>>> Last week I met with George Gullikson, the saddle maker in my video. We >>> were at a farm and he was looking at someone else's horses so I did not >>> film the session. He has pretty much come around to making a prototype >>> TREELESS saddle for the Icelandics.
Stan, PLEASE keep us updated on this. We're always interested in this stuff. Do you know if George has been open to treeless saddles for a while, or if he's just accepting of them because there aren't many treed options for some horses, like our short-backed, wide ponies? I don't know that it matters, but I'm just curious. >>> He was very -- no, extremely -- critical about saddle placement that he >>> saw in some competition videos from Iceland. Way too far back, resting >>> on the kidneys and not properly supported. He also felt that the girths >>> were also too far back and compressed the chest where there was no >>> sternum for protection. We won't go into ventroflexion. ... There's a >>> lot to this saddle "stuff", isn't there? There sure is, Stan, and I'd like to thank you for using your film-making skills to document all of this. You're doing everyone - horses and humans - a good service. Thanks so much! Karen Thomas, NC
