Saddle woes

Jessey

Well-Known Member
Dec 20, 2004
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Suffolk, UK
So fed up (again), my poor girl has new white patches :( I didn't really clock that they were different until last week (The ones from the previous saddle have been fading and I hadn't ridden for a good few weeks when my back was bad) I re-templated where the gullet sits and she's filled out a width since I last did it in August, so I picked up the wider gullet on Saturday. Did 5 miles in the new gullet and she was foot perfect but I am still not convinced as the panel area is dry after a ride :(

I honestly don't know which way to turn next, I stopped riding western because she was objecting to the saddles (got to vet checking stage and said possibly neurological because there was no muscle reaction or white from that), but she stopped the big reactions with an English saddle (we concluded it was ovary related and without the skirts it didn't bother those). Since then we have had various problems with those, this is saddle number 5 in 5 years. The easi-sit worked well but I fancied an upgrade so brought the newer version in 2014 which then caused a hematoma, I then had a dream team treeless but she got white hairs under the stirrups if I did more than 10 miles in it, then got a thorowgood endurance (late 2014) which worked ok but not great due to short panels and saddler recommended I went back to the easi-sit which worked great until earlier this year when it took the fur off her back and gave white hairs all over it, got a thorowgood dressage (longer panels) but its still not right, we have new white bits at the points and the skin feels thickened under them. I've tried many pads/combo's, sheepskin, cotton, poly pad, prolite, avacallo, le mieux pro-sport, to name a few, and I've had 6 different saddlers look at them over that time, and am kind of running out of ideas of who to call. I am also wondering if its me, the stirrups bars taking the fur off and the full panel white marks all the saddlers have said they have never seen before and can't give me any idea of why.

So for now this means no riding for us (apart from some short bareback rides), I just don't have the money to have something made to measure or to buy one of the top end treeless saddles and I think even if I had a saddler the chance of them having something second hand to fit would be small so I'm just going to have to save for a while.
 
Oh Jessey what a nightmare for you :(
I can’t make any suggestion that might help but hopefully someone here will have a lightbulb moment for you.
 
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Oh boo hiss. Sorry you're still struggling. Hmm. Honestly can't offer any suggestions. If you were near me I'd offer you two of mine to try that never get used.
 
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*pats sofa* Come and sit beside me on the Saddle Woes couch. My saddle has been returned and I have been refunded. That was saddle number 4 in 18 months. To be honest, it breaking was almost a blessing in disguise... the physio told me it only just fitted Gracie between her shoulder and last rib, plus I couldn't jump in it because the knee rolls weren't very deep, plus my long thighs meant that if I shortened my stirrups to jumping length then my knees were over the rolls anyway.

I have Dave, who owns the Saddle Company, booked to come and assess Gracie for a bespoke build. In my mind I want a close contact 17.5" tree on a 17" panel, jump or event flaps, extra memory foam in the seat, softly flocked with an upswept panel. Plus a full leather version, nothing synthetic or serge. I'm open to his suggestions though. If he can't provide what we need then I'm phoning Chunky Monkey.

Apparently Geoff Fieldhouse wanted to personally come and collect my broken saddle, he was totally mortified!

Do you have any inkling into what shape saddle you need for Jesse?
 
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Just a thought - are you on the Unofficial Solution saddle group on Facebook? Not sure whether Solutions would be your thing, but there are second hand saddles for sale on there and if you contact a saddle fitter they will look out for something for you. My fitter took mine off me to sell when I downgraded to an older model that suits Raf better. I expect there are similar FB groups for different companies, but you’ve probably thought of that already anyway.
 
*pats sofa* Come and sit beside me on the Saddle Woes couch. My saddle has been returned and I have been refunded. That was saddle number 4 in 18 months. To be honest, it breaking was almost a blessing in disguise... the physio told me it only just fitted Gracie between her shoulder and last rib, plus I couldn't jump in it because the knee rolls weren't very deep, plus my long thighs meant that if I shortened my stirrups to jumping length then my knees were over the rolls anyway.

I have Dave, who owns the Saddle Company, booked to come and assess Gracie for a bespoke build. In my mind I want a close contact 17.5" tree on a 17" panel, jump or event flaps, extra memory foam in the seat, softly flocked with an upswept panel. Plus a full leather version, nothing synthetic or serge. I'm open to his suggestions though. If he can't provide what we need then I'm phoning Chunky Monkey.

Apparently Geoff Fieldhouse wanted to personally come and collect my broken saddle, he was totally mortified!

Do you have any inkling into what shape saddle you need for Jesse?
Thanks, I emailed Dave on Friday to ask for his input and ask if he will come here or if I could take madam to him to possibly try some empty tree's on her (when I have the money to go silly like that :D) My only hesitation with that is that the current model SC dressage saddle (I can't do GP due to dickie knees) is the one that caused the hematoma......
My saddler thinks the easi-sit may have been too narrow through the entire bar, which might be challenging as its the widest gullet saddle I've ever seen. The only person I can think to call is Steph Bloom who specializes in wide/native/difficult to fit neds, but their saddles start at 2k :eek: Jess is an odd shape, TB along her wither/spine, but then flares out into a very wide square rib cage and has big shoulders, she has always been challenging to fit.

Could you ride her in a sheepskin saddle pad. one like this http://www.horsedream.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=6323/WB&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIs-D44KHl3QIVwbDtCh1TkAC7EAQYAyABEgL3P_D_BwE maybe? I know you have a good seat and good balance, so might not need strirrups so much...
I have a bareback pad which I can use in the meantime, but I don't feel happy doing more than perhaps an hour bareback because I worry about my seat bones causing pressure points, though I have plenty of built in padding, I'm just not happy to go too far :p

Just a thought - are you on the Unofficial Solution saddle group on Facebook? Not sure whether Solutions would be your thing, but there are second hand saddles for sale on there and if you contact a saddle fitter they will look out for something for you. My fitter took mine off me to sell when I downgraded to an older model that suits Raf better. I expect there are similar FB groups for different companies, but you’ve probably thought of that already anyway.
I haven't found a treeless fitter in this area. I would like to try a few different ones if I could, but not just for 10 mins as its only after a couple of hours ride that I can see if anything is a miss as Jess just doesn't let on.

