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Posts Tagged ‘saddle fitting’

Great blog dedicated to saddle fitting

Posted in Related Holistic Care, Websites and Blogs, tagged , , on July 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Here’s another great resource if you’d like to learn more about saddle fitting, Dawn’s Saddle Blog at Olson’s, and I’ll tell you a couple of reasons I feel especially confident in recommending it.

1. Blog author, Dawn Anderson, is totally passionate about her own learning and training on this topic. She’s already pursued some of the highest quality education available, and isn’t slowing down one bit. In the years to come, I have no doubt she will be one of the top experts in the field.

2. Thanks to the integrity of both Dawn and her employer, Olson’s Tack owner Mike Akers, Dawn’s income is strictly salary, with no perks from commissions on saddle sales. This means that when helping clients assess saddle fit, Dawn can be completely unbiased toward which saddle to recommend, or even whether to sell you a saddle at all.

So be sure to check out Dawn’s Blog!

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Saddle Evolution and Trial Policy (important!)

Posted in Related Holistic Care, Websites and Blogs, tagged , , , , on June 28, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Here’s a little history of saddle evolution, as summarized on the RP site.

I didn’t mention yet another reason I’m happy to promote info on the RP saddles. Here’s the policy of the company, they won’t sell you a saddle without you spending two weeks trying it out. This trial period is free, but you do need to pay for shipping if necessary. (You can lease it for longer if you need more time.)

I believe more companies are taking this or a similar approach these days, as more people are learning more about the science and art of saddle fitting. Never buy a saddle without a trial period, unless you’re willing to accept the risk that you may be stuck with a saddle that doesn’t fit, and have to resell it yourself. And remember, very importantly, that your horse may not tell you the first few days if it doesn’t fit. If the pressure spots aren’t too severe, if your horse is stoic, or if the pressure points are in different spots than the previous saddle, it may take a week or two of riding for soreness to show up.

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Video on assessing conformation for saddle fit

Posted in Anatomy, Related Holistic Care, Video, tagged , , , , on June 26, 2010| Leave a Comment »

This and the next post feature resources from ReactorPanel Saddle Company. I will then also included some posts with other excellent resources. Yes, I do have a slight bias toward RP saddles because I own two myself, one for each of the horses we ride (with a saddle). I’ve tested both with the Port Lewis Impression Pad, and both show no pressure spots, which is pretty remarkable, as you know if you’ve ever tested any saddles yourself. That said, RP saddles are not for everyone, nor for every horse, and any saddle that fits both horse and rider is just great!

So this post is to highlight a series of YouTube videos from the RP company, and the one I suggest you start with even if you have no interest in RP saddles, is the one looking at a horse’s conformation through the eyes of a saddle-fitter….
(Note: At the end of the video, across the bottom of the screen you’ll see additional RP videos you can click on to watch.)

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Prince’s saddle-fitting appointment

Posted in Related Holistic Care, Video, Websites and Blogs, tagged , , , on June 24, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Prince-a-roo is our family’s ever-young gelding, 1/2 Morgan and 1/2 Connemara, now 8 years old. He recently had an appointment to recheck the fit of his ReactorPanel Saddle. Saddle fit is a critical topic for all riders to understand something about, and very importantly, to have some awareness of what you don’t know along with that which you do learn along the way. In other words, I hope you realize that just because you don’t know that your horse’s saddle doesn’t fit, please don’t assume that it does fit. Make sense? Maybe it does, or maybe it doesn’t and it’s just not that obvious.

I had ridden Prince sporadically over the last couple of years since his saddle was fit for him. (It’s an adjustable saddle, custom-fit but not custom-made.) He had changed, and I had made some adjustments myself to the saddle, so I was thrilled to get a chance to have the owner of the RP saddle company check it out in person when she was in town recently. I knew I also wanted to have a test ride with a Port Lewis Impression Pad (see next paragraph) at the same appointment. I’m happy to report that the fit looked good, so we went right to testing it with the impression pad, and the results were essentially perfect, zero see-through spots and only one small area of slightly thinner orange-red goo. Yay!

I did not take my camera with me to photograph Prince’s results, but you can go to this site to see a photo (scroll down for it) of an impression pad result from a random test with another horse/saddle. It shows you how the red goo inside the pad squishes away from the areas of higher pressure, leaving some clear areas. With less serious pressure points, you see areas where more light shines through thinner goo when held up to the light. This is a wonderful tool to use to really know what your horse’s back is experiencing when you ride. Because you do test it with a ride, not just standing in the aisle way as saddle fit is so often checked. (And my suggestion is that if you’re part of a group such as a club or a boarding facility, you look into having everyone pitch in a few bucks and buy one to share!)

Since a well-fitting saddle is so critical to the health of any riding horse’s back (no matter how often they get massaged), I will do the next couple posts on the same topic, so stay tuned….

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Shoulder asymmetries: a vet’s explanation

Posted in Anatomy, Q&A, Websites and Blogs, tagged , , , on June 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Here’s a great Q&A article from theHorse.com. Veterinarian Dr. Joyce Harman, DVM, MRCVS, offers her response to a question about asymmetrical muscle development and how it can relate to both movement and saddle fitting issues.

And be sure to note her comments in the last paragraph, “So what can you do about this asymmetry?”!

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