After a long week and a half of no riding I was excited to get out this morning.  Last night when I talked with Shannon she told me that her mother was sick and would not be out, so I asked if I could ride Cider (an Arab-Welsh pony mare), and she said yes!  Cider is one of the horses that I got my EZ-Fit treeless saddle for and I was really wanted to try it out on the widest back that I ride.  Since it is finally getting warmer down here in NC I went out an hour earlier, starting at nine instead of ten, and when I got out Shannon was grooming Cider with handfuls of hair floating all around here.

Since Twilla, the “public face” of the EZ-Fit saddle had told me that when she rides the widest backed horses she does not use the pad I decided to see how the saddle would fit Cider without the pad at first.  When we put it on Cider’s back it was obvious that no pads or additional cushioning would be needed, the pommel was quite a bit off of her withers.  As we tightened the girth the pommel got nearer to her withers but there was still a good three fingers of clearance with the girth at its tightest.  Shannon put on the Spirit bitless bridle and I got up on Cider and went into the ring.  Now Cider is the only one of Shannon’s horses that came to her without any major problems, she is cooperative, she rates her level of response to the rider’s aids according to her rider’s abilities, and she still has PLENTY of forward impulse so I had a wonderful ride, just at a walk though since I am a lot weaker since my head cold of a few weeks back.

As I’ve ridden Cider over the years I have tried five other saddles on her, my Stubben Siegfried, my Crosby Wide Front, my German dressage saddle, and two Wintec Gps, regular and wide.  Cider has been cooperative no matter what saddle I use but she simply moves better the more comfortable she is.  I had stopped riding her when the Wintec Wide GP was obviously never going to fit her that comfortably even though the “gullet plate” fit her back and I used my Corrector pad.  Cider seemed doubtful about the new saddle at first, she had never run into that particular type of girth rigging with the read billet coming off the saddle near the cantle, but once I got in the saddle and got her moving she quickly decided that it was a non-issue.  This was a surprise, I had needed to put “fluffies” on the billets of my Wintec Wide since the longer dressage billets irritated her to no end, but the equally long billets on my EZ-Fit saddle did not seem to bother her at all.  Cider will usually be good with a new saddle for three rides as she “explores” the new discomforts the saddle brings, then she will come out with all her objections.  I have tried enough saddles on Cider so I think I can tell if she thinks the saddle is workable and if she thinks the saddle feels right, and this is the most promising beginning of them all.  Cider strode forth fearlessly, with her back “swinging” with suppleness and relaxation, she obeyed me, and according to Shannon Cider looked cheerful the whole ride.  Maybe this saddle is the one that will work right, I will just need two or three more rides with it on her to be sure.

Then came dismounting, something I had gotten worried about since my problems with dismounting from Mick 10 days ago.  In the meantime I figured out that I would have to work on getting my thighs stronger, so I have slowly added standing on one leg (I have to hold on to something) and going up and down a few times with each leg several times a day.  Wouldn’t you know, my butt and thigh muscles started feeling like I had restarted riding after a three year break, sore and painful.  But today this work pain off, my left thigh was strong enough so my leg did not collapse before I got my foot out of the stirrup and I had no problems getting down.  Whew!

I then suggested that Shannon try my saddle though I was worried it was a bit too small for her.  Cider did not like that someone else was going to ride her, wasn’t one person a day enough?  Shannon finally got on and went into the ring.  She LIKES my saddle, thinks it is comfortable, did not think it was too small for her, and she liked how Cider’s back swung under her at the sitting trot.  Shannon also likes how light my EZ-Fit saddle is.  I told her how I used the pad and extra cushioning on the Arabs I ride, and that it is so nice to have a saddle that fits both them and Cider.  Shannon has quite a few older saddles in her tack room but she and everyone else there mainly rides with just a bareback pad, even with all her saddles she has trouble fitting the super wide backed horses.  When I was in the saddle I looked down to see how the saddle was fitting and both of the panels were at the exact same angle as Cider’s back and there was still very good clearance over her withers.  One thing we both noticed is that both Shannon and I did not feel like there was the edge of a shelf under our mid thighs like we did when we rode in the Wintec Wide.  Since this saddle takes 8 hours of riding time to break in I have great hopes that the saddle will get more comfortable for both horse and rider.  When we took the saddle off there was an even impression of the saddle on the sides of her back, easy to notice because Cider is not shedded out yet.  I went over her back with my hand and there was no heat or flinching.

So I’ve used this saddle for a grand total of two hours now, and four experienced horsewomen have ridden in it.  We all think this treeless saddle is great, comfortable, definitely made to be ridden in, and quite secure.  I suggested to Shannon that she start making heavy suggestions about wanting one for her next birthday!  It would be nice for her to have one saddle that, with appropriate padding, could fit all of her horses, from the narrow backed Magic to the super wide backed Cider and Merlin.

I had a wonderful ride today.

Have a great ride too!

Jackie Cochran