Saddle fitting two saddles
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 12:19 am
So the saddle fitter came to check my saddle. My horse lost his top line when he was retired and it is slowly coming back. The saddle is slipping less and less as he builds muscle back but it is still slipping and I was sick of getting off to re-position every ride.
First she tested to see if he had back pain which he did not. I knew that he had no back pain because as the saddle slipped I was worried about that and tested it often.
I have a Custom Star. She pulled out so much wool flocking that if you balled it up it would be the size of a soccer ball. I have never seen so much flocking pulled out of a saddle. It was too much and made the saddle too hard. After she was done and I tried it, there was an obvious feeling of being closer to the horse. I really liked the result and am shocked his back wasn't sore with how hard it was compared to how soft it finally was.
Then I asked her to help with a padding system for my Forestier which has no flocking. I wanted to try to ride in it again if it fit. It mostly fit but the clearance at the withers was not really enough with a rider up. She thought one pad in the front pocket of the Mattes would lift it up enough. As much as I love how easy it is to ride in the Custom, I think I could raise my game if I learned how to ride as well in the Forestier which is almost like a bareback pad. I am guessing that is the lightest dressage saddle made other than perhaps the synthetic saddles which I think are light but I am not sure.
First she tested to see if he had back pain which he did not. I knew that he had no back pain because as the saddle slipped I was worried about that and tested it often.
I have a Custom Star. She pulled out so much wool flocking that if you balled it up it would be the size of a soccer ball. I have never seen so much flocking pulled out of a saddle. It was too much and made the saddle too hard. After she was done and I tried it, there was an obvious feeling of being closer to the horse. I really liked the result and am shocked his back wasn't sore with how hard it was compared to how soft it finally was.
Then I asked her to help with a padding system for my Forestier which has no flocking. I wanted to try to ride in it again if it fit. It mostly fit but the clearance at the withers was not really enough with a rider up. She thought one pad in the front pocket of the Mattes would lift it up enough. As much as I love how easy it is to ride in the Custom, I think I could raise my game if I learned how to ride as well in the Forestier which is almost like a bareback pad. I am guessing that is the lightest dressage saddle made other than perhaps the synthetic saddles which I think are light but I am not sure.