(The cast material may be available from your vet, but the price will
be probably higher.)
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This procedure was described to me by Steve Gonzales of SR saddlery
and demonstrated by Jan Jeffers of Pony Express.
This back-cast is made out of quick-dry 6 inch wide casting wrap,
and ends up being about the size of a western blanket. It's
easily shipped with a saddle (in a standard U-Haul box) and goes
to places that horses normally don't, like inside tack stores.
Because it's a "static" mold, you have an impression of the shape
of the horses back without the subtle shifts that horses make when
having a saddle placed on their back.
The cast takes 4+ rolls of 6 inch quick drying casting (available
at medical supply houses), a bucket of tepid water, a carpenters
level, a felt-tip pen, sponge, two humans and a horse. It's a good
idea to *practice* the casting technique with a polo or leg wrap
before using the casting material, as the casting needs to
proceed quickly; the materials stiffen in a minute or two. The
warmer the water, the faster the cast will set. Use barely warm
(almost cool) water or you'll run out of time!
Stand the horse square (feet aligned) on a flat, level surface.
With the sponge, wipe the horses back in the area that would be
covered by a small western blanket. Make sure that the hair is
really wet, not just damp on the surface. This is necessary or
the cast may stick to the hair.
With one person on either side of the horse, open the foil wrap
on all of the rolls, place one roll in the bucket, let the water
seep into the roll for a few seconds, raise the roll out of the
bucket and squeeze out any extra water.
The cast will cover a saddle-blanket area of the back. The material
is unrolled to the approx width of a blanket, and starting at the
shoulders, placed over the horses back. The two partners should
align this first length over the withers, smoothing it down with damp
hands, and then the person holding the roll should unroll another
length and hand the roll across the back to the other person. The
first edge should be two thicknesses, and then the roll gets moved
approx. 30% of it's width, so that the next overlap is only about
4 inches (the roll was moved down the back approx. 2 inches). This
doesn't need to be real precise, just wrinkle-free and consistent.
Successive "wraps" should be smoothed down to eliminate any wrinkles.
Continue quickly until the cast covers the horse from the whithers
to the loin, doubling up the thickness on the end edge.
As soon as this step is complete, I have my partner raise the horses
back _slightly_ (NOT much!) by placing their hand in the navel area
and pressing up, while I gently smooth the cast to accommodate this
slightly rounded topline. If your horse always travels with a flat or
hollow back, you may not want to do this! Ideally, we all want at
least a little "round", but "cast the back you will be riding, not
the back of your dreams", is a personal philosophy! I have a different
"cast" for a dressage saddle than for a distance trail saddle. That
may be overkill, ineffective, absurd... but it amuses me ;^). For
distance, I want the saddle to be most comfortable when there is
a slight lift to the back, but don't want the back so round that
the saddle will bridge between the whithers and the loin when the
back relaxes down.
Once the cast is firm (not necessarily dry), take the marker and mark
the midline (at the spine) back at the whithers and loin.
Then, using the level, mark a leveled line parallel to the ground
on each side of the cast. Rotate the level and draw another line
at the withers (in front of the "saddle") perpendicular to the ground.
I also mark the ideal girth area. Lift the form and let it dry
throughly. These laines are important so that the saddle can be bought
or made to sit the rider at the natural lowest point of the saddle.
This is **Wonderful** to take into tack stores! I also take a
24 inch length of string with me. When the cast is placed on a
saddle stand, it can be "leveled" to your horses back by holding
the string by an end and aligning the perpendicular mark on the cast
to the string. Use blankets or paper to keep the cast level while
saddles are placed on it. This way, you can see if the saddle
will sit you level on the horse, or if your weight will get shifted
and what adjustments would be required to attain the proper center.
Dr. Kerry Ridgway has taught me so much about saddle fitting that I
can't begin to cover it here - and I only know a _little_ bit of what
he knows. This cast concept allows you to truly analyze the way
the saddle fits a horse. And any saddle fitter could use it to re-fit
or customize a saddle. A little common sense goes a LONG way!
Using a Cast, I was able to try over 50 saddles on "Shatirr" over
a long (90 minute) lunch... Sigh. With his weird back, only two of
them fit, and I already owned one of each!
The cast can also be used to evaluate the wonderful changes that
occur in the back as correct muscle is developed (or lost)!! I
make casts even when I'm not saddle shopping. It "shows you" the
horses back.
Happy Casting!
Since I've published Steve Gonzales's casting method, I'm gonna plug
his **wonderful** SR custom Western and Trail saddles. These saddles
are affordable and =are= works of art. I love mine! If you want info,
email me and I can get you his number.
Linda