Air... Cair, Flair

[Thinkerbell]

Here I go again, with yet another saddle question. (Dear Moderator, if you think that my saddle questions belong somewhere else, feel free to move this!)

Is there anyone here who have tried "air-flocked" saddles and would like to comment on this? What does the air do to your weight aids? I don't really know what to think... don't feel like spending lot's of money on ityet, anyway... I tend to be a bit of a traditionalist, but then again, old doesn't always equal good!

Thinkerbell

[Heather]

HI Ronnie,

My main saddler Barry Swain is not particularly in favour of air systems - he quite rightly points out that even a soft tyre goes hard when you put weight on it.

Personally I am not as against them- for a start you can't put lumps into air the way some saddler can into flocking! The Flair Korrector pad is a great invention though. This is the air filled pad that goes under a saddle that Flair have developed. I find that for typical TB types who have not been ridden well and developed a good back, the Korrector is ideal to replace the missing flesh and muscle, enabling you to fit a wider saddle to allow muscle to generate/regenerate, and cuschinging the back very well.

They really do increase the weight bearing surface by a good deal - Flair have pressure tests available, and in my experience definitely take up a lot of the bounce in a horse's stride, not dampening it exactly but just making it easier for some riders to sit to.

My big PSG schoolmaster warmblood Ringo, is not an easy horse to sit to. I bought a Korrector and had his saddle adjusted to accommodate it. I have never seen him move better and everyone has remarked that he seems easier to sit to.

The Flair system has better pressure sensor tests than the Bates Cair system, which Bates brought out after David Kempsall who developed Flair and put a considerable amount of time and money into it, sent them some Flair systems, at their request, to put into the Wintec saddles to try.


Heather

[KarlR]

I haven't used ither of them yet, but I've heard good reports of
Flair, which seems by far the best system of the two.

The pads that Cair use seem to be fixed and sealed allowing for no adjustment. They're also rather hard. Flair by comparison is designed to be adjusted to the saddle and horse and seems a much more sophisticated system.

As Heather suggests, Flair were not impressed when Cair "developed" a similar system, but the two technologies aren't comparable - the Flair system is vastly superior.

[Lgd]

I have tried the Flair with Peri my 7/8 TB mare when my saddle was in for a reflock, my saddler is very good and loaned me her own saddle as it was the same as mine except for having Flair fitted, she fitted it to her but to no avail - she hated it, didn't want to go forward and was generally not her normal happy self so I suffered in my GP for a week. My friend has Flair and her horse loves it so I think it depends on the horse.

I do have a Korrector pad and would endorse Heather's opinion of it. The same mare was in an accident last year and lost a lot of weight and muscle over her back. My kind saddler loaned me a Korrector to try because of Peri's extreme reaction to the Flair. On her recommendation I also only used the front bags. I think the best recommendation I can give is - I BOUGHT IT. She was immediately much looser in her back and her lovely big strides came back. I used it for 4 months before all her lovely muscle came back and no longer needed it. It is now on my 'baby' as she is between plate sizes in her Wintec and it has been invaluable in keeping her saddle balanced and well fitting while she changes. Quite expensive at £125 but definitely worth it.

I don't have personal experience of CAIR systems but I have seen comments on other websites that the air pockets seem to shift around on the saddle and generally cause problems with uneven pressure.

[Heather]

Thanks lgd - I had a feeling that the Cair system could be problematic in this way and hadn't seen any comments on it anywhere except on Dave Kempsall's stand at BETA making sure that buyers knew that his system came out far better in tests! Having had Wintec do a similar thing to me- working with them on a synthetic design for several years, only to have the project dumped by them at the end of it all, and seeing then several of the features I had given them incorporated into the Isabel Saddle. I didn't get paid a penny!

I have found very few horses who objected to Flair - but the success of it does depend rather on the saddler fitting it. I rode on a few when they first came out that had deep gussets at the back to make sure that the saddle stayed level with the front. The saddler therefore had to pump the back up hard in order for the gussets to stay the same depth, and the saddle pinged around like you were sitting on a trampoline!

I really like the feel that the Korrector gives though when it is pumped up correctly. It has given me a few thoughts for a treeless saddle!

Heather

[Zingy]

So what's the problem with Cair? The saddlers I have spoken to are much more in favour of it - they all said Flair was a good idea, but Cair saves all the fiddling around (and stops the saddlers overfilling the air bags). Plus they reckoned the bags are much less likely to move in the Cair system. How come it's causing pressure points - surely that's the whole point of the system that it supposedly can't? Worried now as I've just ordered Cair saddle!

[Lgd]

I've seen people posting on some of the US boards (where Cair has been out longer) and some have had problems with the bags really moving aroung in the saddle. I would assume that the system is the same world-wide so it could be a potential problem. Try www.ultimatedressage.com as ther have been quite a few discussions about it on there.

[KarlR]

Zingy - I've seen the "bags of air" that CAIR use. They are pumped so hard that you can hardly press them. Apparently tests have shown them to be HARDER than traditional flocking (and that's saying something!).

[Heather]

I found with Flair panels that had been pumped up too hard by saddlers who had fitted them that they were like sitting on a couple of reverberating footballs! Talk about bounce!! And on an already big moving warmblood?! Pack your parachute!!

Heather

[Lgd]

Eevn with Flair fitted correctly on Peri (ie bags are fairly squidgy) she hated it. The bags are quite a bit bigger than those used in the Korrector and my saddler thinks that is why she goes well in that and not in the Flair. I know what Heather means about the bounce as my darling mare can give most warmbloods a lesson in the art of putting riders into orbit. I dread to think what a bouncy Flair system would be like, it was bad enough with it properly fitted!

[Zingy]

There was me thinking this would be one of the bonuses with Cair! I've heard so many tales of saddlers not fitting Flair properly and going against all the manufacturers recommendations so the air bags are pumped up too much. Admittedly I've only seen one Cair saddle, but that did feel nice & squidgy. Keeping my fingers crossed now that mine's okay when it arrives - I'll let you know. Why does buying a saddle have to be so traumatic....!