Category Archives: Tack

Wool vs. foam vs. CAIR: One case study

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, saddle fit, saddles and tagged with , ,

Although I’ve owned many, many saddles over the years (Goldilocks and the 31 Saddles ) all but three have been flocked with wool and checked by a saddle fitter twice a year.

What’s the difference?

The material that fills the panels of the saddle are critical to saddle fit and comfort.

Adjusting the wool in a flocked saddle

Wool flocked saddles are adjusted by adding or removing wool through slits in the panels. It’s a good idea to have saddle fit checked regularly since wool can compress over time or your horse can change shape.

Wool Flocked

Traditionally saddles were flocked (stuffed) with wool. The wool is soft enough so that it conforms to they horse’s back over time. If it compresses too much, it can be removed and replaced; and if your horse’s back changes over time, a fitter can add or remove wool to adjust the fit. While a wool flocked saddle can’t be made to fit if the tree is the wrong size or the panels are the wrong shape, there is a lot of flexibility. The disadvantage is that wool saddles need to be checked more frequently to see if they’ve maintained their fit. The wool may move in the panel or compress. I, for example, have my saddles checked twice a year by a saddle fitter and those fittings can run $75-$250 and any adjustments are done on site.

Foam Panels:

When foam paneled saddles were first introduced, they were generally cheap saddles and the foam didn’t hold up well over time — it compressed to the point where it offered no padding and then disintegrated.

The new generation of foam is more sophisticated and durable and is used by many of the high end saddle manufacturers. It is made to automatically adjust to fit a wider tolerance of shapes, to offer cushioning and shock absorbancy, and to “spring back” to it’s original shape. The idea is that unlike a wool flocked saddle, which usually is fitted to a specific horse, a foam paneled saddle can be used on many horses. The disadvantage is that if your horse changes shape beyond the scope of the panel’s tolerance, the only ways to make it fit are to buy new panels — a company rep will remeasure your horse and the company will replace the panels for $400-$1000). Or, you can do a foam to wool conversion — this can be tricky since some of the foam paneled saddles have very thin, close contact panels.

CAIR Panels

Inside a CAIR panel

This is what a CAIR panel looks like when you cut it open.

CAIR panels technically filled with air, but it’s a bit more complicated than the balloon image that invokes. Air is captured at atmospheric pressure in an open-celled foam and sealed in the Air Panel. Once the air panel is welded the open-celled foam becomes irrelevant, as it is the air trapped in the panel.

Like foam panels, CAIR panels are designed to accommodate use on different horses — it is resilient and does not permanently conform to a horse’s back the way wool does.

Some people don’t like the feeling of CAIR: they find it to be “bouncy.” Some people say their horse’s don’t like the CAIR panels. I’ve also heard of CAIR panels that deflate. I haven’t had a problem with any of those aspects of it; so far the CAIR panels on my saddle have worked fine.

CAIR has many of the advantages of foam (fits many horses, requires fewer fittings) but the system is exclusive to saddles made by Bates/Wintec.

In addition to the CAIR panels some of the Wintec saddles also have pockets where a fitter can insert wool to fine tune the fit.

My experience

When I bought my Stackhouse saddle I was over the moon. I had found a used version of the exact saddle I’d always wanted. Since I have quite long femurs, it’s hard for me to find saddles with extra forward flaps on the used market. To find one in a Medium Wide tree as well? It was my Christmas present to myself in 2010. And I had heard positive things about the resiliency of the newer foam panels.

The saddle did not disappoint. It is incredibly well balanced — it fits my leg to a “T” and makes me feel very secure. My leg falls exactly where it should without any effort. It also fit Freedom very well. Or, it did until this Spring.

Over the past month and a half, since I started jumping Freedom again, I could tell that his back was a bit sore. Not terribly sore, but a bit too tight and a bit too sensitive. I have several saddles so I rotated them until my saddle fitter could come to the barn — I figured if one saddle was bothering him,  I could keep each of them from getting too much ride time.

Wintec Pro Jump

My Wintec Pro Jump still fits him very well and also provides me a balanced ride. But it’s a bit like going from the sublime to the ridiculous. And my knees are right at the edge of the flap.

Sadly, it was the Stackhouse that was causing the problem. Strangely enough, my other saddles still fit just fine (I have a County jumping saddle that’s a tad wide but works with a Mattes pad, an Austrian A/P saddle and a Wintec Pro Jump). The first two are wool flocked and the Wintec is CAIR.

Looking at Freedom, I can’t say that his back has changed much. He’s in very much the same fitness level as he was last fall and his weight is very similar. He’s about 12 so is at an age where you don’t expect to see a lot of changes in a horse that’s in consistent work.

You would think that the foam panels could accommodate the minor changes in his back since the saddle has fit so well for the past year and a half. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

I discussed it with my fitter and decided that it wasn’t worth trying to shim it and pad it into fitting. Foxhunting is a discipline that takes us over quite varied terrain and you need a saddle that fits (you don’t want it to slide about or become unbalanced).

My conclusion: If I’m going to buy another expensive saddle, I’m going to choose one with wool panels. The Wintec saddles (and their Bates counterparts) are not so expensive that it’s a tragedy if they don’t fit after awhile. Foam panels are fine until they don’t fit. And then they’re not.

Since I enjoy saddle shopping, it’s not a big deal for me to sell the Stackhouse. I’ll hunt in my Wintec for the time being and keep my eye out for the next saddle to try. And I will pass my Stackhouse along to the next lucky person who has a horse that’s the right shape for it.

What have been your experiences? What type(s) of saddles do you ride in? Are you pleased with them?

18″ Stackhouse jumping saddle sadly for sale

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, saddles and tagged with ,
Stackhouse Jumping Saddle

This Stackhouse jumping saddle is 18″ with a M/W tree. It features extra forward flaps for riders with long legs! The stirrup bars are set back so it does not put you in a chair seat. In fact, it’s one of the most balanced saddles I’ve ridden in.

It is with great regret that I am selling my David Stackhouse jumping saddle. This was my dream saddle. It has extra forward flaps for the long-legged rider and a medium wide tree for my stocky TB. When I first bought it I was amazed by how well it fit Freedom and how it put me in the most balanced and secure position over fences. You sit in that saddle and your legs are just right where they should be!

Unfortunately, over the last 18 months Freedom has changed just enough so that it no longer fits him properly. This is a newer Stackhouse that has foam panels. The only way for me to “fix” it would be to do a foam to wool conversion and I’m just not up for it right now.

This is a saddle that will make someone else very happy! Price $1600 (includes shipping to the lower 48 states). These saddles retail for $4K + so here’s your chance to get a quality saddle at a great price.

I’ve taken a number of photos but am happy to take more or provide measurements.

Stackhouse jumping saddle seat

The saddle is in very nice used condition. There is some slight discoloration on the seat and minor, minor rubs. There are three small nicks on the cantle. It has a flat seat which makes it an ideal xc saddle because it is not too restrictive.

Stackhouse jumping saddle

There are pencil sized blocks under the flap.

Stackhouse billets

The billets still have a lot of life in them. I also had the saddle completely checked over by my saddle fitter and the tree is solid.

Stackhouse jumping saddle Front

The tree is a M/W (stamped on the stirrup bar). It fits very true to size.

 

Stackhouse jumping saddle gullet

The saddle has a nice wide gullet so will sit nicely over your horse’s spine.

Orienting your bit correctly

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Bits, Commentary and tagged with , ,
Bit attached backwards

I came upon a bridle last week where the bit was attached the wrong way. With double-jointed snaffles, it's not as obvious as a single-jointed bit so you have to look carefully at the way the mouthpiece curves.

What’s wrong with the picture on the left? The bit is attached backwards so that the orientation of the mouthpiece is wrong.

With some bits, it can be difficult to tell the right way from the wrong way so it’s important to take a good look at it before putting it in your horse’s mouth. If the bit is oriented incorrectly, it can cause your horse pain.

Bit in a horse's mouth from bitbankaustralia.wordpress.com

You can see from this photo how the bit fits into a horse's mouth. Photo from www.bitbankaustralia.wordpress.com.

Think about the shape of a horse’s mouth and how the bit fits into it. For the bit to sit properly it has to be oriented so that the curvature looks like a gentle U. This allows the bit to curve forward — it will drape on the horse’s tongue, not poke him in the palate and rest on the bars.

Bit correctly oriented

Here's a very similar bit that is correctly oriented. You can see how it matches the shape of a horse's mouth.

Here’s another view of the same bit.  In this angle you can see the curvature of the mouthpiece.

