Tangled with Cash

[glenatron]

I mentioned Cash a couple of posts back. We've been working together each week now- basically a session every Sunday, so I guess this was our fifth. Last week happened largely in the field because he didn't want to be caught and the other horses in his field didn't want him to be caught so I spent a long time teaching him to catch me. Then we did a

Comments

Re: allezbleu again

[glenatron]

Not at all. But I think you're incorrect. It's tilting forward because I have a breastgirth on and the cinch loose at the start- he was very concerned about any pressure around his middle and I would rather have the saddle a little bouncy at the start if I know it is not going to move, than tighten it too much and cause a plot loss. As we went on it got tighter and steadier on his back. The skirting goes behind his rib cage but the weight-bearing part of the tree doesn't, or if it does it's not going to make any difference as it would only be a centimetre or two and my weight is well forward on the saddle.

Having more structure than an English or Aussie style saddle, the weight is better spread, making it easier for a horse to carry and the structure also made it much easier for me to get on from the ground, which was part of the goal as I didn't want to have to have to deal with a phobia of mounting blocks for a two minute circuit of the school. Easier to fix one thing at a time.

It's always a judgement call and I certainly wouldn't use that saddle with him for anything more than I did - if you see the photos in my latest post he's working in an english saddle - but the fit is not as bad as you think and for the job I needed to get done with that horse at that time, it was good enough.

The problem I have with regular western saddles and with most things with knee-rolls is that my legs aren't the same shape as everyone else's and they tend to fall in the wrong place, so I prefer my slick fork or a really spare dressage saddle. I'll probably get to try a proper stock saddle while I'm out there in the next few weeks so I'll know more how I feel about those then...