I May Have Found a Partial Solution    

In my last blog, I revealed my latest problems with my riding.  Since I could not get myself satisfactorily centered in my new Pegasus Butterly saddle, I blamed the whole problem on my MS messing up my proprioceptive system.  But then I thought further on my problem, and I came up with the idea that the shims in the Pegasus pad may not have worked satisfactorily in filling up Bingo’s (and Mia’s) sway back or in ameliorating Cider‘s croup high conformation.

I noticed when I had the Pegasus pad, with all the shims in the middle two pockets, on Bingo’s back that there was a distinct “valley” between the pockets that sagged down into the deepest part of Bingo’s back.  When I changed to the Pegasus pad, I got the impression from Bingo that he missed the warmth from the Back on Track/ThinLine Contender II pad I had previously used under my Crosby saddle (with my Corrector pad on top), and that the netting holding the shims in on the bottom of the pad may have been irritating the skin on his back.  When I noticed the “valley” between the two middle shim pockets on the Pegasus pad it finally occurred to me that the Pegasus Butterfly saddle was not supported properly, possibly causing some of my problems.

I went on-line and started researching saddle pads, looking for a shimmable pad that used shims for the middle of the horse’s back.  Luckily for me the Contender II BOT/ThinLine pad looked like the best option.  I just had to buy the rather pricey shims.  Since I was already saving up for another Contender II pad I saved up more money, and finally I bought a new pad and four sets of the shims, front, middle and back in the 3/16” and ¼” thickness, one set for the pad I use at Debbie’s stable and one set for the pad I use at Shannon’s stable.  On the ThinLine web site, they recommended just using the middle shims on a swayback horse, so I put the “bridging” middle shims in the middle pocket, both the 3/16” and the ¼” ones since Bingo is very sway backed.

When we tacked up Bingo, my new Contender II pad with the shims seemed to provide a smoother surface for my saddle to rest upon; at least there was no “valley” in the middle of the pad.  We finished saddling and walked out to the ring.  After I mounted and we started walking around the ring I noticed right away that my right stirrup, instead of feeling three holes too long, only felt one hole too long.  After our usual meandering around the jumps, I noticed that my saddle had moved to the left side only about a half inch, and that I had to re-center the saddle a lot less during my ride.  Bingo seemed happier, he strode out freely at the walk and his trot had a lot more impulse and speed.  After a few minutes of riding Debbie came in the ring to ride Tercel, and when I asked her she said my stirrups looked even.  Even though I still felt awry in the saddle, I found it much easier to feel centered with my stirrups only feeling like there was just one hole difference in length than when I felt like there were three holes difference between them.

Since there still was a sag in the middle of the saddle pad I am thinking of using some of the rubbery shims from my Pegasus pad in the middle pocket of my Contender II pad with Bingo next week to see if I can get the top of the pad to show less of a dip.  Maybe if I get rid of the dip altogether I will finally start feeling centered in my new saddle.  If that works I will have to save up even more money to buy more of the bridging shims, and at around $30 USD a pair that can add up quickly.  If that works it will be worth it to me, ANYTHING to feel centered in the saddle again!

Tomorrow I will try the Contender II pad on Cider, with the bridging shims in the middle pockets.  I hope that it will work as well as it did with Bingo. 

I am SO RELIEVED that my most recent problems may not lie totally within my damaged central nervous system.  I am also relieved that my problems do not come from some odd twist in the tree of my new saddle (I could not find one, but as my problems continued I was getting worried.)  From the reactions from Bingo, Mia, and Cider I think that the horses have been telling me that they really, really like having the Contender II saddle pad on their backs, both for the wonderful deep warmth that the BOT material gives to their back muscles and the shock absorption of the ThinLine material. 

My hypothesis is that previously, when I used the Contender II saddle pad with my Crosby saddle, Bingo’s back felt much better with the warmth of the BOT material, and he relaxed his back.  Without the Contender II saddle pad, he lost this healing warmth and he tightened his back and tried to shift my new saddle so that it felt more comfortable on his back.  One side of his back may have more developed muscles than the other side, or maybe the netting of the Pegasus pad rubbed against and/or irritated an already sore back muscle, probably on the right side since that side of his back refused to rise up to meet my seat. 

Whatever it was, on Friday I did not have to use leg, Leg, LEG to keep him at a trot.  He willingly kept at a sitting trot without constantly trying to slow down to a walk.  He also showed a lot more impulse at both the walk and the trot.  Interestingly, when he went into his fast walk he did not feel like he put as much weight on his forehand as he did before.   He even did better on his turns on the hindquarters and turns on the forehand.  Whatever the problems I have had with getting the pad correctly shimmed under my Pegasus Butterfly saddle, Bingo has shown great appreciation for the increased freedom for his shoulders and the muscles around his withers that this saddle gives him.

Wish me luck with shimming my pad properly so that my new saddle works on the horses I ride, all of them with imperfectly muscled backs that were the result of suffering from years of being ridden with imperfectly fitted saddles.

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran