As promised, my saddle arrived on Saturday afternoon at about 4:00 PM. Mike and I were already at the barn, but we were listening hard for that Fed Ex truck. Since we were already involved with our barn stuff/horse grooming, I didn’t open the box until we were back inside.
My first impression was, “WOW!” The pictures on the web site and in the catalog certainly don’t do it justice. It’s beautiful – gold stitching on the black Nubuck leather, and horseshoe dee rings. I thought you had to pay extra for those. There is gold stitching on the fenders and stirrups as well. As for the all important tree – well, it certainly looked wider than the Wintec or Abetta, and not only that, the angle of the bars was obviously much flatter than either of the others. Hope!
Yesterday was the first trial – just the saddle, with a sheet over Indy’s back to keep it pristine – just in case. I was a little concerned about Indy’s reaction since he was not standing well for the Abetta any more. The sheet of course was a big ho-hum for him, but he got a bit tense when I heaved the saddle onto his back. Mike steadied his head, but he calmed right down and went back to munching his hay while we were evaluating the fit. That told me volumes right there. Indeed, the fit did seem excellent, with the saddle nestling down around his back instead of perching on top of it. I was thrilled with my impression and even more so with Indy’s. He will have the final say after all.
Today, we tried it with the sheepskin pad that I ordered with it – again with the sheet underneath. The fit still seemed just right, and Indy was totally Mr. Cool – after giving that pad a thorough sniffing, that is. He decided the whole thing was OK though, and went back to munching.
Now, I have to figure out how to use the Bates rig so I can try girthing it up. As for riding, the weather has been awful, first day of Spring or no. It’s cold and windy. Still, spring is here, and surely we’ll have a halfway decent day before too long. Meanwhile, I can be applying the Leather Therapy Conditioner to the smooth leather parts to fight the war against mold.
I think Indy is going to be a lot happier with this saddle – and if he’s happy, I’m happy.
3/20/06
3/16/06
News From Down Under
Late Tuesday afternoon I received a phone call from Down Under – no, not Australia. It was an extremely nice fellow named Lance from Down Under Saddle Supply, and he was calling about my saddle order. He was concerned that the saddle I’d ordered – the Wizzard Poley - would not be suitable for a horse with Indy’s wither tracing, which he had in his hand.
Actually, I had considered that myself, since the info says that saddles with traditional stuffed panels were more suitable for narrower, high withered types, and that Aussies had gone to the fleece lined panels – like an American Western saddle – because of the influence of the wider American horses. I had considered listing a second choice, but then forgot to do so.
So, here was Lance, calling to advise me instead of just sending me what I’d ordered. Is that service or what? We agreed that the Snowy River Legend would be a much better choice for a Morgan. In fact, Lance told me that the Dallas Mounted Patrol used only Morgans, and Down Under supplied their saddles – and had great success fitting their Morgans with this very model. Then he went on, going over the other things in my order as if he had all the time in the world. He said he would have my saddle out within 24 hours, but if I had any other questions, not to hesitate to call him.
The next evening I got a pre shipment notice from Fed Ex stating that they now had it and it was on its way. Guess Lance made good on his 24 hour promise.
I’m impressed. If the saddle itself is anywhere near as good as the service, Indy and I will be in business!
Actually, I had considered that myself, since the info says that saddles with traditional stuffed panels were more suitable for narrower, high withered types, and that Aussies had gone to the fleece lined panels – like an American Western saddle – because of the influence of the wider American horses. I had considered listing a second choice, but then forgot to do so.
So, here was Lance, calling to advise me instead of just sending me what I’d ordered. Is that service or what? We agreed that the Snowy River Legend would be a much better choice for a Morgan. In fact, Lance told me that the Dallas Mounted Patrol used only Morgans, and Down Under supplied their saddles – and had great success fitting their Morgans with this very model. Then he went on, going over the other things in my order as if he had all the time in the world. He said he would have my saddle out within 24 hours, but if I had any other questions, not to hesitate to call him.
The next evening I got a pre shipment notice from Fed Ex stating that they now had it and it was on its way. Guess Lance made good on his 24 hour promise.
I’m impressed. If the saddle itself is anywhere near as good as the service, Indy and I will be in business!
