Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Trying on borrowed saddle...

Camryn here:
Mom took bunch of pictures of me modeling one of the saddles we be borrowing.  It appears to fit in Mom's non saddle fitting eyes.  Danette agrees.
Jury still out as Mom wants others to check it as well. Mom thinks while it'll do as a borrowed saddle, that it won't fit once my atrophy goes away, and her worries it may hinder my muscles developing?  This is one of the reasons for the closer up pictures.  Maybe some of you can give us your 2 cents (not literaly of course).


Should mention that after the pictures were taken Mom moved the saddle back a smidgeon.  Also take note, in the second picture above I'm licking my lips.  Please excuse that my saddle pad doesn't "fit" the saddle.  It's the thinnest pad I have...

Pictures taken on both sides...
 Mom had few more but, blogger isn't loading them up.  Hope these will do.  Mom rode me a bit in the paddock, then over to Danette's and headed to the arena.  I moved fine at a walk.  Not so much at a trot, Mom thinks it's more her and the saddle causing that. My old saddle sat her very deep, this one has a much more shallow seat and she has to tweak the stirrups more.  She wasn't posting or sitting my trot very nicely at all.  Her loves the quality of this saddle (Synergist) and the fact that it fits me better than our old one.  Her doesn't like the way if feels for her much at all.  Her keeps looking longingly at my old saddle SIGH
Thanks in advance for any input.
Later..

2 comments:

  1. Saddles eh?......Who needs em! Well, they do and we do. We do to stay on the horse they do, for us to stay on the horse.

    What I`m saying is, horses dont need saddles. we do, so if we fit a saddle to a horse, much better its comfy for them first!
    We are secondary, we can get used to a saddle, horses get pain from a saddle.

    If that saddle fits the horse and is comfy to it, then, your almost there. We can adjust our "seat", horses cant.

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  2. I think you were right in moving the saddle back a smidgen. I used to put the saddle on a bit forward and slide it back until it 'stuck'. Since then I've learned to put my hand under the leading edge of the saddle and feel for the shoulder. I often have to move the saddle back a bit to clear it. (However, one must realize that the shoulder moves back and forth anyway, so may run into the saddle even if it is set back.)

    Cheyenne is right in that the saddle must, first and foremost, fit the horse. But, if there is something about the saddle that really hurts you, and isn't something that you can get used to, kind of like building up callous with new shoes, and it isn't something that changes with adjustment of stirrups or position (and have someone check to make sure you do look balanced in the saddle - not tipping forward or back), then I'd continue my search. About the position thing, years ago I bought an English saddle. It look beautiful and it fit my horse, and it's size was appropriate for my hind end and legs. But, the position of the saddle threw my legs forward and thus my body backwards. It was very difficult to ride in as I was constantly fighting to get my legs under me. A pad with a thicker cantle area helped, but the seat of the problem was the build of the saddle.

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