I first came upon the ProLite saddle pads when I got a sale horse in with landshark withers. I had a saddle that was just a little bit big everywhere, and erred on the side of too close to the wither. Colleen suggested a ProLite pad to basically add bulk to this horse's back, rather than have the owner buy a new saddle. The horse went swimmingly, the saddle fit a treat, and everyone was happy.
Shortly after that, Billy's body started changing with age. Even though he's in TOP shape, he's slowly getting "curvier" in the back, and his saddle was starting to get a little uphill look. Enter a ProLite pad with pockets in the back, into which I can insert shims, pieces of ProLite material, to "build" him a back, filling in what he's lost with age. Not only did his saddle sit more evenly, but little tweaky Billy started to really improve, moving better through the back, something he's never been terribly skilled at.
I put one on Ella, another tweaky, sensitive thing. Hot damn, she was a whole new horse, supple and swingy.
I put one on several other client horses, all sensitive souls. They all improved. And I came to worship at the altar of ProLite.
On a whim, I put one on Cleo, who is distinctly NOT sensitive. She went worse, like her back was wearing earmuffs, muffling the sound of my seat aids. I only rode her in it once, and vowed to not put ProLite on thick, strong horses again.
Over the course of the last 8 months, Midge has started to change shape quite dramatically. He's coming 7 this year, and he gave one last good growth spurt to shoot up to 16.3ish, mostly in the wither. He's grown out of his "baby fat" stage and started to pack on muscle over the topline, changing the shape of his ribcage - like most horses, he no longer looks like a square, and instead looks more like a triangle, the musculature of his back causing his ribs and spine to "pop" up. He got especially stronger on the right side, and the result was that my saddle was rocking and rolling. When Colleen came down, she encouraged me to use a ProLite with the shims both in front and in back - the "saddle fitter" pad, not listed on either of the aforementioned websites, but available from ASF if you ask - to help me until I could develop the muscles on his weaker side.
I balked. Midge is a TANK. It took me a year of cantering with his head up because I couldn't keep his hind legs out of his front end's way with my back alone, and I can stop pretty much anything short of a freight train with my back. I feared the lack of sensitivity that I'd felt with Cleo, but I trust Colleen with my life, and gave it a whirl.
It took me a day or two to get the right combination of shims, but day 3 he came into the arena on fire - supple, swingy, powerful but controlable. What a moron I am!, I thought. My saddle was stable, which meant I was stable, which meant I could kick on on getting that left side to match the right.
About a week later, I felt something I'd never felt before - my saddle slipping the OTHER way. Great, I've screwed something else up, I thought. When I went to get him ready the next day, I had a look at his back.
In one week with the ProLite, Midge's back was perfectly symmetrical.
Holy. Crap.
The ProLite gave his muscles the room they needed to grow correctly, instead of being squeezed on one side or the other by an unlevel saddle. I'm still riding him in a ProLite, but one that is flat all the way around.
All horses grow and change as they work, especially youngsters. All horses are "handed," just like people; they build muscle and coordination easier on one side than the other. I am so, So, SO grateful for the discovery of a pad that is going to help me help my horses through their life and body transitions, through their growth spurts, and through their transitions between one-sided and bilaterally organized. And it helps me do more with less - I can get clever with padding now instead of having to arm myself with a hundred different saddles for each horse through their growth and training.
Hoorah for equipment that helps me do my job better!
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Hooray!
ReplyDeleteI finally got over here and read this. I have yet to ride my poor horse in his new pro-lite. He's still on the mend from his accident. I wonder if he'll react like Cleo did to it though. He's a big, strong, thick-skinned paint (built like a nice old fashioned QH). However, he is lopsided like Midge. He's right side is more developed than his left. I've always ridden him in some sort of half pad because he seemed to go better with a bit more cushioning. We've also discovered, through the help of saddle fitters, that there is no saddle in our barn that's the correct shape for him. They likened all our saddles to putting a clothespin on a barrel with my horse (even with wide trees). So I'm currently saddle shopping too! Uhg, I am SO ready to get him back to work!!! When that happens, I'll let you know if he likes his pro-lite. :)
Yes while riding every product which is used should be of very good quality, like i use Australian Saddle
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