Caol Ila
Well-Known Member
I couldn't get on with the Barefoot saddle (see other thread). So the update on that whole thing is that I ended up buying a Thorowgood T4 from my ex-yard owner, which seems to fit my horse and she moves well in it. Then, the saddle fitter who has had the Orthoflex for three weeks now and told me it was unlikely to be fixable has fixed it! Of course he did. Part of me wants to go back to riding in that because it's not worked too badly for the past 12 years. Devil you know and all that. But the parts of her back where she is a wee bit ouchy are parts where the T4 doesn't touch her, but the Orthoflex does. The Orthoflex also has its own issues, mainly putting my leg in a terrible, terrible position. The T4, on the other hand, won't let me do my worst riding habit, which is draw my lower leg back somewhere in the vicinity of my horse's bum. It's also nice and light.
I have been happily double checking saddle fit on my student's horses and confidently saying how well their saddles fit, or don't. But with my own, I'm all of a sudden like, "It looks okay, but what if there are secret pressure points I don't know about!"
Current thoughts are to keep riding in T4 for now (and maybe sort out my leg position, after all these years). But also test the Orthoflex; if it continues to slide back 3 or 4 inches during a ride in spite of being fixed, I'll know it's just done. :-( If it's okay, I'll keep it around as a backup if she changes shape and the T4 becomes problematic.
At the end of the day, it doesn't hurt to have a little lightweight jumping type saddle. I used to have one that fit lots of different horses and I really liked it, but I had to sell it when I moved to the UK, as I had to shrink my horse stuff collection to what I could fit in a single tack trunk.
Sorry for the rambling... Just needed to get my thoughts on this whole thing written down.
I have been happily double checking saddle fit on my student's horses and confidently saying how well their saddles fit, or don't. But with my own, I'm all of a sudden like, "It looks okay, but what if there are secret pressure points I don't know about!"
Current thoughts are to keep riding in T4 for now (and maybe sort out my leg position, after all these years). But also test the Orthoflex; if it continues to slide back 3 or 4 inches during a ride in spite of being fixed, I'll know it's just done. :-( If it's okay, I'll keep it around as a backup if she changes shape and the T4 becomes problematic.
At the end of the day, it doesn't hurt to have a little lightweight jumping type saddle. I used to have one that fit lots of different horses and I really liked it, but I had to sell it when I moved to the UK, as I had to shrink my horse stuff collection to what I could fit in a single tack trunk.
Sorry for the rambling... Just needed to get my thoughts on this whole thing written down.