So I did a Thing

 

So I did a thing.  I’ve been wondering for a while if Cruise’s Bates Artiste is a touch too long for his short back and is bumping his shoulders, especially at the canter.  The saddle ticks all the boxes for me and seems to fit him fine with no back pain.  But.  He continues to struggle with forward sometimes.  His canter is getting sixes and sevens on tests but it doesn’t feel fully free in his back.  I looked around to see what the Internet had to say about dressage saddles on short backed honies and kept getting directed back to Pegasus Butterfly Saddles.  I also remembered that Meaghan at A Enter Spooking had borrowed one for her hard to fit horse and he loved it.

By chance I found an older model of the above, previously called the Uta Gräf, on a FB saddle page for under $900 shipped with a 7 day trial.  Done.  I’m 6 or so rides in and Cruise obviously loves it.  The saddle fits his back so well I can leave the girth a touch loose.  He is much easier to get forward, his canter has a new lift of the shoulders, and his up canter transitions are getting smoother every ride.  Oddly enough, I find the saddle as comfortable as the Artiste and feel really secure in it.  It’s a little beat up but serviceable and I feel lucky to try one of these saddles out without committing to the new price tag.

Time will tell, but so far Cruise and I are totally pleased with this purchase!