I had a saddler out to Echo today - one that we have had in the past, but have not used for a while. Tammy uses her all the time and really trusts her, so I was happy to give it a go.
The first thing she said is that she doesn't think my saddle fits Echo very well at all...considering we had the last saddler out about a month ago this is pretty frustrating! In her opinion it's too narrow and sits too high at the front, which is pinching her shoulders and sitting too low at the back, which, given that that is where Echo gets sore, is a bit of a problem. She was happier with the AST saddle we've been riding her in, although it twists to the left when she's ridden. Tammy agreed to let her widen the tree slightly and fit a balance strap to the right side, to clamp it down and stop it twisting.
I rode her before and after this was done and there was definitely some improvement afterwards. I could feel the saddle trying to twist, but the strap definitely stopped it happening. The saddler wanted to see her trot with the saddle on so I got to have a few trots just on the long sides of the school. She was very funny- she was absolutely dying to have a canter and when I asked her to trot she leapt up into a kind of half canter half trot- she settled after a few steps but it was very sweet. The saddler was pretty happy with it and so Tammy is more confident that she can crack on and do a bit more trot work.
However, this still leaves me with no saddle once we have finished at Tammy's. The saddle we're using is still really only a stop-gap. It'll do while we get her fit and into full work, but we had a bit of a chat about what to do next. The saddlery works quite a lot with Ideal saddles and she has suggested that we look at a brand new saddle where we can select exactly which tree will work and exactly which shape of saddle. Which is great, but expensive. I don't have to think about it for a couple of months, and I will obviously try to sell my Lovett and Ricketts saddle to cover a bit of the cost. It's a big decision, but I guess at least then I will know that it fits her.
So I will be saving my pennies over the next couple of months and in the meantime we will keep riding her in Tammy's saddle and hopefully keep making the progress we have been. I'm riding her again tomorrow morning out on a hack, which will be great. It was so nice to ride her in the school today though... Almost like having my pony back!
4 comments:
New saddles, a huge expense. I was lucky when I got mine as I got a great deal. But it was still a massive amount to pay out. Maybe the only way forward for you, as you seem to be exhausting every other avenue.
I had more than my share of saddle fitting issues with Dusty, she has virtually no wither so the saddles would always twist to one side or the other. Don't know if you'd be interested but I finally found a saddle company that makes custom saddles to your horses measurements for reasonable prices. They are Black Country Saddlery located in the UK. Check out their website if you're interested. Dusty 's new saddle fits her perfectly so there's no more slipping side to side . Hope this helps, good luck.
Oh- that's interesting- Echo had a Black Country saddle when she was last in proper work and I really liked it...it was just a bit narrow for her. She needed something with wider panels too, but if they make them to fit then that's worth looking into. Saddlers never seem to agree on what she needs- she has really good withers but she has very high, very big shoulders that are not quite the same size which make the saddles twist.
Some saddlers seem to want to bring saddles right up off her withers, meaning they sit high in front and too low behind, which considering we have issues with sore was in her thoracic spine is a bit of a problem. It also mean they're usually too narrow. I did it amazing that two professional saddle fitters can completely disagree- one says a saddle is perfect on her and the other says it doesn't fit at all! It makes you wonder what to think!
But thank you- I will look into that :)
Oh saddle woes... :( Sorry you're still having problems with it... I worry with her going back into full work that her muscles will change and then the saddle won't fit again... maybe you should check into a treeless saddle? I haven't personally used one so I can't share any experience, but I've heard good things about them. They are kind of expensive though... good luck!
Post a Comment