We left off in my "I'm a bad crazy person" confession at the point where I was wondering if the Heritage monoflap I had on trial was a majikal unicorn of horse behaving-ness, if my saddles really cause Arya that much discomfort or if she just had a good day.
Well, it was the latter. I managed to get myself to the indoor to ride again the next day and while there was no rearing, outright bolting, bucking or other extracurricular activities, there still were some baby horse tantrums, some noping sideways and some leaping. I had a much safer girth set up, in my opinion, and girthed down, the saddle doesn't sit as nicely as I would have expected given how it sits ungirthed. It seemed a bit too wide and low over her withers, and still sat on her shoulders where it had seemed (probably because of the much too big girth) to sit behind them the day before.
The rest of the evening ended in some more fuckery (being late, horse wouldn't load, continuing to be late, getting in a car accident... etc) and I returned the saddle to the tack shop the next day. I have been trapped in meetings all week that a good portion of the time I don't actually have to be paying attention during, so I did get in some good thinking and reflection.
The problem with my current jump saddle on Arya is that I want to ride longer than my saddle really wants to be ridden in; it's the Extra model of the Courbette Vision, meaning that it's got an extra long and extra forward flap. It's amazing when you want to ride short and is really well balanced for jumping and galloping for me, and is also very comfortable. It's a really lovely XC saddle.
But for flatting a young horse, I find that I prefer a longer base of support, and when you lengthen your stirrups... the giant knee rolls aren't there to catch you when Arya does her new favorite hobby of brake checking randomly under saddle. And part of the reason I didn't love the Heritage for myself was that very reason - it had a small front block, set high so it was more of a upper thigh block, and it didn't do anything for me when Arya's pace was inconsistent... which is pretty much always, because baby horse.
What I want, really, is a less forward version of a Courbette, which has the bonus of already matching everything I own tack wise and also, because I am a nerd, I know which trees work for my horses.
So now I've found a unicorn of a Courbette (because the less forward versions are actually very difficult to find, weirdly enough) that is the same tree as my dressage saddle and just slightly more forward than it, which is perfect guessing from where I want to put my knees on said dressage saddle. The only problem? It's giant.
Like, I found the only 19" seat Courbette saddle I've ever seen for sale. It's not huge looking in photos... but isn't that really big??
My research and guessing has been correct so far in finding that stamped Courbettes (which are actually difficult to find in of themselves - my jump saddle has a serial, but no width or seat markings) go from 1 - 4, with 1 being a 17" saddle. My jump saddle, I believe, is a 1. My dressage saddle is a 4, and measures 18.5". I'm 5'8 with long legs, and find that the dressage saddle suits me well, but I do have some space behind my bum in the seat.
If things come together and I sell Foxie's old AP for what I want... would you go for it? I'm trying to balance knowing that Courbette saddles haven't been made since 2011 at the latest, and worrying that if I don't find something in a timely manner... I might not find one at all. And I'm thinking that the only way I can continue my black and brown tack obsession after that is to get really, really lucky... or go custom.
I'm probably still in a "fit of madness" here, but... it's tempting. Especially if I sell that AP, I'll have 3 horses and 2 saddles - the horror!
Do you have any reputable fitters in your area? That would be a good way to get more of an idea of what will work for her. Or maybe work with a tack shop like Trumbull Mountain, where you can at least send in wither/back tracings for ideas on what might work.
ReplyDeleteI should see if I can get on my fitter's books for this spring - she is older and generally won't fit if your barn isn't heated in winter, but she is very good at what she does. I feel like the Visions aren't a bad fit for Arya, it's just hard to know who to fit them for, as they're currently flocked for Bailey. I don't have enough saddles, clearly :)
DeleteWait they stopped making Courbette's all together?
ReplyDeleteCourbette was bought out by Stubben in 2011, though I feel like they had been discussing a merger for some time at that point. Courbette's website was up until a few years go, but it's finally gone dead as well. Stubben has been putting out some of the lower budget courbettes (the magic line) under the Philippe Fontaine name (I own one, it's identical to a Courbette Magic I owned previously except nicer calf feeling leather vs the gross weather resistant stuff the magics had on them) but I haven't seen any hint of the nicer Courbette designs, like the Vision, in Stubben's lineup. It's too bad, because the Visions are awesome for longer legged folks!
DeleteAddition: here's the press release I am basing my statement off of http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/st%C3%BCbben-north-america-acquires-courbette-saddlery
DeleteBrake checking randomly sounds like the worst hobby ever. Arya, why don't you move on to something new and, erm, less sudden? lol
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with the decision on the saddle. I'm up to 4 saddle between 3 horses, so I won't judge however many you end up with ;-)
Sudden seems to be her usual preference... I'm guessing the brake checks are extra funny because I'm always a little hesitant to boot her forward after that one time with the rearing. At least it's not rearing?
ReplyDeleteAlso, thank you for the enablement. My addiction to black and brown saddles is, apparently, unstoppable. I want them ALL.