Hi Skye >>That would be great as I would really like to learn what specifically some peoples opinion about would be. And how can you tell from a pic?
Having ridden in and own(ed) a variety of saddles with a big interest in saddle fit for over 20 years I would say that initially the saddle looks like it might fit like a glove. But while I would have once thought that was a good thing (and lots of saddle fitters do think that), having met Carol Brett about 8 years ago I started looking at saddle fit differently. Having a wide enough tree so that even when there is a rider on you can easily (that being the key word) slide your hand down the front of the saddle between the tree point and the horse with room. The Balance idea is that the tree should be wide enough and then you use padding to fill in (obviously it can't be so wide that it sits on the withers without padding but the saddle should not sit correctly without padding. Their padding system is really clever because you can layer the pads, with Velcro, and as the horse builds muscle (and they can only build muscle if there is enough room and are ridden correctly) you end up taking out padding. It doesn't make sense to me that when a saddle fitter comes out every six months or whatever, that they should be adding padding. If a horse is building muscle they should be taking it out. So I have ended up with 4 different models of Balance saddles - my most used being the Zenith. Some people and horses really like these saddles and other don't - just like any saddle. Before the Balance saddles I was also using and exploring treeless saddles at the same time. Christine has a leather bareback pad that Goertz used to make and still uses quite a bit. I don't like the stirrup placement but she loves it. Starting in about 1998 I started trying the Diddi pads and other Icelander variations of treeless saddles and used the Diddi pads for quite a few years. I then bought an Ansur and Torsion - which were okay. I first saw the Sensations, Dana's saddles in the early 2000's and bought my first one about 5 years ago (can't really remember). In between I tried various other saddles including just one model of Duett - which I found too narrow and the wrong shape (I think they have since added a different tree shape) I have not used the Astund saddles and know that many people really like them. I do know that the Icelanders have been making saddles with relatively wider trees and shorter saddles over the past years. I used to but Goertz saddles - first with the extended bars and then with no bars and always in their x wide trees which at the time were much wider than any of the Icelandic style saddles you could buy. When I started using other treed and treeless saddles the biggest thing for me was the change in the horses. They had not been a problem in the Goertz saddles but they were so much better in the wider or treeless saddles it was very evident. The one problem was that once they were accustomed to a different fitting saddle they were no longer as happy in the other saddles. Therefore, they sit in the back of my tack room. I think people do the best they can and I think that saddle fit has always been one of the biggest issues for horses (along with feet, teeth). I also think that some horses are less sensitive than others and they get used to something and it works pretty well for them. I really look for behaviors such as how easy the horse is to catch, what is their response when they see the saddle and are being saddled (do they stand quietly and relaxed - and not when cross-tied; do they move around); what is their response to the girth; do they stand quietly for mounting; can they stand still after being mounted or do they need to move and can when they move can they walk quietly or do they go off quickly? How the rider sits in the saddle and rides will also make a tremendous difference to how they feel about the saddle - a great saddle with a rider who is unbalanced and hangs on the reins can be worse than a less than ideal saddle with a balanced rider - at least IME. Robyn Icelandic Horse Farm Robyn Hood & Phil Pretty Vernon BC Canada www.icefarm.com
