SS Saddles/girths +

Ruth Bourgeois (ruthb@tdsi.net)
Sat, 21 Dec 1996 09:15:23 -0600

I have OF saddles, and a friend has a SS. She rode one of my horses in
two competitive trail rides, plus numerous conditioning rides, with her
SS. The girth that came with that saddle caused horrible girth
rubs/galls the first long ride, so we switched girths to an OF girth and
had no problems after that. Didn't have any back problems, either, with
this saddle. That's the only girth that's ever adversely effected this
horse, who is a 3/4 Arab and is not "thin-skinned" like some. We get
along fine with the OF girths.

Re: gaited Arabians. A friend has raised some horses out of her 1/2
Arab, 1/2 pony mare, with Crabbett breeding. One of these in particular
has a gait that you'd swear came from a gaited horse. Very comfortable,
easy to sit, which she loves because she has back problems. We didn't
realize this could have come down from that particular bloodline.

Re: Linda/posting problems. We found posting to be difficult in the SS
with stirrups in normal position. My friend who was just learning to
post couldn't do so in that saddle because the stirrups moved too much
under her and she couldn't keep legs in the right place and balanced. It
should be easier in the OF saddle. A trick I learned many years ago when
I first started riding English and posting was to flex my ankles,
dropping my weight into my heel, every time I went down, then letting
the foot come level as I rose. Too many people "push" off the stirrup,
bouncing way out of the saddle, which is not what posting is supposed to
be. If you have very stiff ankles and can't get your heel down, that
could be one reason why you aren't comfortable posting. I also do very
basic dressage work with my horses, and over the past few years have
been gradually riding with a longer and longer stirrup, learning to keep
my legs down and on the horse. Using Centered Riding visualizations and
techniques addresses problems you may have in posting. When I'm trail
riding, I use a combination of posting (for normal trotting on level
ground), two-point for faster, rougher ground and going over logs, or
standing for extended, fast trotting. Lots of miles, lots of practice,
riding exercises done on horseback will all help.

Ruth