I'm going to make a DIY port lewis pad (I just missed a real one on Ebay a few weeks ago o_O) and see if that can enlighten me a little more, if its good but not good enough I will rent the real thing. I've also been trawling the net for any fitters that do digital pressure mapping but am coming up short at the moment.
 
Oh sorry to read that you are having more problems.

I know you have a dodgy knee but would a vsd not be worth looking at instead of a full on dr saddle. Do you ride really long just wondered why a dr is more comfortable.

If you were closer you could of tried any of my four saddles I literally have one of each
 
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Oh sorry to read that you are having more problems.

I know you have a dodgy knee but would a vsd not be worth looking at instead of a full on dr saddle. Do you ride really long just wondered why a dr is more comfortable.

If you were closer you could of tried any of my four saddles I literally have one of each
Yeah I ride long apparently, If I ride shorter my knees scream in pain. I can just ride longer in a VSD/GP but they aren't designed for it and I spend the whole time fighting for position which I am sure won't help me or Jess in the long run.
 
Well I needed to update my super star vet (there's a reason she's just been voted to be BEVA president :p) on Hanks infected eye so figured I'd mention to her about Jess' back and she's baffled by it too, so much so that she is going to consult with their external dermatological specialist to see if she has any thoughts on what could be making her super sensitive/getting full panel white marks and the saddle pad imprints. Fingers crossed she can maybe shed a little light and tell me which rabbit hole to try next :)
 
No further forward, can go for a consult with the dermatologist if I want but that will be expensive and my vet and the other chap don't nec. think going that route is a clear choice as it sounds like heat could be a factor which is where my brain was going before, so back to the drawing board :rolleyes: I'll give her some non-ridden time to recover and then think about getting yet another saddle that is more breathable and try a different pad set up.
 
Do you use a wool numnah? Can’t remember whether Jess doesn’t like them. My own saddle fitter told me to stick to wool when I asked her advice re a cooler numnah. She said it wool was the best, plus it doesn’t rub (Raf can’t tolerate seams of any kind - numnahs, boots etc).
 
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Have you tried the skito pads Jessey? I think they are made for saddles without panels, it’s what I use with my sensation saddle, but wonder if the would work without the shims under a normal saddle? Only downside is they are bloomin expensive if it doesn’t work.
They do a ‘dry back’ pad that’s specifically designed to let the heat escape.
Best person to ask about them would be @mystiquemalaika though.
 
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I have sheep's wool, she doesn't dislike them (it's only grippy pads she doesn't appreciate as they rip the hair out on her) that is on the list to try again, ideally I want natural wool felt as that always suited her in western as its cool and pressure distrusting but the only one I've found for english saddles is $360!
Skito is on my radar, as you say expensive but worth it if it works, also considering the equipedic. I think treeless pads might work as you can adjust the shims but I'm a little dubious as a normal cotton pad with a half pad invariably causes issues, I might have try to borrow a couple to try once we're back up and running.
 
Equipedic are known for over heating. It's the inserts that seem to cause this rather than the pad.
Skito dryback is good but having also used sensatiom Eco gold pad with the coolmax lining they are far far superior in keeping backs cool and dry imho regardless of the insert inside.Ecogold make pads for English saddles and I know do custom. They are Canada based but a lovely company to work with and deal with.
Classic equine do a 1/2" felt pad for the Deuber saddle. They are not cheap but do English style.
 
Equipedic are known for over heating. It's the inserts that seem to cause this rather than the pad.
Skito dryback is good but having also used sensatiom Eco gold pad with the coolmax lining they are far far superior in keeping backs cool and dry imho regardless of the insert inside.Ecogold make pads for English saddles and I know do custom. They are Canada based but a lovely company to work with and deal with.
Classic equine do a 1/2" felt pad for the Deuber saddle. They are not cheap but do English style.
Oh do you have a link to the Eco Gold pads? Might be interested myself.
 
Equipedic are known for over heating. It's the inserts that seem to cause this rather than the pad.
Skito dryback is good but having also used sensatiom Eco gold pad with the coolmax lining they are far far superior in keeping backs cool and dry imho regardless of the insert inside.Ecogold make pads for English saddles and I know do custom. They are Canada based but a lovely company to work with and deal with.
Classic equine do a 1/2" felt pad for the Deuber saddle. They are not cheap but do English style.
That's fab info, thanks
 
Yes that's them @Jessey the grippy is under the flaps of the saddle but that smooth material is the coolmax. There is a good picture on FB somewhere which shows the difference in the coolmax vs the grippy I'll try and find it.
Yes it's like a grippy material.

@Kite_Rider here are the sensation pads :) 3 choices of underside. All has the grippy on the flap part but the coolmax on the saddle panel area.

https://nickerssaddlery.com/collections/saddle-pads/products/phalene-saddle-pad
 
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This is an anti slip lining on a sensation phalene pad but where that pretty much dry area is at the front over the wither the pad is lined with the coolmax to prevent rubbing on withers. You can see the difference in how much drier it keeps it.

I never really though about the flaps Jessey I'm sorry as I think you said she can't tolerate synthetic? It would be worth dropping them an email as I know they have made custom for people so if it's something you're interested in they could perhaps make a full lined pad or just a half pad.
 
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