Wow H-Girth

Cisco's new girth arrived from England this week. It's a Wow H-Girth.

It's definitely different looking than a traditional girth.

It's supposed to be good for wide sprung horses who have a forward girth groove. Which is totally Cisco.

I've only had a chance to lunge Cisco while wearing it so far. I was expecting a bit of a rodeo, but he didn't seem to give it any concern.

Before lunging.

These girths are ridiculously expensive - they start at about $450 CDN. I bought this one off of Ebay for about $270. It's in very good condition with little signs of wear.

After lunging.

I'm hoping this girth configuration will stop the saddle from being pulled forward during a ride. It doesn't look like I can get the foregirth option (which moves the point billet even more forward) in an extra short version to match my flaps, and the regular sized one will stick out a couple of inches below the flap. So I'm really hoping this girth will solve the problem.

I'll have to add a D-ring to it for my breastplate, and figure out how to attach the Equisense. And eventually I might want to get a longer back strap to even up the buckles. But the first impression after a lunging session was good - I don't think it moved forward. Now to hope that the saddle stays put while riding!

Got the Saddle, But......

My flaps for my Wow saddle arrived and they are perfect! Yay!

Ignore the messy tack cart.

The saddle sits too low behind and I need different panels! Boo!

Yes Cisco, that saddle does make your stomach look big.

Of course, saddle shopping just couldn't be simple.

The flaps arrived on Friday last week, so I picked them up from the post office on my way home from work and dashed home to put the whole thing together. Which is much easier to do when you use the right size of bolts. Ten minutes of cursing because I couldn't get the bolts to catch was solved when I went to the Wow website and discovered that I was probably using the wrong ones, and when I grabbed the slightly longer bolts (that I thought went through the multi-layers at the front) the panels and flaps went on super quick.

Wow flaps can be adjusted in two different positions. Mine can be set to the standard position, or rotated back, which equals about an inch difference. I was actually quite worried about the size of the flap and thought it looked very straight, so for the first ride I set it to the standard position. Nope - my knee still sat a solid inch behind the knee blocks. For the next ride I rotated them back, and my knee sits in the perfect spot right behind the block.

The first ride before I rotated them back.

So the flaps are perfect. I don't know that I've ever ridden in flaps this short - I don't usually have this much stirrup leather below the flap!

The saddle looks rather ridiculous though perched on top of Cisco. My fancy new Lemieux pad doesn't really fit it very well either. I'll be shopping for pony sized saddle pads in the future.

Maybe an excuse to get this holographic saddle pad from Punk Ponies? (Can't decide if it's hideous or if I need it.)

But you've probably noticed the problem. The saddle sits far too low behind.

I added some air to the rear Flair panels between rides 1 and 2, but it needs more than that. I'm pretty sure that I will need panels with rear gussets in them to bump the back up. I'm not going to find those used within the next short period, so I'll end up ordering new one$$. It might also need a different headplate in front.

It's not really all that surprising, as when I used the gauge last fall there were times when the correct setting seemed to need the deeper gusset setting. 

Update - I just heard back from the fitter, and I can put way more air in the panels than what I have in there. So I'm going to try that today first before completely panicking and eating my weight in chocolate.

The good news is that I feel super secure in the saddle and Cisco's canter is the best it's been.

An 8.0 for regularity at the canter ain't too shabby!

Time for some trial and error to get it figured out. I'm not ready to give up on it yet. There are still lots of things to try, and believe me - nothing is going to fit this horse very easily!

Saddle Update - Almost There!

One of the parcels that I picked up on Monday had the headplate and Flair kit for the Wow saddle I am building for Cisco.

Last night I put the headplate onto the seat.

It's a 5U headplate. This is how wide it is in place.

I also have the wide panel configuration. (dxwg = extra wide gullet) This might give you a better idea of the width.

That's a 2L pop bottle that doesn't touch the sides almost until the cantle.

I ordered the Flair kit so that I can make the adjustments myself. It's a bit daunting, but I'm generally pretty good with this type of stuff. If I get myself into trouble I can try a somewhat local fitter who I think used to be a Wow dealer, and is certified to fit Flair panels, or hit up the Schleese fitter when they come out to this area.

Lots of tubes and little pieces. Thankfully it comes with an instruction manual!

I'm just awaiting the flaps, for which I received notice today that they are shipping from the UK. At least a month earlier than I expected them! I didn't think I would have this saddle going until the end of April, but with all luck I might have it ready in a couple of weeks. Of course, that means I have to pay more money towards it earlier than I expected!

