placing these shims correctly and I hate them anyway because they're a pain but thought a shim pad eventually might make it easier if they prove to be the fix.)  She didn't nip at me when I tightened the girth this time, but she still wouldn't trot out easily. 
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> The saddle has a dropped rigging (center-fired? is this the same thing?).  I shortened the back half (which had been on the last hole) hoping that would bring more pressure to the back half and let up on the front half.  I have no idea if that is how the physics of the thing works but it seemed a logical thing to try.  She seemed happier with the way that moved the girth back around her tummy and it seemed that the saddle didn't have to be cinched as tightly in order to stay in place.  
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> For drama's sake we'll move into the present tense: I finally realize that I've complicated things further by placing the saddle too far forward, so try moving the whole shebang back about 2 inches.  It looks right for the first time, and she trots out smoothly, even with fireworks banging around from every hillside so I know something is working.  Relief washing over me, I yell to my husband to stop mowing and celebrate because I think my beloved Hook saddle finally might work.  He smiles, shakes his head in wonderment, and goes back to mowing.  Then I remember to check the loin area....    
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> Where previously there had been a worrisome lack of contact, there is now decidedly too much.  Aargh.  So,  what do I do?  The saddle only measures 22 1/2" which is not terribly long I don't think.  Salima is definitely short-backed, but not as short as others I've seen.  Is it the centered rigging?  Did I shorten the back too much?  I can't tell what one is to do with that set-up though it looks like a smart way to hold a saddle onto a horse....  Is there some other way to use the shims so as to lift the lip of the back of the saddle off that sensitive part of her back?  Should I just put it on eBay for some lucky person whose horse has a simpler anatomy?  I LOVE THIS SADDLE--HELP.