Flair in saddles. Pros and cons?

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charliebo

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Have been riding in a saddle with flair for the past week. Horse seems to like it.

What are people's thoughts on Flair? Long term, does it have good or bad effects? How easy is it to feel what the horse's back is really doing underneath you whilst working? In jumping saddles, does the saddle stay properly balanced when you are galloping or out of the saddle over a fence?

Any thoughts gratefully received!
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My sister's saddle's got Cair which her horse seems to go well in. But we had the saddler out a couple of weeks ago and the front airbags had deflated so it's now got wool flocking at the front and airbags at the back. The saddler really didn't like Flair/Cair or latex or foam and uses wool flocking in all his saddles as he says it's so much better for the horse's back.
 
i'm not a fan, i agree with lb's saddler about white wool flocking.
if you think air under pressure is soft, try squeezing a crisp packet...
also, the overlaps/edges of the airbags can cause problems in certain makes of saddle.
i'd rather have something totally uniform throughout the panels, so nothing much can shift around or change, and use a prolite for a bit of shock-absorbing squish if requd!
 
I have flair in my dr saddle, not intended, saddle was second hand and was one saddler had in and fitted lovely. My flair is soft though.

best thing ever, I have bouncy short backed welsh whose trot was impossible to sit to until I got this saddle, If you watch video of me riding in it you can see the air compressing and expanding with his movement whereas his flock GP has a tendency to swing with him and sometimes lift. Not sure it would suit all but it has been great for us.
 
qr- You cannot compare cair to flair. one works and the other doesnt! Cair is a sealed bag of air around a sponge, so like kerillis says, its like a crisp packet. This just doesnt fluctuate with the muscles, so imo doesnt work. i wouldnt touch cair if i was given it

Flair can be adjusted according to asymetry and changes in development. It does fluctuate with the muscle movement and if it is set up correctly it does bsorb pressure much better than a flocked saddle. This has been scientifically proven with pressure testing. Same horse, same rider, same arena, same saddle- one test with flock, one with flair. Flair = less pressure.

Any ridges of overlapping bags means that the bags were unsuitable for the saddle or they have been put in badly. they are not supposed to overlap.

Because the flair allows the horses muscles to move and it minimises pressure/spreads pressure it allows horses to develop muscle. As long as the saddle fits and the right exercise is performed!

as for balance- if the flair is adjusted properly for the particular horse it should be in perfect balance. Arguably more than a flocked saddle because you can make minute adjustments and then change it every day if you wanted, somthing that is much much harder to do with a flocked saddle. you can also change it as the horse changes, again, much easier than with flock.
 
I am not a fan, but then my sport is endurance so the saddle must withstand hours of continual fast work, which is not the norm for most riders. It is not popular or much used in endurance circles and we are the most saddle obsessive group of riders ever, for obvious reasons. It is not just pressure spots - there is also a build up of heat over long periods. Certainly it didn't suit my girl beyond about 60k. But like every thing horsey, it will work for some.
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