I also have received the Lemieux saddle cover and saddle pad that I ordered a few weeks ago. I ordered them from Horse Health in the UK, who appears to be the main distributor for Lemieux products. It arrived super fast - I ordered them on a Wednesday, and they were received on either the Monday or Tuesday the following week. Yes, shipping wasn't cheap - I think it came to about $40, but considering that it would cost at least half that to ship within Canada I don't think that's too bad. (It actually would probably cost close to $40 to ship these within Canada. Shipping is very expensive here.)

 It has a nylon outer and a fleece inner layer and drawstrings to tighten it up.

The girth pockets can accommodate both long and short girths - the bottom is not closed so a long girth would slip through and hang down.

The bottom of the flap part has a reinforced opening that you can slide your long billets through so that they don't have to be tucked up underneath.

It's currently covering my flapless saddle, but I'm pretty sure that I am going to be more than happy with it.

And lastly - the Lemieux saddle pad.

It's definitely purple! Blackcurrant, to be precise.

I really like it, and not just because of the colour. But it helps. It's got a suede finish on the top side. The billet/leg patch is more of a cordura material. The girth strap is split on the inside so that if you have long billets you can put them through a specific slot if you so desire.

I bought the small/medium size and I'm just hoping that the front of the pad isn't going to be too forward for my small jump flap.

2/3's of a saddle and the saddle pad.

Here's hoping that it all works out and I can start flying over itty bitty jumps with Cisco this spring!

2/3's of the Way

I received piece #2 of the Wow saddle I am building.

Here are the panels.

Horse side on the top, saddle side on the bottom.

I had put an ISO ad on the Facebook page for Wow parts in the UK. The company that makes Wow saddles actually keeps an eye on the page, and they contacted me about these panels that they had available.

Below and to the left of the silver plate piece you can see the Flair tubes that are used to add air.

They were a bit more than I was hoping to pay, and the price was non-negotiable. These wide panels do not seem to come up very often on the second hand market, especially in the size I needed, so I figured I might as well grab them. They were still cheaper than they would be new.

I hand fastened the panels onto the seat. I still need the headplate to shape the front.

Wow said that they were in very good condition. The only mark I see on them is a slight imprint on the inside from when it would have been put together as a saddle.

Here you can see.... well, you could, if the Gray Flannel Kitty wasn't in the way. Move, Grover! 

The leather is super soft and the panels are squishy. I still have to figure out how to adjust the Flair system, but that will wait until it's on the horse.

Here.... sorry, one more try.

Next up will be the flaps. Thankfully I don't have to pay for them all up front, so I'm planning to order them within the next couple of weeks. They'll take at least two months to arrive, so I'd like to get the process started.

Here you can see the size of the panels and how much area it covers to disperse weight. They say It's more than a western saddle.

I'm excited to get to ride in it - fingers crossed that I love it!

1/3 of a Saddle

I've started to acquire the parts to make up a Wow saddle for Cisco.

I've been watching the Facebook page for used parts since October. Apparently, the parts that I need are not overly common. And if it's the right part, it's the wrong size.

So just after New Year's, I put an ISO ad up. To my surprise, I had a pretty quick response that someone had a seat that fit my requirements available.  The deal was made, money was sent, and a few days later I had in my possession a shallow seat on a flat y-bar.

Condition is fantastic - there are a couple of very small nicks on the cantle (I had to look for them). Those were the only marks I could find on it.

I hopefully have the acquisition of a set of panels in the works - someone from Wow contacted me from that same ISO ad. They are a little higher priced than I was hoping, but since I haven't seen many posted over the last few months, especially in my size, I will probably just grab them. They'll be about 1/3 less than new and are supposed to be in very good condition.

I'm going to need to save whatever I can since the last big part, the flaps, are going to be more expensive than I hoped/thought. Unfortunately, my short little legs are happiest in custom sized flaps, and I don't anticipate finding those used. At least, not in the near future.

The taped bag on the stirrup bar on the right has the bolts in it.

I was hoping to put this saddle together for somewhere in the $2500-$3000 range. Looks like it's going to be closer to $3500. If I didn't need custom flaps, the $2500 would definitely be doable.

I have a saddle listed for sale at the moment - my beloved Crosby Centennial that I can't use on either horse. Hopefully, I can sell it in a somewhat timely manner, and I'm going to go through my garage and try to sell a whole bunch of stuff that I don't use or have in duplicate (or triplicate). There's a tack sale in March that I'll take it all to - I hate dealing with people on Facebook. With any luck, I'll have flaps for maybe May.