Saddle balance with Cair?

[Cliqmo]

Having had mixed response to an ealier post about the Cair system, I was hoping to find out how many people have suffered with their saddles raising off the horses back at the cantle?

 

[Kallibear]

Almost all wintecs fitted to wide horses raise at the back. It's got little to do with the Cair, it's the shape of the tree. By design, as the gullet at the front is stretched wider the tree becomes more and more curved. So, with the front pinned down with the girth and riders weight in the stirrups, the back rocks up.

Cair makes it a little worse sometimes, as it never beds down. At least with flocking, the fibres get squashed about until they 'bed' and that usually involved the middle of the panels becoming very thin, so the curvature is less and the back rocks up less. Cair never beds and springs back into all the wrong places when pressure is released (i.e rider stands up in stirrups)

Rocking up at the back is NEVER good, as the whole riders weight is then concentrated in as little a 1/3 of the saddles surface area and the 'pivot' point is under huge recurrent pressue. It makes the poor horse sore very quickly.

 

[Enfys]

I used cair saddles for years on a variety of horses, and this was on hunters that spent a lot of time working.

Personally I have NEVER had a problem with my horses due to cair saddles and would use them again with no hesitation whatsoever.

So, no, sorry I can't help you, but I thought I'd stick up for my particular saddles as they always seem to get such a bad press on here.

 

[fingers_crossed]

I use one on my horse with a wide gullet and no probs at all. You can have a small amount of flocking added to improve the fit if required x

 

[teddyt]

IMO most people dont realise that their saddle sits up at the back. Many people are aware about fitting at the front of the saddle but few consider the rest of it. This is not having a go at anyone, just pointing out my experience. If you girth up a wintec without a numnah and walk the horse around in a circle on both reins and a straight line, you can then see if the saddle lifts off the horses back towards the cantle. When at competitions i have seen that more often than not, wintec saddles lift up at the back. It is down to the tree shape and no amount of gullet changing will sort out the back of the saddle.

 

[Coffee_Bean]

Yep mine lifted. Hated it.

 

[Sheri]

Never had a problem with my Cair saddle, if yours is lifting at the back its probably because its too wide and dropping to low on the whithers.

You can have Cair saddles altered, just find a master saddler that does it, they are like air bags.

llynon saddlery in Brecon, Wales does it.

 

[jumptoit]

I have never had a problem used them on everything including TBs, part clydesdale and a welsh section B!