IN SEARCH OF OPTIMUM SADDLE FIT 5 6
Shims are useful when dealing with a horse whose back is in transition. Perhaps your horse has been experiencing chiroprac- tic or shoeing issues that have created an asymmetry like this one. T ese issues have been corrected, and the muscles that had been wasted and atrophied are starting to grow. You’ll need to accommodate these changes, and shims are the best tool for the job. Photo courtesy Stephanie Bloom
your horse comfortable and make sure muscle rehab continues smoothly. You’ll save yourself a ton of money. If a barn
call averages $40 in addition to the fl ocking work (which can run from $50-$150, depending on the amount of work done), and your fi t er has to make adjustments every few weeks, it won’t take you long to spend way more than the price of a good correction pad. You’ll protect the integrity of your saddle’s
fl ocking. Repeated fl ocking adjustments—espe- cially removing fl ock—takes a toll on the overall integrity of the fl ock, and will leave you needing a complete strip fl ock (removing all the old wool and
Shims are a good long-term solution for horses with conformational issues that go beyond what a well-fi t ing, properly fl ocked saddle can address, such as this swaybacked horse. Photo courtesy Stephanie Bloom
replacing it with new wool) far sooner than usual.
AS A LONG-TERM SOLUTION Many of my endurance and competitive trail
clients use pads with inserts—essentially, large shims that cover the entire saddle area—as a mat er of course. Most inserts are open-cell foam, which off ers a double benefi t: it provides extra cushion, and since the open-cell foam is breathable, it helps keep the horse’s back cool. T ey use one set at the beginning of the season and another, thicker set to use when their horse is at his or her most fi t. I check the fi t of their saddles a couple times a year and make adjustments as necessary, but the changes in their horse’s backs that come with seasonal fl uctua- tions in condition are addressed with the inserts.
As with the “band-aid” application we discussed above, this allows the rider to make their own im- mediate changes in saddle fi t while preserving the integrity of the saddle’s fl ock. Another area in which shims are a good long-
term solution is for a horse with conformational issues that go beyond what a well-fi t ing, properly fl ocked saddle can address. T ese issues can stem from advanced age, chronic physical problems or trauma, and in these cases, shims can be used as an orthopedic device to keep the horse comfort- able. Shims can help address issues like chronic asymmetry or swayback (Photos 5 and 6) that can’t adequately be corrected with fl ocking alone. Since we’ve already looked into asymmetries, let’s take a look at swayback: T is is an issue I oſt en see in older trail and
endurance horses or in younger horses who haven’t been trained correctly. In cases like this, a tree with a lot of longitudinal curve (shaped like the rocker on a rocking chair) is needed to follow the line of the back, and a deeper panel will help “fi ll in” where the longissimus muscle is lacking. However, even these features may not be enough to keep the saddle from bridging. When a saddle bridges (Photo 7), it makes contact in the front and the rear but leaves a gap in the middle, under the seat. A bridge pad can fi ll in that gap and help spread the rider’s weight, alleviating the pressure points front and rear.
58 | December 2011 •
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