The Saddle Saga Continues
Seeing as how our footing was probably most likely still frozen, I decided to forego barn time yesterday and make the trek to drop my saddle off to get adjusted. I'd remembered that I had some cash stashed away for a rainy day, so was able to get the thing fixed sooner rather than later.
But still, someone buy this saddle. I know there's got to be someone out there who is obsessed with these old-style made in England Barnsbys! BUY IT. IT'S CHEAP. Use it for breaking babies! Use it for a spare! Use it for your lesson kids! JUST BUY IT FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THIS WORLD.
ANYWAY.
I was able to chat with the Prestige expert/saddle fitter there, and she was SO knowledgable and SO helpful. I explained the fit issues we were having, showed her all my millions of pictures, and told her what the fitter at Farmhouse had suggested. She agreed with the suggestion, but thought that we might even be able to widen the saddle just half a centimeter and forego the half pad entirely. She immediately called the people at Prestige in NJ to get their opinion, and then had me email her all of my saddle fit pictures. The fitter said she'd send them to Prestige in Italy, and get the opinion of THEIR saddle fit experts.
Um, wow. Talk about customer service.
She assured me that whether we went up half a centimeter or a whole centimeter in width, the tightness in the shoulder/saddle pad slippage would be fixed. After talking with her and getting yet another professional opinion, I feel confident about my choice to buy the saddle and have it adjusted, and am reassured that it's in good hands!
And now, we wait.
I've always assumed the saddle pad sliding happened with the saddle was too wide, I've never considered it could happen when it is too narrow. Totally interesting. Now I may have an answer for a friend about her saddle!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it?! Saddle fit is such an interesting topic. Basically if the saddle is too narrow in the shoulders, as the horse moves the shoulder creates too much friction between the horse/pad/panel, scootching the pad backwards from that point. If you look at my pictures from a post or so ago, you'll see that the pad moves back only from the spot where the tip of the shoulder blade should be sliding under the front of the saddle. More of an issue with forward-flap jumping saddles than dressage saddles, I would think!
DeletePrestige was super helpful in my fitting as well. I had their rep measure Miles, she made a suggestion for fit and then had it verified by Prestige Italy.
ReplyDeleteYay for excellent service! Adding them to my list of companies to look at when I finally get a new saddle.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me wonder if my saddle is too narrow as well. We have some saddle pad slippage issues, depending on which pad we use. Hmmm
ReplyDeletesounds like great service - very confidence inspiring! hope it all works out even sooner than you expect :)
ReplyDelete