Saddles

We are very fortunate to have a wonderful saddle fitter who travels here about once a month. She is also a therapist who does a variety of things to make the horses' lives better.

At our first appointment, I got her to check out both my saddles. I have a half-share in a young horse, and I was hoping I could use the same saddles for both of them. Unfortunately, the dressage saddle is too small for me! And I love it so much! And the GP is okay but doesn't fit either horse properly. It can be adjusted with some judicious padding and lots of homework on my part - massage, stretches etc.

It seems that some of Possum's stiffness is due to her saddles digging her in the back. Logical, I know, but sometimes it takes a professional to get you to see things! I have known for ages that she has severe muscle wastage at the top of her shoulder/wither area. It was probably caused by too many years in too small saddles, as typically most farmers believe one saddle can fit all horses. We have a series of stretches to do, which I have to admit I have been a bit slack about.

We had another visit on the weekend, and I got a tick on my homework (massage etc) and then more homework! Yuk, reminds me of school. I had borrowed a range of saddles from various people but none of them fitted well. Sigh, back to the drawing board/trade me... P. was quite tense and spooky, and covered everything in her fluff, as she is shedding like crazy. The therapist tried some aromatherapy oils and made a blend up for her that has lavender, clary sage and marjoram which seemed to calm her down well.