Then tried a dozen saddles belonging to friends - not any actually for sale, but none of them fit anyhow... well, except the $2000 one. Hmmm... can't swing that.
Spent a week emailing back and forth with a dozen sellers of wide-treed dressage saddles and a couple of western ones. Schedule the first one to try out, and she even brings it here.
Snuggle it onto his back and.... IT FITS!!! Beautiful clearance at the shoulder, gorgeous gap at the withers and perfectly nestled along his back. YAY YAY YAY! Next, the 2nd test. How do I feel in it? So I grabbed all my gear and tacked up. Pitch black outside, but hey we've played in that arena how many times (in broad daylight).... the boy was a champ. One walking lap around the perimeter of the lake within, and he gave me a yummy floating trot, all bendy and swishy. Wait a minute... aren't those the exact descriptors to bump between a friend and I during a recent recitation of what response the right saddle will get out of a horse?! And mine was doing it?! HOLY crap!
The seat is a little wider than I'm used to (duh) but otherwise, this is a very comfy saddle. Totally plain jane with no bells or whistles, but that's exactly what we need - for him to grow comfortably and for myself to learn about him as he does.
Anyhow, I promptly handed over cash and stowed the sucker into the house for some lovin' of the oiln' kind. Here it is all glossy, sexy and ready to ride!
That's awesome! Congrats!! Holy deep seat batman!!
ReplyDeletethanks! i got a chance to do a good 30 mins of trot work this afternoon and it's not nearly as comfortable for myself as my synthetic was, but oh well. i feel secure and as i continue to lose weight, maybe it won't bug me as much. as it is, it's liveable until he decides to stop morphing and i can afford something gravy.
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