Saddle Fitting

Feel free to roast me for this, but it's been two years since I last got my saddle fit adjusted for Gwyn. Given that I'm now about a year out from my cross country move, it's somewhat understandable, but regardless, it was time for a recheck. 

With my new job I do have some cash and the ability to save up quickly, for larger purchases like a better fitting saddle. Right now I have an all purpose Thorowgood which has been serving me well for all purposes. I know there are some different schools of thought with those style of saddles and I've been mulling over adding a dressage or specific endurance style saddle or going in another direction. 

Snuggles while we wait for the saddle fitter to finish up on the previous horse

One of my barn mates was having a fitter out a week ago and I hopped on that train SO fast. Though I didn't know it, she used to work for the lady that originally sold me my saddle and was very familiar with the Hastilow/Thorowgood line. Perfect.

First things... the lines on the saddle rack are digging into the leather on my panels. I need to make sure to pad this if my saddle is going to sit on it for any length of time. It would be better to be smooth.

She was pretty knowledgeable though she isn't fitting full time anymore. Now it's just a hobby for her and she's only taking new clients if they're friends of friends. So yay I got in, haha.

Mark up the pony's back in purple livestock crayon

She pulled out the wool flocking from my last fitting, which was a completely different wool and had packed down all wrong. The width is still good, she seems to think Gwyn doesn't need a hoop tree (again, like the last fitter from Michigan advised) Either way, we tossed it on, there was no bridging or pinching and I tacked up and took her for a test ride.

I kind of liked that the fitter also has some knowledge as a riding instructor because she made sure that I was riding effectively to then also judge how the saddle was working. She answered all of my questions. Additionally, she doesn't think I'm going to need a specialized kind of saddle. For my goals, even taking my lofty AEC goal into account, this saddle should serve me well. At most she'd recommend a jump saddle but not dressage or trail unless I really want to get further there. And while I would love to get my bronze one day, I don't need the saddle for that now. 

So what I did have her do was add trail rings to my current saddle. You can see them in the above picture from this past weekend. That should give me a little more utility for endurance. And also if I wanted a little more comfort for endurance, to get a seat saver. All very much economical options compared to getting a completely new saddle.

She also switched up my billet attachments so they're in a slightly different configuration (and she was VERY pleased with how nicely I've taken care of this saddle *preen*  and advised that I get a girth with no elastics (ahhhhh). Since I needed a new girth anyway, I ordered a Pro-Lite one on her recommendation. I'm lucky in that Gwyn has not ever been super picky about her tack. She'll eventually let me know that her saddle fit isn't quite right, but it's always subtle. And she's not a delicate flower about other pieces of tack, bits included. 

The ProLite is all synthetic, always a bonus, and it's anatomical to allow for shoulder room. Plus this one has a center attachment for martingales, which my previous girth did not, so that's an upgrade! Since it's not elastic, I'm slowly tightening up both sides in an alternating pattern, like a good pony clubber. And since it's not elastic, I ordered the same size for her and it's perfect and not up on the last billet holes on both sides.

Despite all that, when I finally rode in my new and improved same saddle, I still had to get off about 20 minutes in and tighten the girth AGAIN when a barn mate told me she could see daylight.  LOL.

Gwyn was a spicy mare too. She was feeling really good and offering lots of canter transitions when all I wanted was an on the bit trot. I had to use a LOT of half halt to keep her focused and eventually just made her canter around the arena twice to get it out of her system. I can still remember when just getting a long side of canter was a challenge!  Kind of regret not lunging... hahaha.

I also opted to torture myself with a posture corrector and ended up pulling a muscle in my back after doing a mostly walk ride. Good going, Amy.

It was a warm day on Sunday so I gave Gwyn a bath too. She promptly rolled.

Waiting for lunch

Monday looking bedraggled and confused that I was picking up the trailer and not her

"Oh! Tiny human!"

A good morning

Because I know that sometimes there can be many reasons for a behavioral issue under saddle, I really wanted to also rule out my saddle fit as a cause. It's been quite a while since I last had the fit checked and I'm certain Gwyn had changed shape in that time. I contacted a local-ish saddle fitter a couple days ago and fortune had it that she could fit me in early this morning before another appointment she had further out. It worked out perfectly!

She spent time checking the current fit and determined that while the saddle was well balanced on Gwyn's back, her gullet size was too narrow. She showed me on the wither tracings how my current gullet was not quite right (MW from thorowgood) and how the wide would be better, especially after the wool flocking was rebalanced. If I was in the market for a new saddle, she recommended that we move to a hoop tree instead of a V tree. That is good information to file away!

In general she said the wool was in good shape, so that's good! Once the saddle was back together we went into the arena to test it out and see how it felt for both of us.

Gwyn has doubts about this whole thing...

I immediately felt balanced and not tipped around weirdly, so that was good. And Gwyn immediately moved off in the biggest, swinging walk I have ever felt on her. It was AMAZING.  We tried a canter under saddle but with not having ridden in over two weeks and her feeling REALLY good she was a bit too light and was crow hopping happily everywhere. But willingly picking up the canter when cued and not turning to bite at my foot.

So I guess there's that to know. Saddle fit should be checked if she starts exhibiting that behavior. She's such a good mare, I feel terrible that I didn't put two and two together before. But I've got it fixed now and that's what matters.

This is the face of someone who, despite being covered in poison ivy rash, is actually finally feeling better! I had a cooling scarf on my head and another one wrapped around my neck to keep my zipper on my sun shirt from irritating my chest.

So after the fitter left I went back up to the arena and lunged Gwyn, letting her get the wiggles out and she was SO bouncy on the lunge line and moving very uphill. I think it felt good being able to really move her shoulder.

She was sproingy, lol.

We had a great ride in the arena and I decided to go on a brief trail ride to see what the farm fields were like. Last year they were planted with soybeans, but this year it's corn. I didn't particular feel like fighting a wiggly, feeling good horse in a straight line through corn, especially since I really don't want to damage the crops at all (and there isn't a good field edge to stick to). So I got onto the road as soon as possible and headed out to the main street. From there I decided to just see how Gwyn did on the road.

We haven't road ridden here in Michigan because there is definitely some baggage left over from both our pasts. However, Gwyn was feeling good and I was pretty sure I could at least finish the block and get home. And if really necessary I could get off and walk.

Corn

Well, we got spooked by a motorcyclist and she went sideways down a steep bank and refused to turn around to get back to the more quiet road. But she did the bank drop really well! I was impressed. Good mare practicing for cross country! So then I figured since it was early ish on a Sunday that traffic wouldn't be too bad and we could make it. Like I just took it chunks at a time. We had one more incident at the main cross roads when a large box truck just really did not slow down early enough but there was enough space I could be off the road and steer her around to get her back under control.

We had a lookie incident when she saw the horses across the street from daycare and they came running over but I could let her stand in daycare's lawn and watch them and just breath a moment. When I saw another motorcyclist I turned her to face them and she did just fine. At a calm point we crossed the road and went over to the high school and walked around there. I wanted to see if getting to the fields on that side was possible and it seems not, because of a wire fence. Balls. We turned around and headed home.

She got a nice cold bath and I turned on the fans in the stalls. And I stayed relatively not hot, despite the rash I've got. My outfit seemed to work. I'm excited to use these cooling towels for endurance rides. I think they'll work really well for me.