Traveller

I'm not a saddle maker so can't address the Cair system (Bates' name for the air panels in their Bates and Wintec saddles) from that point of view, but I know they're still using air panels in their saddles, so they must consider it a success. A few other brands have picked up the practice, though not many. Personally, I don't think it's such a great idea. Yes, air will not press down on a sharp point, so if my horse had a lump on his back that other saddles constantly chaffed, then air panels would be a solution (as would retiring the horse!). But air, while it feels soft when you put your finger in it and displace only a small amount, becomes rock hard when you push down on the entire panel, so I'm not sure it's as forgiving as old fashioned wool, provided the wool is restuffed from time to time. I don't know whether the air panels in western saddle pads, such as SMX Professionals Choice, are better than the Cair panels. It's possible that they are because they have many very small pockets that get compressed instead of the four rather large compartments of the Cair system, allowing for a variation in the pressure on a horse's back. I know serious riders who swear by them, though I haven't tried them myself. Like you, curbstrap, I'm very interested to hear what others have to say! Joanne

Crystal's right -- you should definitely contact your local newspapers and television stations with the story about the saddle raffle (if that's the way you decide to go) and the cause it's for. I used to be a journalist and I know these kinds of stories often get attention, as well they should. Joanne

I just want to say that Yonatan sent me the photos and not the saddle! I don't know much about it except that it looks very interesting.

Very nice! I've attached a couple of photos of another mochilla that Yonatan, a contributor to this forum, sent me a few months ago.

Who knew? (Well, you did, apparently, and now so do I!) There's a bit of an "ick" factor to rawhide that I had no idea existed... precious thing that I am....

It sounds like a lot of fun, Alan, in spite of all the drinking Unfortunately I'll be north of the 49th Parallel on the big day, or else I'd most definitely pull up pallet on your ranch and make myself right at home. Best wishes, Alan! Joanne

Thank you, Darc! The stallion is from a small Friesian breeding farm, not the big one on Highway 99. Lisa used to have a stallion from that farm but he died this spring (equine influenza gone horribly wrong, they believe), and this is her new guy. Friesian's aren't really my thing but I have to admit that he's quite spectacular! I also have some training videos lined up for the fall. I did one for a friend, Kevan Garecki, which is also on YouTube (here's that link: ), and we're meeting next week to work out a series of videos for his horse hauling company. He was moving Traveller for me and since Trav hasn't spent a lot of time in a trailer, we thought he'd make a good subject for a training video. Plus I'm writing for websites. I'm currently putting the finishing touches on copy for a warmblood farm in Illinois that came to me courtesy of a local web builder I know. So between all these little contracts, plus the occasional television contract (I have the Variety Children's Charity Lottery Home contract for ads that run on Global TV), I hope to hobble together a decent living. Fingers crossed! Thanks again, Darc. I'm glad you liked it! Joanne

Hi everybody! First off, my apologies for this having absolutely squat to do with saddles or leather working (although there is a saddle in the video, but it's not center stage). I've worked in television for 20 years and got tired of the long hours and short contracts that were inevitably followed by long periods of unemployment filled with desperate searches for the next contract of possibly even longer hours... you know how it goes! Anyway, I've started up my own production company and this is my first marketing video. I won't be doing strictly horses (any leather workers out there looking for a fabulous, professionally-produced video? ). My website is still under construction but once it's done, it'll be at www.pebblebeachproductions.com So, without further ado, here goes... Thanks! Joanne

Wow! How much does a saddle like that weigh?

That's the shiniest saddle collection I've ever seen!

Very nice work, Steve! I really like how you did the in-skirt rigging. It flows very nicely. And I like square skirts just fine! The square skirts on a California-style saddle look very different from the ones I've seen on the more Texas-style (if that's what they're called) saddles. Might that be because they have square points and the Texas saddles are more rounded off? Me, I'd like to have a round-skirt custom saddle and then a square-skirt custom saddle and then one of those ones where the skirts come all the way down to the stirrups (I'm told they're called mochillas). Ah, but reality intervenes... at least I'm not hankering after a side saddle, too! Thanks for the pics, Steve. I always enjoy seeing your work. Joanne

Very nice lines, Steve - as always! Thanks for sharing. Joanne

Perhaps if you lunged him with a bareback pad on you'd find out whether he was permanently damaged or not. If it's a warm day, he should sweat underneath the pad and any lack of sweat marks won't be influenced by the rider's weight. As for building a custom saddle, maybe you could find out whether a saddle built for your horse would fit on another horse after he's gone. I'm having some difficulty fitting saddles on my horse and have learned that, though he'll have to have a slightly different tree than your average horse, it can be built in such a way that the saddle will fit regular horses as well as him. (By the way, I'm not a saddle maker, just a saddle buyer!) Good luck! Joanne

How does that work, Steve? (I'm not sure what the leg cut is and how it might affect stick-ability.) Very nice saddle, Steve, as always! I'm sure you'll have it sold soon.

It looks like an English jumping saddle that was made in Australia. It has knee blocks rather than poleys, and the angle of the flaps make it look like a forward seat. Looks like it's of decent quality, if a bit old.

