This message is from: Marsha Jo Hannah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Mike & Casey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > as I look at Tyr, I think he's going to be difficult to fit with a > western saddle. He's 3 yo, and got virtually no withers. [...] He's > got a short back and a large barrel. > > I'm leaning towards an Arabian saddle,
When I first got my mare, Nansy, I took her to a tack shop and had them try on assorted saddles, then went to a saddle-maker and did it again. They both selected the same Circle-Y arab-tree saddle, which they said "fits as well as anything is going to". Nansy put up with it, but always seemed a little crabby when ridden. When we got my husband's gelding, Rom (it sounds like he shares Tyr's physique), we used Nansy's saddle on him, while trying to decide what saddle to get him. Everyone told me that her saddle fit him just fine; he begged to differ, started rushing downhill, which led to bolting downhill. Eventually, we worked him enough to notice the big dry spots the saddle was leaving on his shoulders (about where most horses start to have withers). He went better under other saddles that we borrowed from our neighbor/trainer, although they left different dry spots. Eventually, we had OrthoFlex make a saddle, custom-fit to Rom's back. That was a huge success. I strongly suspect that many of Rom's behavioral problems stem from his having been "trained" with saddles that didn't fit. When I got my gelding, Sleepy, I again used Nansy's saddle on him. He was a little tense under it, and also started rushing downhill. I immediately ordered him his own OrthoFlex (semi-custom fit---by then, OF had stopped doing custom fits), which has worked out fairly well (it ruffles the hair a bit at the loin, sometimes). I now wonder if Nansy's saddle ever fit her, either! The problem is those big, drafty Fjord shoulders. Most "off the shelf" saddle trees don't flare enough to allow Fjord shoulders to move freely. > do you find your Fjords growing withers when they get a bit older, > and do you think Tyr stands a chance of that? Or are they very > "mutton-withered" is the term, I think, for life. As they finish filling out and muscling up, the back develops a little more "definition" to it. (I.e. it gets a little of a "saddle shape", vs being an "oil drum".) I wouldn't say that any of mine have really obvious withers---except maybe Nansy, who (at 29) is now so swaybacked that saddles don't fit, anyway! BTW, due to this "filling out" process, custom-made tack for a 3-year-old will have to be replaced by age 5, and maybe again at age 7. It's a tradeoff---you don't want to teach the animal to be "afraid of its back" by using ill-fitting gear, yet you don't want to spend thousands of dollars on a sequence of saddles. One of the benefits of sending youngsters to a trainer is that he will have a whole tack room full of saddles, from which he can choose the one that fits this horse today. Now, whether he'll bother to choose, vs just using his favorite, is another question entirely. Marsha Jo Hannah Murphy must have been a horseman-- [EMAIL PROTECTED] anything that can go wrong, will! 30 mi SSE of San Francisco, Calif. -------
