Braggin' bout my Solstice saddle

["Thomas, Barb" <thomas@amgen.com>]

When a product's good, you gotta tell people about it!!  This weekend I
attended a saddle fitting clinic put on by David Genadek of About the Horse,
Inc.  David is a master saddle maker and markets the Black Rhino line of
western saddles.  He also custom designed an endurance saddle for Valerie
Kanavy and works closely with Dr. Deb Bennett.  
After his lecture and demonstration, we all dragged out our saddles and
horses for a fitting.  I have the Arabian Saddle Company Solstice endurance
saddle.  It has an English/dressage type seat.  David was not familiar with
the brand but was quite impressed.  His eyes lit up like ours do when we see
a great horse!  He said the rigging system for the girth was correct,
preventing any forward tilting or rocking of the saddle, the gullet was wide
and deep, so the saddle could not touch the horse's spine.  The panels are
wide and firm so they provide a broad base of support, the seat was balanced
with the stirrup bars properly placed to allow the rider to maintain proper
alignment of head, shoulder, hip, and heel.  We put it on my mare's back and
he became even more impressed.  The twist of the tree allows free shoulder
movement and the contact under the rider's seat was smooth along the back
with no bridging.  He said it was an absolutely perfect fit!  The icing on
the cake is that this saddle is as comfortable for the rider as it is for
the horse, with ample padding in the seat and very comfy knee rolls for the
long, hard hours we all spend up there.  He asked where they were made and
when I said England, he was not surprised because the craftsmanship was so
good.  
Yeah, I can't say enough good things about this saddle!  So, if you're on
the great saddle hunt, it's worth checking out their web through
endurance.net.  The tree has three sizes plus custom and it's more than
worth the investment.  Though it's designed for Arabs, it will fit other
breeds.  David's comment is that the Arab-type back of well sprung ribs (we
call it low withers) and short coupling is typical of foundation type
Morgans and Quarter horses, too.  The problem is that very few saddlemakers
make a tree to fit them.  Arabian saddle company has one for endurance.
David's got one for western, and he's working on ironing out the details of
an endurance model but doesn't have a production date yet.