At any rate, this is what I found out:
Ron Friedson is the owner of The Tack Room and he's developed a process of
stablizing a type of foam called "confor" within the panels and seats of
saddles. That is to say, there is no particular type of saddle that you can
order, it's a custom operation and any kind of saddle can be made to speck.
I didn't ask but I suppose used saddles could be outfitted with confor as
well.
There was no saddle available for me to look at but I was able to see what
the confor was like. I grabbed hold of it and it immediately took on the
indentation of my hand and fingers but was very slow to return to it's
original shape. I can see how easily this would mould to a horse's back and
change along with the horse as the ride progresses. The one major draw back
(that I found) is Ron thought that the panels would have to be replaced every
one to two years, depending on use.
Other aspects such as heat generation and sweat have not really been
thoroughly tested because, for one, very few distance riders are to be found
in this part of the country. He caters to the Dressage, jumping and hunter
pace crowd. However, he is in the process of marketing the saddle in other
parts of the country.
Ron has a web site and can be reached at http:\\www.horsemall.com. Also, I
gave him our web site address so that he could answer questions for you in
the near future. He asked about doing an online live forum (what's the name
I'm looking for?) if someone wanted to arrange it. His phone number is
203-227-6272 or fax at 203-227-6610.
Confor looks promising but may be prohibitively expensive. I'll be in touch
with him again and will pass on anything else of significance. Hope this
helps.
Linda in Weston, CT
Tuffy the cancer conquerer!