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Discussion on Need advice for slightly swayed back/Timerbline saddles?
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Monday, Mar 17, 2008 - 4:45 pm:
My favorite horse's top line has fallen somewhat with age over the past few years, and now my synthetic saddle that always used to fit him in spite of his top line is rubbing his hair off if I ride frequently. A few inches from the back of the saddle the flocking underneath appears to have given out and it is in that location where he has an area a few inches wide where the hair keeps being rubbed thin or off, and he also gets a sore back after I ride him very much. The areas are on each side of his back a few inches in front of each hip bone. I was at an organized trail ride earlier this month (riding every day gave my boy a sore back and the hair rubbed off entirely on some small spots). A saddle person on the ride let me try a Timberline Saddle on him, which I thought was comfortable to ride in but the panels seemed very tight on the horse's withers. He said that in 40 - 50 hours the panels would adjust to the horse. The Timberline is supposed to be an improvement on the Orthoflex saddles that I understand are no longer made? The Timberline has a shock-absorbing panel system. Does anyone have any experience with these saddles -- especially on a horse with a slightly fallen top line? I have already made so many expensive saddle mistakes that I don't want to make another one. And I also wonder if I simply buy a new cheap saddle like the one that I had before whether that may solve my problem. If that would work, I could afford to replace the cheap one 5 or 6 more times when compared to what I may spend on a more expensive saddle, which eventually may also not fit the horse. The Timberline saddle person said the tree on my old saddle(Big Horn brand)is still okay but that the area of the saddle near the back of it had broken down in the area where the rubbing is happening. Also, when the saddle person saw the hair pattern underneath my saddle pad (Professional Choice endurance pad) he said that also indicates that the saddle is bridging, but I had also been using one of those thin, waffly under-pads, which had an influence on the hair getting to the pad, and if it was bridging it had been doing so for a very long time including when I wasn't having any such problems. For the past several months I had noticed that my saddle was not comfortable for me and could sometimes give me blisters plus a generally sore rear end, which I took to mean that I was out of shape or getting old! Then the hair began wearing off my horse, Maybe this was all part of the saddle wearing out. Has anyone had a similar experience, or do you have have any suggestions or advice for me?
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Monday, Mar 17, 2008 - 6:02 pm:
Hi Vicki, my two old timers have a bit of a sway back too. I have a circle Y flex tree saddle with a thick pad. I have never had a problem. I also just purchased a Cashel soft saddle and Love it so far. I believe they would fit any horse, my arab gelding seems to really like it and so does my butt!
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Tuesday, Mar 18, 2008 - 11:14 am:
Thanks, Diane -- this is certainly an option worth considering.
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