This message is from: Gail Russell <g...@zeliga.com>
I just had a saddle fitting with saddlesthatfit.com (Susan Hart). Her husband (who is her "swamper"/saddle-schleper) pointed out to me that the Corrector Pad has the same weaknesses as a treeless saddle in that it ends up putting pressure on the front and/or rear of the saddle. I have not looked at it recently, but I do not think you can shim along the center of the saddle. My saddle was bridging in the center, though it fit on the front and back. She was able to use shims on the saddle, and/or placed judicious use of particular pads and shims stuck to the felt pad. If you are anywhere near their California/nevada/Oregon territory (maybe they go further afield?), I would have them do a saddle fitting. In the end, I bought a Specialized Trail Lite with an endurance seat because it was more comfortable for me. Even with that saddle, she used custom shims on it. (Specialized saddles come with a shim fit system.) Susan came to tiny Cedarville and fit saddles on something like 6 horses. She spent as much as two hours on each horse/rider combination and the cost was very affordable. I audited almost all of those fittings, and learned, first and foremost, that saddle fit makes a huge difference to a horse's way of going. The people whose horses she was fitting were experienced horse people who I know to be conscientious about saddle fit and who "knew" how to fit a saddle. She found problems with most of their saddles. Ironically, the only people who had saddles that fit pretty well were a novice couple with two brand new horsesThe difference was amazing. My saddle did not fit my horse's terribly, but, when I changed to a saddle that fit them a bit better, and one that put me in a more balanced seat, my horses stopped tripping, stopped spooking, and started walking and trotting evenly and ****with ears forward, interested in where we were going*****. The whole episode made me realize that there are a lot of horse problems that are not only people problems, but also saddle problems. There are a lot of horses out there who have been labelled as resistant who are not. They may just be hurting and being, literally, crippled by their saddles. In fact, I do believe "resistant" should be removed from a horseman's vocabulary because the word does not carry accurate specific information about a problem and because it is a "blame the horse" word that I believe is inappropriate. I would recommend that everyone have Susan do a clinic at their barn, however, I believe one of the essential parts of their service is the inventory of saddles, pads, and shims they carry with them. I do not know how far they travel. They live in the Shingle Springs area of California. We were in Cedarville CA (far Northeastern corner) and they came to us from further north. Susan is also a Centered Riding instructor. If she thinks YOU are the problem, she will tell you, ever so gently. :) Really nice people. On Mon, Oct 28, 2013 at 8:07 AM, julie finn <julief...@hotmail.com> wrote: > This message is from: julie finn <julief...@hotmail.com> > > > Has anyone had any experience with using the Corrector Pad by Len Brown? I > would like to use it with a Western saddle. > > Thanks Julie > > julief...@hotmail.com > > Important FjordHorse List Links: > Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e > FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw > FH_L Shirts: http://tinyurl.com/8yky94l Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw FH_L Shirts: http://tinyurl.com/8yky94l