Here you can see the curvature in the mouthpiece

Here you can see the curvature of the mouthpiece.

Is your horse an off-the-shelf fit?

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, equestrian, saddle fit, saddles and tagged with
All Purpose saddle

Freedom fits a M/W saddle tree. Most "off the shelf" saddles fit him fine.

Saddle fitting can be a real nightmare. Sometimes you feel like Goldilocks: it’s just a bit to narrow or a bit too wide, or maybe that panel shape is a bit too flat . . . or a bit too curvy.

Seriously, for some people finding a saddle that fits their horse is worse than finding a flattering bathing suit!

My last two horses, Kroni and now Freedom, have pretty standard backs when it comes to saddles. The last time my saddle fitter came to visit he looked at three of my saddles and congratulated me: they all fit without any adjustments. In fact, even though Kroni was a Trakehner and Freedom is a Thoroughbred, I was able to have Kroni’s saddles refitted to Freedom without much difficulty.

So, what can you do to find a well fitting saddle?

Probably the best thing you can do is find an independent saddle fitter — someone who doesn’t rep a particular brand — and ask them to show you what works, and what doesn’t work, for your horse. Let them show you different ways that a saddle doesn’t fit and also how to recognize when it does. Make sure you know where to place a saddle (many times I see them placed too far forward, where they impede the movement of the scapula) and learn how to use the new shimmable saddle pads (they are lifesavers if your saddle is a hair too wide).

Are custom saddles worth it?

As far as I can tell, the jury is still out on the value of a custom saddle. People either have wonderful experiences . . . or really bad ones. I’ve read way too many sad stories on horse forums about the $5K saddle that was supposed to be custom and which didn’t even come close to fitting their horse.

While it’s tempting to order a saddle that is measured just for your horse, I also am loathe to buy a saddle that I can’t ride in. Unless, of course, they are such a good deal that I figure I can resell them :) . I’m pretty bad about buying saddles on eBay and luckily the ones that I didn’t like, I resold mostly for a profit. After all, even when a saddle looks like it fits, your horse should get the final vote. Some horses are stoic and won’t object to a saddle that doesn’t fit like a glove; others (and I owned one of these drama queens once) make it very clear that the are not happy

Should you buy a new saddle? Or used?

There’s also the dilemma of used vs. new. It’s not such a problem for me as I can only afford the saddles I want when they have been already broken in by their previous owner; but if you buy a new saddle you need to understand how a saddle will fit after it’s been ridden in for awhile — the new foam panels are pretty good at accommodating small variations in shape — but wool flocking may compress over the first few months and need some adjustment. Other wool saddles come from the factory like an overstuffed sofa and need a bit of wool removed to make the fit more comfortable.

And if you do have one of those Goldilocks horses, you might just want to consider a treeless saddle!

What kind of horse do you have? One who fits the “off the shelf” sizes or a princess and the pea type who needs a saddle that’s “just right.”

Why do some saddles put you in a chair seat?

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, saddles and tagged with , ,
Stackhouse jumping saddle

My Stackhouse saddle has the stirrup bars positioned in a way that makes my leg fall in exactly the right position with little effort on my part. You can see they are set pretty far back, especially when compared to the Wintec below.

After you’ve found a saddle that fits your horse (not always an easy task), you also need one that puts you in proper balance. That’s not always a “given” because the rider’s conformation also needs to match the way a saddle is built. If the saddle doesn’t put you in the “sweet spot” you’ll spend a lot of time fighting your tack and feeling slightly off balance. Certainly, it will adversely affect the way you ride.

Perhaps the most common problem is when a saddle puts the rider in a chair seat — so named because the rider looks like she is sitting on her bum with her legs slightly in front of her and her thigh too parallel to the ground. In a properly balanced saddle, the rider is positioned over her seat bones and her leg is underneath her in line with her ear, shoulder, hip and heels — if her horse were to be suddenly taken away, she would land on her feet, not her butt. If your trainer keeps telling you to bring your legs back underneath you, you are in a chair seat.

There are times when being in a slight chair seat isn’t such a bad idea. Many cross-country saddles put you in a chair seat and it’s helpful to be able to put your feet on the “dashboard” when you jump a drop fence. But for flatting, dressage and for fences on flat terrain, being in a chair seat puts you behind the motion so that you are always playing a bit of catch up.

