First, I want to emphasize that my mother's (Diane Nelson) discussion of our
experience with the Ortho-flex simply stressed that we could not make the
saddles (an endurance cutback and a traditional) work for our horses, or in
some cases, us. The Cutback fit like it was made for me, but if the horse
refuses to move, it doesn't do me a lot of good. I also thought the
Skyhorse saddle was a nice saddle, and the horses didn't mind it, but in the
short amount of time allowed for evaluating the saddle (before having to
return it if we didn't like it) we could not make it work for us, the
riders. Way too narrow a twist, and I couldn't pack enough foam in to make
it comfortable. So the horse moves but we can't stay in the saddle. Again,
not real useful. The horses LOVED the sport saddle, but it was way too wide
for my small frame (I'm 5'4", and male...) even with my slab-sided horse,
and my mother couldn't adjust to it either. We've also tried to fit the
cordura western/endurance saddles to our horses, wihout success. And
NOTHING fits any two of our horses...
I started riding english 15+ years ago and used a Tony Slattery all-purpose
saddle for several years -- leather saddle, but very lightweight (14-15
lbs), and semi-custom tree design. I don't feel the leather held up very
well, nor do I feel that the stirrup bars were even -- I regularly felt that
my right leg was always farther forward than my left. I went to an Ulster
synthetic saddle (which weighs maybe 4 lbs) as a more universal saddle for
two other horses. I much prefer the Ulster to the Wintec -- I found it far
more comfortable and it fit my horses better -- but there were some
drawbacks. Primarily, not enough knee roll. My solution to this was to
take a full saddle fuzzy cover (from Equiback -- from Libertyville Tack,
$39.95), 4" thick mattress foam about 3-4" wide x 8" long cut into a
crescent shape (to match the curve of the flap. This provided more than
adequate knee roll for downhill work (especially when Coco decided to run
away with me down off the top of Skyline drive at the beginning of the Old
Dominion). Not to mention making for a very comfortable seat. There is a
drawback with the full seat cover -- it's a pain in the tush to change
stirrup lengths. And lastly, it had a short life-span. The polymer tree
allows for some flexing and moves somewhat with the horse's back, but over
time the heat build-up caused the tree to widen considerably until this past
spring when it bacame too wide to use on my current horses. It did the job
-- I completed a three-day 100 ride, several endurance rides, and was Grand
Champion on another ride. I have since made the major conversion to a
western endurance style and purchased a Sharon Saare saddle, which I
absolutely love. Although heavier than what I would like, it does
distribute weight well, allows me to balance properly, and keeps my butt
happy over the distance. I just wish the Sharon Saare trees came in a size
that properly fit my up-and-coming endurance horse Kasey...
Kevin Pfoertsch
Safe Haven Farm
PA, USA