ridecamp@endurance.net: joining the great saddle hunt

joining the great saddle hunt

Phil Gardner (slsf@foothill.net)
Fri, 11 Apr 1997 20:22:58 -0700

> After listening to many tales of woe about saddle fit over the last 2
> years and sitting here smugly at my computer thinking - glad I don't have
> those troubles, my saddle fits just fine - well, this is what I get for
> being smug <g>
>
> Going to saddle Tony up last nite revealed 2 perfectly matched white patches
> on either side of his withers coming in with his summer coat :-((
>
> What I don't understand is how can a saddle fit poorly enough to cause white
> spots but the horse never give an indication of such poor fit?? It's a
> Passier 3 day that I have ridden Tony in for almost 4 years. He has
> completed 2 50's and 2 25's in it - always all A's on back. However, I know
> if I'm just now seeing the spots then the damage has been occuring for quite
> some time.
>
> I do remember noting at some points last year that he had dry spots on his
> back sometimes but since there was no tenderness or any indication under
> saddle of poor fit I sort of discounted them - wrong choice, huh?
>
> The other thing I discounted to some degree and wonder if it was an
> indication is the "rooting" he does - that is trotting or cantering with his
> head almost to the ground like he's stretching. Never pulling on me just
> travelling with his head down sometimes. Perhaps that *was* a sign of the
> saddle bothering him? I guess I didn't put 2+2 together b/c it's been going
> on for some time (my thinking is that it's just something he does- you know
> these Arabs and their quirks <g>) and here again never any tenderness or
> indication of a problem.
>
> Sigh....
>
> Tina - now joining the masses in the Great-Saddle-Hunt
> Tony - with eyes on his withers :-(
> Tina Hicks | Huntsville, AL
> Southeast Endurance Riders Association - http://www.hsv.tis.net/~slilly/
> hickst@nichols.com

I used to think that there was an ultimate saddle and if you could just
find it, all would problems would go away no matter what horse you were
ridding. Then reality sank in and I realized that you needed to have a
variety of saddles to fit different horses and even the same horse at
different weights.

This spring my old Passier had been rebuilt one time more that it should
have so I started trying new saddles. The problem was that I had one
wide backed horse, one average, and one whose back resembled a railroad
rail. I had almost concluded that I would have to buy 2 saddles to fit
all three horses, when I discovered the Rembrant with the Wellep
adjustable tree.

It is a high quality English saddle made in England and I understand
that it is popular with dressage riders, but I haven't seen many around
endurance. It has solved our saddle fit problems and mabey it is close
to that mythical saddle that will fit all horses.

Phil Gardner

Home Events Groups Rider Directory Market RideCamp Stuff