I'd seen it before, too. And even though it is surely photoshopped, it's fun to look at! Thanks, Pella! Joanne

Wow! That's an amazing saddle. I'm glad your customer wants to ride in it instead of just have it sit around as a most gorgeous piece of art... which it could certainly do quite well! I'm also glad you got excellent photos of it. Amazing. Wow! (have I said that before?) Joanne

Denise, The only SMS saddle fitter in my area (west coast of Canada), Leslie McGill, charges $100 per farm visit. She has a couple of makes of saddles that she sells, and apparently you get your $100 back if you buy one of hers. She will also check other saddles you provide. I haven't met her but people seem to like her work (though her website could use a writer's touch... says a writer, ahem...). And of course she only fits English saddles. Here's her website: http://www.thesaddledoctor.ca/SD/Welcome.html A woman I know from cattle sorting and penning is coming by this morning with a bunch of saddles to see if something inexpensive fits my horse (gotta ride while I get the custom saddle order going!). She's just a horsewoman who said she'd charge me $20 for her trouble. She doesn't make any claim to fame other than she's put a lot of saddles on a lot of horses and has found she's had some luck. Joanne

I just saw that thread! The saddle and taps look beautifully balanced, both on their own and together, and the carving is excellent. Thanks for posting the pics. Joanne

Thanks, Jan, I just might take you up on that! Good to hear from you. Joanne

Very nice, Steve. The saddle parked in the background looks pretty good, too! Joanne

I'm sorry, jdalberta1, I seem to have hijacked your thread! My apologies. Hopefully though you can see how difficult it is to manage a horse with a hard-to-fit back. Not only is it virtually impossible to find an off-the-rack saddle that fits but, as Darc pointed out, I'm also hesitant to spend money on a custom saddle only to find that it doesn't fit either, regardless of how good the tree and saddle makers are. And when a saddle doesn't fit this horse, he lets me know about it... he'll do a whole lot for me, so long as it doesn't hurt. And I can't say I blame him for that! Thanks for posting the pics, Darc. I've posted a couple more taken of him. The full side view is on what I hope is level ground and the one of his back with the stick bridging from his whithers to his croup was taken in the wash rack, so it may have a bit of a slope to it but at least it's a solid cement footing. Traveller is definitely built downhill, though not extremely so; just your average quarter horse downhill build. As for his shoulder, the physio (amongst others) have noted that his left shoulder is bigger than his right. When she first worked on him, she noted that he was out in his left hip (can't remember precisely where), right shoulder and left neck. Since she's been working on him, his body has come more in line, though his neck, just below the poll and more on the left than the right, is still out. I don't think the right side is atrophied, Bruce; I think it's more a case of the left side being more built-up. I had a vet out to check him his movement out but on that day, he didn't crank his head at all and she was very, very impressed with the way he moved. She said he moved better than most quarter horses she sees and that I should be very pleased with him. And I am... except not so much the next day when he went back to cranking his head again! (I've had his teeth done.) My regular vet has seen him several times in the four years I've owned him and while she was the first to note the difference in his left and right shoulders, she's never expressed any concerns about his conformation (it was a different vet -- one who was already at the barn that day for other horses and whom I know has a good reputation for lameness issues -- who checked his movement out). He travels well in a straight line and isn't inverted, though when lungeing to the left he has a tendency to crank his head around from time to time. The head cranking rarely happens under saddle, even when I do smaller circles, so rider support might make a difference (I ride with light contact, not cranked in). At the canter, he'll drop his shoulders a little in the corners, more when going to the right than to the left, though I can often help him pick them up and eventually, he'll manage to get around the corner without dropping. I haven't had the physio out for a couple of months now but plan to do so when she's back in town next time. I also plan to start riding with an instructor who can hopefully help me straighten Trav's body out through riding exercises (gotta get a saddle for that to work out...). Thanks again, everybody, for your input. And if anyone knows of a good, used saddle that might fit this horse, I'd be happy to try it out. I can pay shipping to Blaine, WA, so long as you don't mind if I send it back to you (at my cost, of course) should it not fit. In the meantime, there's an older Silver Supreme saddle at my barn that I'm able to borrow from time to time, and so far, it's not bothering him. It's not the best saddle to sit in and I can only use it when the woman who owns it isn't sitting in it herself, but at least I can ride. And that's great! Joanne

Ron Stolp has some cards and is going to come by to measure him up but so far we haven't been able to work out a time. I'm really looking forward to finding out how it turns out. In the meantime, a woman at my barn has an old Silver Supreme that Traveller's not objecting to (not yet, anyway!) so at least I'm able to ride. It's a short-term solution, though. When Chuck Stormes looked at this photo, he seemed to think his shoulders looked more muscled up than the average horse. I'll keep you all aprised -- thanks for checking in! Joanne

I have a hard to fit horse (big shoulders, halter bred quarter horse build) and if I'd known what I was doing, I wouldn't have bought him, based on that fact alone. But now that I've had him for four years, I'm kind of stuck. I like the horse -- he's got a great temperament, so long as the saddle fits -- and I feel a sense of responsibility for him. Which means I have to find a saddle to fit him. Or the next person would have to. So somebody's got to, and I guess that person is me. Funny thing is, when I bought him, I thought he had an uncomplicated back. It still doesn't look bad, until you get to those shoulders (I've attached a recent photo that shows how big they are). I agree with Hidemechanic -- you don't own the horse yet and there are lots of good horses out there at reasonable prices with backs that won't make you crazy, or cost you a fortune.

As I understand it, the sheepskin keeps the saddle from sliding off the saddle pad. If you just had smooth leather under the saddle, it could slide off the pad and then off the horse. Some saddle makers use felt to do the same job. English saddles don't need that system; instead, their saddle pads usually have tabs that keep the pad attached to the saddle. An English saddle shouldn't actually require a pad, if it's the right size for the horse; the pad's job is just to keep the saddle from sitting directly on top of the horse's dirty back. Unlike English saddles, western saddles don't have their own built-in padding, so they need a pad to keep the horse comfortable. And the shearling keeps it all in place. Joanne