Thursday, December 18, 2008

Sheepskin Saddle Pads

You all know that I can hardly resist a good soap box so....

Saddles should fit. Good I said that right off the bat . The reality of life is that as we train our horses they gain muscle, change muscle placement, gain weight, lose weight and just plane change shapes. When this happens you have to do something to help the saddle fit until it can be re-stuffed. Paul Selvey owner of Supierior Saddlery is the main man in my opinion. I ride in his saddles and most of my clients have Superior Saddles. He is local to us and can make stable calls to help us out. Paul is also my sponsor.THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

When the horse changes and I have to make do I often reach for the Sheepskin to help out. This is most helpful when the saddle is just sitting a bit too close to the spine and it need to be lifted up and have more padding.

The most important issue is that if your saddle is fitting too tight in the front/wither area DO NOT put more padding under your saddle!!!! This is just like buying a pair of shoes that fit with thin socks and then wearing 2 pairs of thick athletic socks. Ouch of course that would hurt! Now if the saddle is just sitting too low on the horse's back that sheepskin will help. If it is sitting too low in the front it will help a lot. Because of the shape of the withers the more pads you put on the wither area the wider that you make them. This extra padding will lift the front of the saddle and change the balance. If this is your intention you will be happy if not...You will be sitting in the back of the saddle in a chair seat constantly trying to pull your legs back while the sturrip bars are pulling you forward. I call this the push-me-pull-you seat!

Some of these pads have shims that can be added and taken out ass needed. I have not found one of these pads that I like. They often have areas that make pressure points on the horse's back. This is not OK. You can tell where there are pressure points by the DRY patches on the hair. The horse does not sweat where the pressure is too great.

OK back to my original idae that started this blog....

The sheepskin pads are made out of sheepskin because of the benifits of using natural sheepshin next to the horse's back. That means if you really love your horse you will put that sheepskin pad directly on the horse's back. Most people, including some of our top riders, put saddle pads under the sheepskin to keep the sheepskin clean. That is like wearing your underwear on the outside of your pants!!!! The lesson here is to do your laundry!! You can use a horse brush on the saddle pad everytime that you are done with the sheepskin and let it dry sweaty side up then brush it again before you use it again! You can wash them in the machine on gentle but I do not use the drier, I air dry them. I have not been pleased with Fleecework pads.They are made from patchwork sheepskin and they fell apart when we washed them and caused pressure issues where the patchwork seams came together. Mattes is my favorite brand as they hold up really well to washing and are longer than my saddle from front to back. I also LOVE their sheepskin girths. (I'd LOVE to have them sponsor me!! Anyone got a connection?)

There are saddle pad available that have the sheepskin built in. The sheepskin is sewn on the bottom of those pads. Do you think that the manufacturers are trying to tell us something?

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Bits and pieces

Hey these are a few helpful hints that help me keep it going. Really I'm lazy and I need some helpful tricks to keep life simple.

Every time that I take a bridle off of a horse I dip the bit in a bucket of water with a good glug of mouthwash in it! This not only helps to get stuck on goobers off of the bit it also just about eliminates plaque from depositing on the bit. This keeps the bit smooth and looking new.

My favorite saddle soap is hand made goats milk soap from the Sitkum Soap Co. My Aunt Marlene makes it and it is wonderful!! I even use it on my own skin to feel soft and silky!!

I condition my tack with Effax or Passier leather balm about 2 times a month or whenever I accidentally wash the leather with the bit wash water. OOPS! Remember one bucket of clean water for the leather and a separate bucket with mouth wash and water for the bits. Having 2 different colored buckets helps when you are tired!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Tough times

This blog was handed over to me on a day that I am thinking about heavy thoughts.Times are tough for everyone right now. I want to thank everyone who is trying so hard to stay positive and keep on chugging. I have put into effect a new pricing that I am calling The Economy Sucks Pricing. I'm hoping that this will help everyone take advantage of having some quality time with their horses. This way when life gets easier, we will all be better and ready to show and/or meet our goals.
There are a lot of horses who are looking for help right now. I know of 2 really nice dressage horses that are either for sale or for lease because their owners are having such a hard time. I have already helped to place 5 horses in new homes in the last 2 months.
For the holidays my students here at Hidden River Ranch and my satellite barn at Pepperglen Farms are going to be supporting the ASPCA/humane society instead of exchanging gifts with each other. My mom always says "If you feel badly, then help someone else until you feel better!" She is the most incredible woman on the planet!

Enter At "A" ...

Well, after giving the idea of a traditional newsletter a great deal of thought -- I decided to be more contemporary and go with, you guessed it ... A BLOG!

Okay, actually my web mistress is typing this as you read ... but once she hands it over to meeee, there's no telling where the blog will take both of us!