MELISSA
SACHS
DESIGNED BIG HORN FLEX
SHOW SADDLE
Saddles listed on http://tspaints.com/SachsPaintsSales.html
Don't overlook Skirt Length when selecting your saddle
Most Breeders are selecting modern short-coupled horses, yet almost all show saddles still have extra long skirts. If your skirt is close to your horses hip, or flank, it is too long. Skirts that are too long decrease range of motion and can cause soft tissue injuries and saddle sores. Many short-coupled breeds (AQHA, APHA, Morgans, Arabians, etc. NEED a skirt length of 26.5" to 27" maximum, yet MOST pleasure show saddles are 28" to 32" in length! If you have found yourself perching your saddle forward on your horses withers and shoulders to keep it from pressing into their hip or flank, your skirt is too long.
The main reason I do not use or recommend a custom ridged or wood saddle tree is horses are living beings, and their top line changes with weight fluctuation, maturity, and fitness level. The Flex tree adapts to these inevitable changes, and should fit your horse for a lifetime.
It is crucial to have a saddle that fits both you and your horse
Saddles listed on http://tspaints.com/SachsPaintsSales.html
Don't overlook Skirt Length when selecting your saddle
Most Breeders are selecting modern short-coupled horses, yet almost all show saddles still have extra long skirts. If your skirt is close to your horses hip, or flank, it is too long. Skirts that are too long decrease range of motion and can cause soft tissue injuries and saddle sores. Many short-coupled breeds (AQHA, APHA, Morgans, Arabians, etc. NEED a skirt length of 26.5" to 27" maximum, yet MOST pleasure show saddles are 28" to 32" in length! If you have found yourself perching your saddle forward on your horses withers and shoulders to keep it from pressing into their hip or flank, your skirt is too long.
The main reason I do not use or recommend a custom ridged or wood saddle tree is horses are living beings, and their top line changes with weight fluctuation, maturity, and fitness level. The Flex tree adapts to these inevitable changes, and should fit your horse for a lifetime.
It is crucial to have a saddle that fits both you and your horse
Why is Saddle Fit Important? Because you care about your horses comfort , and freedom of motion.
Does your horse switch his/her tail, lay back ears, or sidle away when you approach with the saddle or cinch up? Is your horse having trouble moving properly (with cadence and freedom of motion)? Do you get undesirable feedback when you mount up? If you enjoy your horse's company when you're just hanging out together in the corral, but he or she develops behavior problems when you're saddling or riding, a poorly fitting saddle may very well be to blame.
A well made saddle that fits your horse properly can work wonders in improving your relationship with your horse! The saddle I recommend for work and show had a flexible tree and a shorter skirt from front to back for short-coupled horses wile still maintaining a deep modern hourglass Drop.
Important note: Don't rule out pain as a factor in undesirable behavior. No matter how well your new saddle fits, if your equine is already experiencing pain cause by an old saddle, soft tissue injury, or Chiropractic mal-alignment, the new saddle is not going to fix the behavior problem until the pain is relieved. Assess your horse yourself (ONLY if you're comfortable) by massaging and applying pressure all over your horse to see if there is any soreness, flinching or pain spasms. Be safe, have someone else assist you. Be aware that the best horse in the world may bite or kick just as an automatic reflex to pain (kind of like when the doctor hits you on the knee with that little hammer). You should also have a qualified vet, or equine chiropractic expert do an assessment for you.
The ideal saddle will sit flat on your horse's back. The sides should be flush against the horse's ribs – not bend inward poking the horse. The gullet area should have about 2” of clearance (2 fingers is a good way to measure) between top of horse's withers and the underside of the gullet. Quarter Horses, Paints, Morgans, Arabians, and many Warmblood breeds are short-coupled. MAKE SURE YOUR SKIRT LENGTH IS NOT TOO LONG FOR YOUR HORSE! If your skirt is close to your horses hip, or flank, it is too long. Many short-coupled breeds NEED a skirt length of 26 1/2" to 27" maximum, yet show saddles are 28" to 32 in. With as much as we ask out of our Pleasure and All-Around horses, shouldn't they have a saddle as comfortable as an Endurance or Barrel saddle?
Saddle should be tried on the horse with no pad, no blanket, no towels, etc. Sit the front concho just behind your horses shoulder blade (palpate under the front of your saddle on each side with your had to be sure). Any saddle that is placed too far forward will impair your horses movement. Horses need to move free and comfortable not only for today's modern pleasure judges, but for all riding disciplines.
The correct tree needs to be selected for the saddle to fit the horse. An ill fitting saddle makes for a discontented inflexible horse. At worst the horse may suffer permanent injury and scar tissue. One of the key components of the tree are the "bars". The bars are the load bearing surfaces on the horse's back. Some horses are high withered, some are flat backed; some have long backs and others have short backs. The secret to the fit of a saddle tree is the way the bars conform to the curves of a horse's back.
Equi-Fit Flexible saddle trees are made by Steele Equifit to exacting specifications perfected by and exclusively for Big Horn. Made up of separate components, they retain a traditional rigid fork and cantle in order to avoid wither pinching and spine irritation caused by tree spread or flattening. The traditional rigid bars, however, are replaced by bars molded of a specially developed elastomer, a material similar to a rubber-like work boot sole.
Equi-Fit Flexible bars are molded to shape, not cut from a flat sheet.
The flexibility 'enhances' an already proper fit, it doesn't attempt to create it. Crudely fashioned bars, dependent upon flexibility fro the final shaping of the fit, have pressure points built in. Equi-Fit Flexible bars work like the arch support of a shoe; they provide the correct fit while the flexibility allows unrestricted movement and bend away from pressure.
THIS PARTICULAR SADDLE PICTURED BELOW IS
AVAILABLE FOR 2007 WITH IN-SKIRT RIGGING. A FOURTH CORNIER PLATE
IS AVAILABLE ONLY THROUGH SACHS PAINTS.
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Saddles
listed on http://tspaints.com/SachsPaintsSales.html