Friday, February 11, 2011

Jackson gets Another New Saddle

The largest tack store in LA County is located just a hop, skip and a jump from my office.  Dangerous.  The place is huge with a room for English saddles, a room for supplies & supplements, a room for western wear, a room for Western saddles, a room for blankets, one for pads and halters -- you could spend days and a fortune there.  Well, I could anyway.  Yesterday I decided to go over to Broken Wallet Horn on my lunch and look for a girth for the dressage saddle I ordered.  While there, I went upstairs to look at the western saddles.

The western saddle I have been using on Jackson doesn't fit.  I bought it for Strider and it fit him well.  But Strider had shark fin withers with big hollows below.  Jackson is broad and flat (nice for bareback!).  Strider's saddle dug into Jackson's withers and bridged his back.  Brett has a Tucker endurance saddle that he uses for mounted patrol and trail.  It is the world's most comfortable saddle.  So, I thought I would sit in a few of the trail models and see what I thought.  They had one in my seat size, with a flexible, wide tree.  I decided to take it home on a 7 day trial and see if it fit.  The therapist we use for deep tissue massage and general health/well being issues is due out next week.  I wanted to get her feedback on fit as she is awesome with that kind of stuff.  




I also bought a new saddle pad.  Strider's pad is nice, but it just isn't Jackson's color.  This is much nicer - I love the colors with his grey coat.  And he likes the curvey-ness of it.








This morning we rode around on the ranch roads to try it out.  It seemed to fit him well.  Clearance over the withers, not digging into his shoulder, contact across his back without bridging, but clearance for his spine.  It's also light so I could swing it up myself.  Strider's saddle weighed a TON. 


Jackson seemed very happy.  In fact, Brett and Flash had a hard time keeping up with us.  I'm very pleased.
I think we'll be quite the styling duo at the next competitive trail ride.



About half-way back home Jackson took a bad step.  The ground beneath him gave way and he kind of fell into a sink hole.  He wasn't so happy after that.  I think he might have pulled something.  Hopefully it's just a tweak that will work itself out and nothing more serious.  He never felt off or lame but he lost his forward and his happy.  He stopped numerous times.  When we got home I iced his legs and turned him out.  I have my fingers crossed that he will be fine tomorrow.

7 comments:

  1. I really hope Jackson is alright. What a bummer way to end such a happy ride. The saddle looks like a nice one. I really like the Tucker saddles. The saddle pad is a perfect color for a grey horse.

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  2. I hope Jackson is doing well now. Happy thoughts of healing to him!

    What a great saddle! I don't have a western one at all mostly because I think they are so big. That one looks really small and nice.

    What are "the ranch roads"? Your rides out make me jealous. I want ranch roads! And...I would like that tack shop so near too, but I think my husband is happy that it is 3000 miles away :)

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  3. Hoping Jackson is feeling better today. Nice new tack (!), that saddle pad looks gorgeous on him :)

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  4. I love blue on my grey horse too. The pad and saddle are gorgeous. I always think of western saddles as heavy but this one is simple, classic and black - without the horn it would look almost like a dressage saddle :) Love it!

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  5. Very cool about the new saddle! I love the blue on a gray horse, too--that's a very sharp-looking saddle pad!

    I hope Jackson recovers easily from his fall. Hopefully he had only a slight pull.

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  6. The saddle is beautiful and I love the blanket. Hope he's fine and nothing serious is going on with his leg.

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Thanks so much for commenting!