>>> This system must be different. I could ride the dining room table in >>> this thing.
Maybe this one is wide enough then, and that would be good. Width can still be an issue with flex-panels - I got a little annoyed with the various manufacturer ads when we were first looking at them, because I didn't think they were forthcoming about the lack of "flex" in the width dimension. I've seen some REAL problems with some of the Orthoflexes being not wide enough - I think they come in various widths, but each widths appear to be fixed...or they were when we last looked at them. The FnE's don't have any "flex" in the width, but at least they can be adjusted width-wise within limits. It's just that once they are adjusted they don't have any "give", and Skjoni's got too tight, even to the outermost limit. Someone - Renee Smith? - has an OrthoFlex I think that was specially made for an Icelandic to be extra wide and extra short, but I think it was a special order. Maybe if it was Renee, she'll speak up. (I know I saw one somewhere, and I think it might have been hers.) >>> The panels and the tree, though connected, are independent of one >>> another. The tree is for the rider support and the panels are for the >>> horse. That sounds like the way Cary's FnE was made. However, the riders weight was distributed all the way to the back edge of panels, so, even if the panels are flexible, you still wouldn't want any weight on the horse's loins. I believe that's the purpose of the panels - to give a larger weight distribution area. The back edge of the FnE sat all the way to the very back of Skjoni's last rib, but it barely missed being on the unsupported part of his back, but it did overlap his shoulder by maybe an inch. We really couldn't bring it any further forward without causing other issues. In other words, it worked within his available saddle area, but there wasn't a bit of spare room to tinker with. >>>Check out the web page if you haven't yet - there are a lot of >>>interesting pictures and also history of the flex panel system. I checked it out when we first were looking, and I checked it out (and the Reactor Panels, and many other brands) when we were first looking and then again when the FnE showed the problems. Karen Thomas, NC
