Hi Judy, >>Did you see the third video and what he says about adding a pad?
Dave Collins lives in Vernon and he is a really great guy and has a good massage school. What I take from that piece of his video is that the saddle didn't fit to start with - it had pressure in the front and back - so adding the pad is only going to make that bridging space more. Adding pads to an tight fitting saddle is not going to change it. Like everything there are different opinions about saddle fit. Like Dave Genadek, Dave Collins follows the school of using a rocker in the middle of the saddle to free the shoulders and hips. I have seen that work in western saddles pretty well. The English saddles that I have seen with this system work less well IMO. When a horse moves a hind leg forward, the back moves up; the more engagement from the back end, the more the back must have some space to move up. With the Balance saddles the tree is wide enough that the shoulders are free - there is usually a little bit of bridging in the middle of the saddle so that as a horse is asked to engage then there is room for the back to come up. The one that really knows how the saddle fits is your horse. Not just the first couple of times you use the saddle (remember that if one pair of shoes hurt your feet - changing to any other shoe will usually change the pressure point at least for a while) but look for the long term. Look for the attitude of your horse and not just for soreness in the back. Robyn Icelandic Horse Farm Robyn Hood & Phil Pretty Vernon BC Canada www.icefarm.com
