Re: wither tracing

[Chris Paus <paus@micoks.net>]

Hi Kimberley, sorry, I accidently pushed the send button before I was
finished. hate this windows 95 keyboard!


That's easy. I went to an office supply shop and bought a thing called a
flexicurve. It is used by draftsmen. It bends, but has ruler marks on it.
You may also use a piece of clothes hanger or baling wire.

Take the wire or whatgever, place it at the horse's withers and press it
down on either side, behind the shoulder. The flexicurve is best because it
stays where you put it. The baling wire or clothes hanger will take some
doing.

The wire should be sitting on the horse where the front of the saddle will
sit. When it is pressed into place on the horse, CAREFULLY lift it off. Lay
it down on a piece of paper or cardboard and trace around the wire. This is
the shape of your horse's back where the saddle belongs.

Some saddlers will tell you to fax them a copy of the wither tracing. They
compare that to their templates. I prefer to make a cardboard tracing, then
cut it out. I can take that with me to a saddle shop and place it under a
saddle to see if the fit is close. It can help you rule out some saddles
right away.

It is also an eye opener as to what different saddles call a regular tree
and what they call wide. There is a lot of variation.

good luck

chris paus & star



At 09:29 AM 1/22/98 -0800, you wrote:
>Hey Chris, what is a wither tracing?  Do I trace where the saddle should
>sit?
>K
>
>Chris Paus wrote:
>> 
>> THAT IS THE HARD PART. You will find yourself trying and returning or
>> selling many. I hope you are luckier than I was.
>> 
>> You might try Thornhill saddles. They  have a web site. They have good
>> quality leather english style saddles and have several endurance models.
>> One of theirs was the right size for Star. If the aussie had not worked, I
>> would have gone with the Thornhill. Their saddles seem to be reasonably
>> priced. Ask them to send you a catalog. And they do allow returns. If you
>> send them a wither tracing and pictures of your horse, they will be able to
>> match you up better. I think the one I was looking at was around $600 with
>> stirrup leathers and all.
>> 
>> chris paus & star
>> 
>> At 10:41 PM 1/21/98 -0600, KIMBERLY PRICE wrote:
>> >You wrote:
>> >>
>> >>That's why each of us has to go through the saddle odyssey. It helps
>> >to>gatehr information, but as you have learned, what works for one
>> >horse and>rider will not work for another.
>> >>
>> >>chris paus & starman -- on our 12th and final saddle I think
>> >>
>> >
>> >  And I've only begun my search! I havn't even looked and priced
>> >anything yet, except the stubben and I've GOT to go cheaper!  Oh man,
>> >is this like, "the" initiation or something?  My cousin use to say you
>> >had to fall off your horse at least 7 times before you could say you
>> >are a horsewoman, maybe its you have to join the big saddle search or
>> >something....
>> >
>> >  Good thing is my friends say Mystery has good withers, back, etc and
>> >shouldn't be hard to fit.  Now, how do I get the horse to the saddle
>> >instead of a bunch of arranging to check them out and return them!
>> >Ughhh!!!
>> >
>> >  I hope you have some nice weather coming up this weekend.  We've had
>> >only 2 dry days this month but I know, I know...no ice and snow!! <g>
>> >
>> >  BTW, how old is Star and where did he come from?
>> >
>> >K
>> >
>> >
>
>