Sattel, Sattel, allerorten...
Thursday marked the end of an era. I sold my 16" semi quarter horse bars Big Horn saddle to one of my clients. It was my second saddle and I can't quite recall if I bought it before or after Kash, but it was after I started working for Judy because it took me a couple months to realize my old 14" didn't fit me anymore (I still occasionally pop on as small as a 13" for very brief demonstrations).
I acquired a 16" FQH bars High Horse by Circle Y a week ago Monday and was able to try it out the following Thursday. It sits more like a 15" than a 16" because of the way the cantle is shaped. It's a little more "closed" than the Big Horn. I had to move one student up to the 17" because it fit better, but the rest of them were comfortable in the new one.
I rode Kash in it with a thicker pad and it seemed to go pretty well for as much as it is(n't) going to be used on him. The old one fit him really well, but he was the last horse that it really fit. I think Sunny was OK in it, but she can get along well enough in the FQH bars too through the thicker pad too. I don't really forsee getting another light breed horse so hanging on to the SQH bars saddle is a little purposeless, especially with the need for the wider saddle for Chewy, Kitt, and it will fit Charm-N and Ruby well enough too.
There's a little, irrational part of me that wants to hang on to it, but we do have a 17" SQH bars saddle sitting in the shed too that has seen a lot fewer miles.
It served me well, and hopefully will serve my client well for years to come. Fare the well saddle!
In other saddle-related news I put a saddle on Tru-D for the first time today and she wore it well. I had her in the arena and tossed the blanket on and off of her until she stopped insisting she sniff it every time.
I then took the little 12" western saddle and did the same. She also wanted to sniff it a lot. After putting it on both sides several times and even sliding it off of her rump I put the pad and saddle on together. She stood really well, though eyeballed me slightly when I did up the girth. The surcingle she has been using has English billets on it so the latigo rolling up was a new sensation.
I led her around with it a couple minutes before lungeing her in the walk and trot. There were two little weird moments, but I don't know if they were saddle-caused or just a little freshness. No buck, but more a slight startle.
She did lunge nicely and seeing her carry the saddle fot me a little excited. She's going to be a smooth ride I think, the stirrups barely jiggled as she trotted.
She makes the little kid saddle look pretty tiny.
The hardest part was getting her to stand still without wanting to follow me.
I acquired a 16" FQH bars High Horse by Circle Y a week ago Monday and was able to try it out the following Thursday. It sits more like a 15" than a 16" because of the way the cantle is shaped. It's a little more "closed" than the Big Horn. I had to move one student up to the 17" because it fit better, but the rest of them were comfortable in the new one.
I rode Kash in it with a thicker pad and it seemed to go pretty well for as much as it is(n't) going to be used on him. The old one fit him really well, but he was the last horse that it really fit. I think Sunny was OK in it, but she can get along well enough in the FQH bars too through the thicker pad too. I don't really forsee getting another light breed horse so hanging on to the SQH bars saddle is a little purposeless, especially with the need for the wider saddle for Chewy, Kitt, and it will fit Charm-N and Ruby well enough too.
There's a little, irrational part of me that wants to hang on to it, but we do have a 17" SQH bars saddle sitting in the shed too that has seen a lot fewer miles.
It served me well, and hopefully will serve my client well for years to come. Fare the well saddle!
In other saddle-related news I put a saddle on Tru-D for the first time today and she wore it well. I had her in the arena and tossed the blanket on and off of her until she stopped insisting she sniff it every time.
I then took the little 12" western saddle and did the same. She also wanted to sniff it a lot. After putting it on both sides several times and even sliding it off of her rump I put the pad and saddle on together. She stood really well, though eyeballed me slightly when I did up the girth. The surcingle she has been using has English billets on it so the latigo rolling up was a new sensation.
I led her around with it a couple minutes before lungeing her in the walk and trot. There were two little weird moments, but I don't know if they were saddle-caused or just a little freshness. No buck, but more a slight startle.
She did lunge nicely and seeing her carry the saddle fot me a little excited. She's going to be a smooth ride I think, the stirrups barely jiggled as she trotted.
She makes the little kid saddle look pretty tiny.
The hardest part was getting her to stand still without wanting to follow me.