kerilli
Well-Known Member
Took my t.b. mare for fitting with local highly-recommended Master Saddler, Mark Fisher. WOW. i thought i knew a bit about fitting saddles, this was one of those moments when you discover how little you actually know! i've had Master Saddlers out in the past and not been impressed, but he was in a different league.
He's been working on the Event Team horses this week, fitting new saddles for Mary, Zara etc. (they're both having Barnsby Xtreems, apparently...) he told me all about the pressure test results they're getting etc, fascinating.
He examined my mare very carefully, and told me that yes, she'd be a narrow width, but he'd never put anything narrower than a medium tree on a horse like that, much better to give it the room and pad it out in front (with flocking mostly, or maybe pads). he showed me that her ribs are actually quite far down, she has very long dorsal spinous processes - so needs a saddle with deep, fat panels to bridge the gap and put the weight on her ribs, not on the muscles in the gap above them. explains why my short-pointed jump saddle wasn't right on her at all, even after 3 refits, the poor love. and her previous owner was riding her in a very narrow Prestige. about time the poor thing had a perfect saddle, i think!
good news is that i was doing the right thing with my dressage saddle, padding it up in front, and it's got deep and wide enough panels, more or less. might well be passing that one on to one of my other horses and getting her a new dressage too...
unfortunately he didn't have an Xtreem for me to try, Barnsby are modifying them after rider input and he'd just sent his back.
however, tried an Ideal Impala, and WOW, what a difference. she went to zoom off in trot, took two strides, and relaxed completely. ditto in canter. instead of pulling all the time, she was totally rideable and soft, and the saddle put me in perfect balance. now i feel really guilty... i suspected she might be like that because of the saddle, should have done this months ago instead of having the jump saddle adjusted again and again.
tried a different Ideal, might have been the springbok, and it wasn't quite as good, different balance on her, so was pushing me back into waterski position, which she hates.
so, didn't come away with a jump saddle, but have a much much better idea now, and if he can get an Xtreem in for me to compare with the Impala, i'll decide. will try a few others this week if i can sort it.
only gutting thing is a 5-6wk wait for saddle to be made. wish i'd not given up on different saddles after the whole WOW thing now, could have sorted this out last autumn.
cookies if you got this far, obviously!
He's been working on the Event Team horses this week, fitting new saddles for Mary, Zara etc. (they're both having Barnsby Xtreems, apparently...) he told me all about the pressure test results they're getting etc, fascinating.
He examined my mare very carefully, and told me that yes, she'd be a narrow width, but he'd never put anything narrower than a medium tree on a horse like that, much better to give it the room and pad it out in front (with flocking mostly, or maybe pads). he showed me that her ribs are actually quite far down, she has very long dorsal spinous processes - so needs a saddle with deep, fat panels to bridge the gap and put the weight on her ribs, not on the muscles in the gap above them. explains why my short-pointed jump saddle wasn't right on her at all, even after 3 refits, the poor love. and her previous owner was riding her in a very narrow Prestige. about time the poor thing had a perfect saddle, i think!
good news is that i was doing the right thing with my dressage saddle, padding it up in front, and it's got deep and wide enough panels, more or less. might well be passing that one on to one of my other horses and getting her a new dressage too...
unfortunately he didn't have an Xtreem for me to try, Barnsby are modifying them after rider input and he'd just sent his back.
however, tried an Ideal Impala, and WOW, what a difference. she went to zoom off in trot, took two strides, and relaxed completely. ditto in canter. instead of pulling all the time, she was totally rideable and soft, and the saddle put me in perfect balance. now i feel really guilty... i suspected she might be like that because of the saddle, should have done this months ago instead of having the jump saddle adjusted again and again.
tried a different Ideal, might have been the springbok, and it wasn't quite as good, different balance on her, so was pushing me back into waterski position, which she hates.
so, didn't come away with a jump saddle, but have a much much better idea now, and if he can get an Xtreem in for me to compare with the Impala, i'll decide. will try a few others this week if i can sort it.
only gutting thing is a 5-6wk wait for saddle to be made. wish i'd not given up on different saddles after the whole WOW thing now, could have sorted this out last autumn.
cookies if you got this far, obviously!
