It Begins....

I sold a saddle this weekend. The treeless saddle that I had originally bought and used before I had a short flap version of the saddle made. It was advertised for about 2 months, with lots of tire kickers, but no offers. Cash offers that is - I think I had four different offers for trades for a different saddle. The offer was, of course, quite a bit less than I was asking, but the money is in the bank and the saddle is out of my house.

Which means it's time to start looking for a new one!

Yay! Said no equestrian ever. Saddle shopping sucks.

A super short rider on an extra wide horse? Saddle shopping sucks even more.

This back....

I'm going to try the Wow saddles. A couple of months ago I wrote about why I was interested in them - see here.

and these short legs = very hard to fit

I've started the process - I paid for the deposit on the gauge this evening, so hopefully it will arrive next week. Once I get the specs for the panels and headplate that will fit Cisco I'll return the gauge and she will send me a jumping saddle to try. I will likely delay the receipt of the saddle for a couple of weeks as it looks like I'll be working nights again for at least part of September. I'd like to make sure I get a good chance to ride in it for a few rides.

I also want to make sure Cisco gets a good chance in the saddle - he's never been ridden in a treed saddle before. I have no idea how he will react!

If Cisco and I deem the saddle acceptable, the plan is to try to find some used parts online over the winter and likely buy new flaps - probably a short flap. There seems to be a large market for used parts in the UK, hopefully, someone will be willing to ship to Canada.

I plan to measure Phantom with the gauge as well - not that I'm planning to get a new saddle for her anytime soon as she seems happy in the treeless. But you never know - maybe a saddle with the right options will pop up for the right price!