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Subject: saddle fitting device
I'm in the "great saddle hunt", having been through two so far. Has anybody
had any practical experience with this saddle fitting device described in the
most recent Trail Blazer? From this article and others I've seen in ridecamp
the opinions seem to be in two different philosophical areas: 1) if the tree
doesn't fit, then how can the saddle and 2) flexible trees and panels really
don't work. I expect satisfied Orthoflex users would disagree with the
latter premise. The article in ridecamp that talked about the success of
Orthoflex saddles on long backed horses fits my experience with my friends
saddles. I have a short backed arab. Any shortbacked horses out there that
love their Orthoflex? The problem with the first premise is how "custom" is
it if a company only has four sizes of trees, or 10 for that matter. I
realize that a sports saddle dispenses with the whole tree deal since it is
treeless!
*I have to jump in here, since this is a common misconception.
The Sport Saddle is NOT treeless! It has two tree PIECES, that are
joined together inside the body of the saddle by the rigging. It is
the body of the saddle that is flexible, but the tree pieces also
help distribute rider weight.
Being a little on the chicken side, the sports saddle is not as
secure feeling as a tree saddle, or is it a matter of just getting use to it?
*I have two versions, the endurance and the Schooling and Training.
The S and T, is much more secure, as it has a deeper cantle, and
bigger pommel. YOu also can modify the endurance model by having
the cantle made deeper, and getting the reiner pommel. I have found
BOTH these saddles much more "secure" than standard tree saddles, as
they "hug" the horse and don't slip side to side.
Karen
To: ridecamp@endurance.net
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