<<<<the framework of the tree sits on the ribcage not the L.D. muscles<<<<
Sometime if the gullet(spine channel) is too wide or if the pitch & width of the panels is too broad you will have the inside edge of the panels sitting out too far to the outside of the longissimus muscle group. If the panel itself isn't the correct pitch or width you can have it cantilevering off the edge of the horses back like a porch over a cliff which leaves only a very small line of pressure mostly next to the spine compromising lateral stability. Andy Foster from Lauriche told me that Icelandics are very difficult to fit not only because of their width in the whither area, but because the spacing needed between the panels & width of the panels needed to place the panels on the correct muscles is different than what a correctly shaped wide traditional warmblood/draft tree fork would be. Couple that withthe relatively short saddling area available with normal to larger adult riders on board. According to him, you have quite a connundrum. Warmblood or draft trees have much wider spine channels than would work for an Icey because the actual spine on these larger breeds is broader , the distance between the longissimus is wider & the actual muscle itself is wider. He thought of Iceys as either scaled down drafts or warmbloodsdepending on their shape. Please do not interpret the above comments to mean Iceys need a narrow gullet or panels. What they do need is a correctly shaped tree fork of correct width for the individual & tree rails that will allow for correct spacing of the gullet to put the panels in the correct place on the longissimus muscle group & be short enough to allow the end of the panels to not exend far behind the last rib. Sometimes you can bevel up the rear of the panels through flocking to clear this area (esp in down hill ridng) even though the cantle is vey close. In short they need a specially designed tree. If anyone knows of such a creature, I would love to know so I can refer them Icey clients that want/need trees. I personally think that some models of the RP come closet to this because they can change the spacing between the panels, the pitch of the panels & if memory serves me have different widths of panels. Kaaren
