>>> I don't know how the Free-N-Easy saddle works. Is it designed to overlap >>> the should >>> like the American Flex?
Yes, supposedly it can overlap the shoulder. We HAD to overlap to get it to fit, and it DID seem to work for something like 6-9 months. Hard to say an exact time, because it came on gradually, but it looked perfect for at least a few months. I know that Robyn Hood has mentioned that is common - that a horse may initially feel better in a new saddle, because it gives relief to his old pain spots. However, it seems sometimes to take weeks to months for the new problem areas to arise. I don't remember how many saddles we tried that looked perfect for an initial period, only to show problems within six months. Sometimes I think it takes that long for previously atrophied muscles to regrow, and find their new limit. I see it in young, still maturing horses a lot, but you can see it in mature horses too. Remember that Flex Panels don't have much - some NONE - adjustability in the width of the front gullet. The Free N Easy had about an inch of adjustability, but that means that some horses will be on the cusp between widths. I don't think the OrthoFlex's have any width adjustment at all - can't remember about the AmericanFlex. A horse will change in width with fitness, maturity, age, etc., and having flex in other dimensions can't help that. That was a helpless feeling when we realized the FnE saddle was the problem. Cary had found the perfect horse, and we'd already tried and rejected a bunch of saddle. I had no idea what to look at next - that's when we tried the Fhoenix saddle, whose pictures I sent yesterday. I never expected the Sensation to be a long-term solution for them, but it's still working, and they've ridden longer rides in it than in any other saddle. I'd heard too many warnings that treeless saddles shouldn't be used for large riders. I guess Skjoni never read those warnings. He never literally complained about the saddle though. Sina and a few others are much more direct in expressing their discomfort. She will get antsy when I'm about to do up the girth, then she doesn't want to do anything but pace...or she'll stand still and refuse to move at all. She's the easy kind to deal with, because she lets me know. Some Icelandic's are so stoic that they are very hard to read. I think about Loftur, who let us ride him when we first got him, but when the vet checked him a month or two later, he said he'd never seen so much stored up pain in a horse - he was hurting everywhere. (No wonder that Loftur was bolting with his prior owners.) Skjoni is more like Loftur, but just not as extreme. I thought about Loftur when I watched the saddle-fitting videos on Stan Hirson's blog. That last horse in his video had a good bit of muscle atrophy from the saddle, and apparently just been taking and taking, but he wasn't a happy horse at all. He apparently had continued to do his work though. It seems like a contradiction, but the very traits that make Icelandic's seem "easy" also make them difficult in many ways. On first blush, most people would have considered Sina "difficult" in her vocal objections to the first saddles I used, in hindsight, I'm glad she was so easy to read, that she had the confidence to speak up for herself. Because of that, she has a very healthy back at age 11. Besides, I'm glad she trusts me enough to know she doesn't have to "put up and shut up." She knows she has a right to an opinion. I have NO idea how vocal or stoic your horse is, but I don't think it hurts to talk about the wide range of reactions to poorly fitting saddles that I've seen in this breed. That saddle DOES look too long for your horse to me, but I'm not there to feel around. Just remember that you don't want ANY weight born on his loins. I don't mean to be a wet blanket, and again, I can't be sure this saddle won't work for your horse. But, gosh, when you buy a $2000-4000 saddle and realize it isn't working, that's a sick feeling - been there, done that! And we have to be practical - most of us don't have huge trust funds to draw from. These saddles have limited appeal, so the chances of you taking a loss if you have to sell it are pretty real. Karen Thomas, NC
