Road to the Tevis Cup Post #20: Finding the right saddle

Finding the right saddle is far more important when you are riding endurance than when you are galloping racehorses or training show horses. When people used to complain to me about saddles, I had a stock answer: Ride the horse, not the saddle. For most of my life, that is what I have done.

Oh, I cared about saddles–for me, less saddle was always more comfort. When I was a teen working Morgans, I used a cutback flat saddle for everything except showing. At the track, my galloping saddle was as minimal as could be. For me, it has always been about maximizing contact with the horse and minimizing saddle.

Then I started training for endurance. Many miles and long hours in the saddle (of the same horse) make saddle fit to horse and rider essential.

Update: I could never get the Reactor Panel to fit Fantazia well in the end. By luck, I happened on a saddle that does fit her perfectly, and old Stonewall.

Table of Contents

The Zaldi Endur-light saddle
The Reactor Panel Heraldic saddle
Things I will need to change for the Reactor Panel to be perfect

Finding the right saddle for Fantazia

When I bought Fantazia, I was hoping that the Zaldi saddle I had purchased for her full sister would work out. Lady and Fantazia were about the same height and shape. Fantazia has a little bit more bone than Lady did, but their back and withers differed little.

The Zaldi endurance saddle

The Zaldi did appear to fit well. Fantazia was comfortable in it in the arena. When we went out on the trail, I discovered that it slipped back further than I thought ideal. This happened only on very steep hills, and it could be avoided either by tightening the girth a lot (I don’t like to do this), or by using a breast collar. At first, I thought I would need a new saddle even if it did fit her, because it felt unstable when going down very steep hills. But I adjusted the stirrups a bit, and got used to it.

Note that I do not love the Zaldi. It’s great in a ride, where you are trotting or cantering most of the time. But it’s not the most comfortable for long hours of walking, butt in the saddle. It also doesn’t distribute the weight as well as larger saddles. What I like about it is its lightness. And it’s quite comfortable as long as you are moving along. It’s just not for long periods of sitting.

But I was perfectly ready to use it with Fantazia. Then white hairs happened. I first noticed them in the beginning of September, the day before going to Paso Robles to train in deep sand. Fantazia has never shown soreness over her topline (or anywhere else), or expressed discomfort when mounted at any time. Her sweat marks were always even and evident at all points of contact.

My friend Laurie loaned me her Thinline+ pad to use while I was in Paso Robles. It served two purposes: first, it adds shock absorption and protection. Second, it allowed me to see the extent to which the saddle distributed my weight equally. As can be seen in the picture below, the marks on the pad suggest the weight was fairly evenly distributed.

The white hairs on Fantazia’s back were not perfectly symmetrical, and that they existed at all told me I needed a saddle that distributed weight more broadly and evenly.

Fortunately, when I asked Fantazia’s previous owner about saddles, she told me she still had the Reactor Panel saddle she had had made specifically for Fantazia several years ago. Even more fortunately, Jenna offered to sell it to me.

I had had my eyes on Reactor Panel saddles for years, ever since I was shopping for a saddle for Lady (see Lady’s story here). They looked great to me years ago, but my budget didn’t extend to purchasing a new one. Used ones are difficult to find, especially if your horse needs a tree that is larger or smaller than the norm. Both Lady and Fantazia require smaller trees than normal. I didn’t buy one then, but I was very happy to have the opportunity of getting a used one made for Fantazia.

The Reactor Panel Saddle

I was very excited to receive the RP saddle. It’s their flapless Heraldic model with a Tribute tree. On my very perfunctory first inspection, the only flaw I noticed (given that it was a used saddle) was that the billets needed to be replaced–the holes were torn. I knew I’d need to replace them, but the rest looked great. The same V-strap elastic girth I had been using with the Zaldi saddle would work with the RP. I had many saddle pads; one should work!

Our first ride in the Reactor Panel

I was therefore very disappointed to find myself riding a very short-necked horse with no withers the first time I rode a long, steep downhill slope with the RP saddle. In other words, the saddle slipped FORWARD. A lot. That is worse than slipping back. It feels terribly insecure, and the chances of bucking are greater. (To cause bucking with a saddle slipping back, it has to go all the way to the flanks, and that doesn’t happen very often.) Been there, done that.

