Recent content by sbloom

If your saddle fits well it will easily do 20km. Specialist saddles are great, but seldom needed for lower mileage. As for which models suit endurance, again, for lower mileage it matters not, not at all, if it sits you well. So, for instance, if you sit comfortably, at chosen stirrup length...

Hence asking your age, nothing can be answered without context, definitely a visit to your GP, at least to get it ruled out, hopefully.

And I didn't mean that disparagingly, there is limited training available out there so we tend to be in our own silos. The number of debates I've had with physios, one swearing that if you have pubic arch contact you MUST be in anterior tilt....not understanding the effect of the saddle at all...

So much pain is down to an issue elsewhere, hence a whole body assessment (which isn't generally the way a GP will look at it) is so important. If we stretch the tight, painful area we're not correcting why it's tight, strengthening the other areas that aren't working correctly.

Take your saddle with you just in case they know enough to really assess you in it to know if it is still suitable (a rare skill).

In an ideal world it's a "have an all round assessment" job to see what's going on. Our bodies change (women's pelvises especially get wider, and then narrower, as they age) and something has shifted. Is the saddle out of balance? Might be a simple fix. Walk is the most unstable pace for our...

I think I'd err on the side of balance pads. I've seen plenty of footage of horses playing with a wobble board, using really dysfunctional movement patterns, and seeing rehabbers etc pointing it out. Like so many things I think you need an already very functional horse (rare) for it to be...

Bear in mind this was an approach that worked with cavalry saddles which are most like western or stock saddles with wooden trees and rails, pretty solid. Be Professional Look Cool long riders and saddle makers use this approach and have some information about it on their YT channel but they...

I guess my comment was more about ease of use, but I guess generally as long as you can get past the dried up gunk around the top and it's still liquid, it's all good!

You may find this useful https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7wSaqrJQ-WMQRELW0dDwaoQK9zzdFvJ2, there is also a playlist with longer versions outlining all features, tree shapes etc.

My instinct is that a grease will probably be fine. Oil oxidises over time and will become tacky so may not be ideal to use when really old. Whether Kocholine is a good product to use on leather, for general use, is another matter. I might use it when storing leather but wouldn't personally...

Not quite. There are three critical "widths" for the rider - Twist - under the crotch and, with an English wooden tree, the point where the rails change direction, they come inwards from the pommel, and then "twist" back out again under the rider's pelvis, ideally the pubic arch. Seat -...

Some treeless have plenty of spinal clearance and padding for at least a well balanced rider, shorter rides etc, it really varies a lot. Many will need at least sheepskin or similar to give extra protection, and having a pad that can take shims can be useful. And again weight of rider can be...

I didn't say they weren't in the sport at all, but if you look at Tevis etc you'll see way more stock/western, specialist endurance and treeless. In northern Europe when someone says saddle we picture an English treed saddle but we are in the minority.

Yep, I see growth at later ages, one cob in particular growing over an inch aged 9. However....height at the withers is also affected by how a horse works, posture, movement patterns, as there is no clavicle (teaching you to suck eggs I know). I think it's worth really assessing a horse in...