The learning curve is bell-shaped

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 | saddle fitting | 1 Comment

I just returned (well, three weeks ago) from a trip south to do a saddle fitting clinic and teaching seminar.  While there, I spent a couple of days with one of our long-time clients, a professional rider who is an international-level competitor and trainer.   She was having some training issues with a very talented (and ridiculously charming) young horse who was . . . ah . . . resisting the opportunity to progress to the next level, of which he was certainly capable.  Recently his saddle had also started slipping to one side.

After careful scrutiny of the saddle and the horse moving under saddle, I had no clear idea what to do.   His saddle seemed to fit well, but it was slipping right. We tried him in another saddle.  We tried some other stuff. Long story short: the problem was obvious but the reason for it was not. 

We discussed what mechanical fixes might be applied temporarily to put a patch on the slipping saddle problem, acknowledging that the root cause of the problem would require time and patience to determine. › Continue reading