3/11/06
New Digs
Well, Indy, here we are in our new digs – looks great, and I will try my best to keep things up to date.
Not that much has happened since my last post at the old URL. Except of course the fact that the Abetta saddle with its Full Quarter Horse Bars didn’t fit Indy either. In fact, it rolled around on his back worse than the Wintec. It even seemed uncomfortable to him. Oh well, so much for that idea…
I’ve spent a lot of time since then trying to figure out what to do. I had a saddle custom built for DJ – the first one I tried that didn’t fit Indy – but that was in 1985. The price of custom made saddles has since far outstripped my budget – and how! I spent a great deal of time searching, but there is just no way.
Then I considered the flex tree type saddles, and seriously considered the Circle Y Flex Lite Western models. I was hoping that the flex in the tree would enable the saddle to fit Indy’s wide round back better. But, there was no guarantee that it would, and I have also read that some horses dislike the feel of the flex trees even when they do fit.
After still more research, I ended up considering a type of saddle I’d always not seriously considered – the Australian Stock Saddle. I had stayed away from them before because of the more forward position of the feet in the Aussie riding style. After all, I was a “dressage person,” and I didn’t want a saddle the threw me out of head-hip-heel position, even for pleasure hacking.
However, the Aussie saddles had a large factor in their favor – the claim that the traditional Aussie steel and wood tree could be adjusted to fit “any” horse. I couldn’t afford a real made-in-Australia-by-a-saddle master, but in the last 20 years or so, some very creditable copys have been produced that look great, last well and are affordable. Also, they are difficult saddles to fall off of – a biggie for me personally since I seem to be having a huge crisis in confidence for no good reason at all. Granted, Indy is still green, but he’s never done a single thing to make me think I’m taking my life in my hands every time I get on his back. Just the opposite in fact, regardless of the screaming of my goofball nervous system. Anyway, to make a long story short, I decided to go for the Wizzard Poley from Down Under Saddle Supply, http://www.downunderweb.com/downunder.htm .
I snail mailed the order last week – snail mail because Indy’s withers tracing had to be on legal paper it was so wide, and I don’t have a way to scan/fax legal size documents. So, we shall see…
Not that much has happened since my last post at the old URL. Except of course the fact that the Abetta saddle with its Full Quarter Horse Bars didn’t fit Indy either. In fact, it rolled around on his back worse than the Wintec. It even seemed uncomfortable to him. Oh well, so much for that idea…
I’ve spent a lot of time since then trying to figure out what to do. I had a saddle custom built for DJ – the first one I tried that didn’t fit Indy – but that was in 1985. The price of custom made saddles has since far outstripped my budget – and how! I spent a great deal of time searching, but there is just no way.
Then I considered the flex tree type saddles, and seriously considered the Circle Y Flex Lite Western models. I was hoping that the flex in the tree would enable the saddle to fit Indy’s wide round back better. But, there was no guarantee that it would, and I have also read that some horses dislike the feel of the flex trees even when they do fit.
After still more research, I ended up considering a type of saddle I’d always not seriously considered – the Australian Stock Saddle. I had stayed away from them before because of the more forward position of the feet in the Aussie riding style. After all, I was a “dressage person,” and I didn’t want a saddle the threw me out of head-hip-heel position, even for pleasure hacking.
However, the Aussie saddles had a large factor in their favor – the claim that the traditional Aussie steel and wood tree could be adjusted to fit “any” horse. I couldn’t afford a real made-in-Australia-by-a-saddle master, but in the last 20 years or so, some very creditable copys have been produced that look great, last well and are affordable. Also, they are difficult saddles to fall off of – a biggie for me personally since I seem to be having a huge crisis in confidence for no good reason at all. Granted, Indy is still green, but he’s never done a single thing to make me think I’m taking my life in my hands every time I get on his back. Just the opposite in fact, regardless of the screaming of my goofball nervous system. Anyway, to make a long story short, I decided to go for the Wizzard Poley from Down Under Saddle Supply, http://www.downunderweb.com/downunder.htm .
I snail mailed the order last week – snail mail because Indy’s withers tracing had to be on legal paper it was so wide, and I don’t have a way to scan/fax legal size documents. So, we shall see…
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