 |
[RC] Saddle Help, Please!! - DanaHi there -- I have a Paint (QH X TB) who is a saddle fitting NIGHTMARE! He is 7 years old, 16.1 hh, with a med. wide chest, narrow-ish shoulders, and a huge barrel, long straight back, and an average wither - not too high, but not rounded either... very much 1/2 QH, 1/2 TB. Very proportionate. VERY big. I am currently riding in a Wintec English saddle, with a mesh rubber under pad (no-sweat) and an Equipedic saddle pad ( for sale...), with a Mohair girth. EVERY saddle, and I mean EVERY saddle that I have tried on him, be it English,Western, Aussie, or Endurance (and I've spent BIG $$ trying them all...), slides way back on his back after about 30 minutes of riding. I have to constantly stop to readjust it. I have tried high end saddles and off the rack saddles, even a BM Treeless, which fit the best, but killed my back. I would like to try some of the new treeless saddles that have an actual seat with "twist", but cannot afford to do so right now ($2000.00! wow!) I have a Wintec English saddle with an adjustable gullet, and I have tried all of them from the narrowest (yellow) to the widest (red) and they ALL slide back. I have tried Full QH bars, semi-QH bars. Same thing. I am sooooo frustrated! The saddle seems to want to slide back to about 4 -6 inches behind where his mane stops, which puts the pommel at a downward slant and pushes the "bars" into his back, just behind his shoulder. I place the saddle upon his back, slightly over his withers, about 2 inches behind where his mane stops. In a western saddle, that puts the beginning of the bars just behind his shoulders, and an Aussie/English saddle it puts the stuffing/pommel/saddle flaps hugging his shoulders. Any further back would/does put part of the weight (me and tack) behind his rib cage (18th vertebrae?) and beyond the proper weight bearing area of his back. I can tell that he gets uncomfortable when the saddle(s) slip back... usually I don't even notice until he "tells" me that the saddle is out of position, then we stop and readjust. I have to specially rig any breast collar that I get, as "normal" ones don't even begin to reach over his shoulders (he's BIG), so I have to add matching dog collars to buckle on to get the right length to reach my saddle (run through d-ring, then re-buckle). A breast collar seems to help a little, but by the time we ride for an hour or two, the breast collar is really tight against his chest from trying to hold the saddle in place, and I'm not sure that that is right either! Is it OK for the breast collar the be tight? WHAT can I do??!!! Thanks in advance -- I'll be reading to see any responses, or you can email me directly at Dana@Ndemand. com (no space). Dana =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|