When I asked Jenna if she had had to use a crupper to keep the saddle in place, she said no. She also didn’t remember having fitted the saddle to another horse after Fantazia. However, I had noticed that one of the discs was loose when I took the saddle out of the box. The next day I rode, I spent half an hour on saddle fitting, moving the discs until I felt they fit snuggly behind her shoulders. In doing so, I noticed the velcro was not holding the discs well. I figured I’d need to replace velcro panel and discs, if I could get the saddle to fit well enough not to slide forward.

(To be fair.. my hills are seriously STEEP!!)

My next serious ride put the newly-adjusted saddle to the test. It passed. It wasn’t perfect, but I didn’t end up sitting on her ears. Tweaking the disc placement a bit more improved stability. I have to be careful, because one of the discs doesn’t stay stuck to the velcro panel if the saddle is jostled at all. Fortunately, you can replace most parts on an RP saddle. I decided to buy it, if Jenna and I could agree on a price. We did! I have a new saddle that is comfortable for me and fits Fantazia.

Things I will need to change for the Reactor Panel to be perfect

If I had had the money, I would have bought a new saddle. However, this one has years of use still in it. There are a few things I need to do though:

1. New billets. All four need replacing. I can purchase RP ones and take the saddle to a tack shop to get them put on, or I can just tack the saddle to the shop and have them put on 20″ leather billets. Given my experience on the track, I thought those billets were badly torn for the use the saddle had seen, so I am leaning towards leather (you can buy RP ones too). However, the RP representative assured me that it is not the beta biothane that rips easily (my assumption). She says that when their beta billets rip, it’s because riders are not aiming the buckle prongs at the holes…
2. New Velcro for the panels. This is why the disc is moving. I will have to replace the velcro relatively soon.
3. New discs. These attach the panels to the saddle. The way an RP saddle works is that the saddle rests on two panels via four discs which allow flexibility (all velcroed together). The panels bend and adjust to the horse’s particular shape.
   • Only one of the discs really needs changing. The RP rep told me to take them off and stick them on parts of the Velcro not usually used (i.e., not where they usually go). If they stick, only the Velcro needs replacing. All but one of the discs stick. The one that has been giving me trouble doesn’t (of course). But I will buy two, in the interests of balance.
   • I can get away with waiting, because after all, the saddle holds everything in place once I’ve cinched up.
4. The saddle pad. I’ve been using a standard dressage pad because it’s the right thickness. It works well (it’s one of my favorites! You can get it here). However, it’s bigger than I’d like. Ideally, the pad will only cover the part of the horse under the saddle… this way it is easier for the horse to cool down.

Fortunately, the only urgent replacement are the billets. That will be relatively cheap. Once I have recovered from the initial saddle payment, I will purchase Velcro and discs. I might just chop up a dressage pad rather than buying something new, at least for now. RP has a Toklat pad that is made for the saddle that I might eventually splurge for.

Eventually, I will need to replace the panels. They are still flexible; they passed test the RP representative told me to do when deciding whether to buy the saddle. However, the bottom surface of one has tiny cracks on it that will no doubt get worse with use. They cost $495, so I’m hoping they hold up for at least a year or two.

In the meantime, I have a saddle that is comfortable for both of us

I do love the saddle. It doesn’t slip back at all, and it seems fairly stable going downhill now that I am paying attention to the loose disc every time I saddle up. When I get the new Velcro and discs, I will do a full review of the saddle (I’ll have to take the saddle apart, and can take pictures of all the parts). In the meantime, here is a video that explains how RP saddles work.

Interestingly, the Zaldi saddle never slipped forward, even on the steepest hills. You can see it in the picture on the left below (I was leading her down a hill). It did slip back, which is why it’s too far back in the picture (forgot the breast collar). On the right below, the RP saddle from above, on the day I fixed the disc so it didn’t slip forward. In the picture, it’s still a little further forward than I like (we’d just gone down a long steep hill), but it wasn’t scary forward.