Wintec XC saddle

This Wintec XC saddle has the bars placed in a more forward position. It puts me in a chair seat but I don't mind that so much if I'm hunting or riding cross country.

The major reason why a rider ends up in a chair seat is that the stirrup bars are positioned too far forward on the saddle in relation to the length of the rider’s femur. It’s particularly a problem if your femurs are long (I know this from first hand experience). Some saddles have extended stirrup bars and some have the bars placed farther back. After you have looked at different saddles and felt your balance point, you’ll start to recognize the ones that work best for you. In my case (freakishly long femurs) I prefer saddles that are built with an extra forward flap as there is enough flap in front of the bar to accommodate my leg.

My experience also has told me that saddles with very deep seats tend to be more prone to putting you in a chair seat probably because to accommodate the length of your femur the stirrup leathers should hang vertically and approximately 6″ or 7″ forward of the deepest part of the seat — and in very deep saddles, that position is generally further forward than in saddles with shallower seats.

It took me many years and many saddles to figure out that it was the stirrup bar placement that made such a difference to my position. I’d always realized that some saddles just made it easier to stay in balance but figuring out why means that there’s no guess work involved.

What if you have a saddle with bars that are too far forward?

It’s very expensive to have the bars repositioned on a saddle. But, if you own a saddle with the bars too far forward there’s a trick you can try that might help. Take the rubber rings used on a martingale or even some thick hair bands and put them on the stirrup bar in front of your leathers. This will move your stirrup position very slightly back. It won’t make a huge difference but it may help.

Resources:

Leg Length and Your Position: Great article from Schleese about the correlation between the length from your hip to your knee and the position of the stirrup bars.

From the bit box: Full Cheek Slow Twist

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Bits, Commentary, Competition, Cross Country, Tack and tagged with , ,
Full Cheek Slow Twist Snaffle

This Full Cheek Slow Twist snaffle was my first xc bit

This is the oldest bit in my bit box. It is a bit I bought when I started eventing back in the early 1980s.

At the time I was leasing Dudley, a green Hannovarian/TB gelding. We started him over fences and six weeks later took him out Novice at Pleasant Hollow.

Dudley was a horse that I normally rode in a full cheek single jointed snaffle. Neither he — nor I — had ever jumped cross country and I had no idea what he’d be like on course. We’d schooled over a few isolated fences, but this was all new.

My trainer suggested the big twist as she felt it would give me a bit extra control out on course if I needed it . . . but it wasn’t going to back him off the bit too much.

How it works

A full cheek bit is a useful bit for a horse where you might have trouble turning because the cheek pieces of the bit exert pressure on the side of the horse’s mouth to encourage turning. The design of the bit also prevents the rider from pulling the bit through the horse’s mouth. If you use keepers with the bit, this adds even more stability to the bit (and also helps prevent it from catching on things).

Full cheek slow twistLike all single jointed bits, the mouthpiece the mouthpiece puts pressure on the bars of the mouth,  the tongue and roof of the mouth. You can see in the photo to the right that when the bit is bent, the joint moves forward. Some horses don’t like the “nutcracker” action of the single joint but back when I used this bit, there weren’t any double jointed bits and my horse never had any problem with it.

The twist in the metal gives the bit more “teeth” than a smooth bit, but is not considered to be particularly severe. It will impact the lips and the bars. The slow twist may help get your horse’s attention in situations where he might ignore a plain snaffle.

Did it work? It certainly made me feel more in control when riding xc, but I suspect that much of it was in my mind. Dudley wasn’t a strong horse xc and I probably didn’t need it for control, just for security.

Related Posts

Fitting a Full Cheek Snaffle

My bit box

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Bits, Commentary, English Riding, Tack and tagged with

My Bit BoxThis morning I took a look at my collection of bits. Believe it or not, this has been vastly reduced over the years.

Some bits I’ve given to friends . . . some bits I sold (they were so expensive!) . . . and others have disappeared.

I try to keep the bits that worked for particular horses. There’s a big twist full cheek that I used on my first event horse, Dudley; the single jointed loose ring snaffle that I bought for Bogie; and several bits that I used for Kroni. Those bits have a lot of memories attached to them. And they are a lot easier to hold onto than saddles!

What’s in your bit box? Do you hold onto the bits from horses you had?