This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] I've ridden a Monte Foreman Balanced Ride Saddle off and on over the last year. Monte Foreman designed the saddle originally back in the fifties and Fallis produced it. The saddle I have was made recently by Gary Foreman, Monte's son. (Actually the saddle was made by Bob's Custom Saddles in Scottsdale, Arizona and marketed by Gary Foreman.) It's identical in design to the Fallis saddle. It fits my Fjords but started causing white hairs on my fox trotter's withers. It also caused me some hip pain but I'm sure that wouldn't be true for everyone. I still use it on my Fjords occassionally when I'm riding in a group and one or more of my other saddles is being used by some one else. Neither Gary Foreman or Fallis offer different tree sizes. However, it does fit my Fjords. A criticism I've heard a lot about the Foreman/Fallis saddles is how the bulkless rigging is accomplished. That narrow ride comes with a price according to the critics. The in-skirt rigging pulls the saddle down into the withers so if the saddle isn't a perfect fit it will damage the withers more than most bad fits, or so the critics say. The saddle fitting video from About the Horse explains this theory in detail. Before I wrote this email I searched for Gary Foreman's website where he was selling his version of the Foreman/Fallis saddle just a year ago. It's no longer available. I'm not sure why. Probably the world didn't need two people producing the same saddle. Or maybe there was a rights issue between Foreman and Fallis. The bottom line: I still feel my Balanced Ride Saddle is a good fit for my Fjords and comfortable enough for me for rides less than three hours. For longer rides, I prefer a wider twist. There's a designer of endurance saddles named Boz who modeled his saddles after Monte Foreman's design. I've heard his saddles are very good for wide backed horses.
R.J. Stewart
