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| Can we talk about bridging?; saddle fit, not a way to hold reins ... | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 23 2007, 07:28 AM (328 Views) | |
| Onelanerode | Jan 23 2007, 07:28 AM Post #1 |
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Off visiting Candy Cave, be right back.
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Please don't rip me a new one ... I'm just trying to educate myself and prevent soreness in the horses I ride.
I have a saddle with a fairly banana-shaped tree. It seems to fit horses with more curve to their backs pretty well, but it bridges on a flat-backed horse. Why? I would think if the saddle's curved and the horse's back is flat, you'd have the greatest pressure in the center ... but the saddle pad says otherwise. Explain, please? Is bridging associated more with a saddle that is too narrow or one that is too wide? Or does it not have much to do with tree width at all? |
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| cosmos mom | Jan 23 2007, 10:35 AM Post #2 |
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I Visited Candy Mountain and All I Got Was This Lousy Incision
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No flaming
! I'll do my best to answer your question based on my own previous issues and subsequent experience in the area of saddle fitting. Bridging occurs when the saddle is too narrow in one or more areas- usually the gullet and or the saddle point (the area int he front of the tree that should sit just behind the withers and is usually visible under the falp at the very top in the front). Another reason saddle can bridge is that many people do not slide them back far enough and they and up resting on the shoulder. When you put the saddle on the horse, you should slide it back until it finds its 'resting place' behind the shoulder- this is slightly different for each horse based on anatomy .Another reason that a saddle with contour may bridge on a flat backed horse (provided that it is sitting on the horse properly) is that the contours create narrower areas were most/many horses tend to curve. If your horse is flat, the places where the saddle is trying to contour are creating pressure points due to the areas of positive and negative pressure, throwing the balance of the saddle off and creating bridging. One way to truly see what is happening is to sprinkle the horse's back with baby powder, set the saddle down and see where the mark is. If you find that you have this issue with several makes of saddles, and that it appears to be a foam padding issue and not a tree issue, wool flocking is always a good option as this will settle to conform to your horse's back. I love wool flocking for difficult to fit horses, however it is not necessarily ideal when you ride multiople horses in the same saddle
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| naters | Jan 24 2007, 07:50 PM Post #3 |
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It'll be an adventure! We're going on an adventure!
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Good Question, and good info. What about a Bates CC? I heard that they were flatter, and less "banana shaped" than most trees. Is this true? My horse has what I *thought* was a flatter back, but his saddle is bridging. I did the dirty saddle pad test. Lots of dark dirt at the front and the back, not hardly any dirt along the middle. |
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| cosmos mom | Jan 25 2007, 06:24 AM Post #4 |
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I Visited Candy Mountain and All I Got Was This Lousy Incision
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I'm not sure- but I know several people that event that use them on narrower TBs, so Bates probably are a narrower saddle. Pressure in the front usually indicates that the tree and/or paneling in the front is too narrow (OR that it is so wide, the upper front portion sits down on the horse- creating pressure- this type of problem dosen't usually cause bridging in my experience) or that the saddle is too far forward or that the overall gullet channel is too narrow and pushing pressure to the wider part of the saddle (the front) also- pressure points can be created by the rider if the saddle is too small or the rider's balance is way off...So much to think about
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| Onelanerode | Jan 25 2007, 04:47 PM Post #5 |
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Off visiting Candy Cave, be right back.
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Thanks cosmosmom! I'm having a tough time visualizing ... maybe I'll ask my trainer if I can do the baby powder trick on her dark bay gelding. Methinks it won't show up too well on the buckskin mare!
naters, that's what my pad looks like on the flat-backed buckskin mare. I'm pretty sure the saddle fits me -- I had a well-respected saddle fitter look at me in it and she said it was a good fit for me. |
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| OnyxThePony | Jan 26 2007, 12:04 PM Post #6 |
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You're BANNED!
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You would want to check this out with an actual master saddle fitter, but I"m pretty sure the clean areas can also indicate pressure points. I"m only 'pretty sure' that's been told(explained) to me, although it's been a while, so you'd want to verify that. |
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| Onelanerode | Jan 26 2007, 12:28 PM Post #7 |
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Off visiting Candy Cave, be right back.
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Onyx, that was my understanding as well, which is why I got worried when that pattern started showing up on my saddle pads with that particular flat-backed mare. Regardless of whether it indicates too much pressure or not very much at all, it indicates UNEVEN pressure, and that's cause for concern. |
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| OnyxThePony | Jan 26 2007, 01:01 PM Post #8 |
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You're BANNED!
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Onelane, that I totally agree with. Does anyone in the barn have another pad you could try to use? Ideally, one that would distribute the pressure more evenly, like say a thin gel pad or impact pad.That way you could start to determine where the saddle is too tight, and where too loose. Or if you borrowed someone's sheepskin, that may be enough to fill in the bridge (if that's indeed what it is) without creating yet more pressure under other parts of the saddle. Either way, you'll find out more by re-assessing the fit with the other pads. |
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| naters | Jan 28 2007, 08:41 PM Post #9 |
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It'll be an adventure! We're going on an adventure!
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Ok, here are my two saddle pad pictures (the third picture is coming - have to redo the no sheepskin trial.... my camera ate the picture of the pad). Ridden combined with a fleeceworks pad: ![]() The second, ridden with a wither relief sheepskin pad borrowed from a friend. The kind with the keyhole for the withers... sorry for the excessive lighting. Also the front of the pad (bottom) looks similar to the one above, my camera skills are apparently not so great!
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! I'll do my best to answer your question based on my own previous issues and subsequent experience in the area of saddle fitting. Bridging occurs when the saddle is too narrow in one or more areas- usually the gullet and or the saddle point (the area int he front of the tree that should sit just behind the withers and is usually visible under the falp at the very top in the front). Another reason saddle can bridge is that many people do not slide them back far enough and they and up resting on the shoulder. When you put the saddle on the horse, you should slide it back until it finds its 'resting place' behind the shoulder- this is slightly different for each horse based on anatomy
.
for difficult to fit horses, however it is not necessarily ideal when you ride multiople horses in the same saddle
.



7:52 AM Jul 11