Last September I purchased a gaited horse and from Day One I had nothing but problems with saddle fit. M, my horse, was intended to be my endurance horse but after trying five different saddles , each of which rubbed and galled him in some way, I was getting very discouraged. M is very small, slab-sided, and has a very short back. All the saddles I tried seemed to rub him in the loins.
In November 2008, I met Kathleen Green at the Trail Blazer Festival in Santa Barbara and she introduced me to the Specialized Saddle. It seemed as though it may be the solution. Kathleen was so helpful that she even came to my ranch and measured M and decided that he needed to have a shorter tree in order to achieve a proper fit. After the saddle was delivered Kathleen personally shimmed and fit the saddle to M’s back.
This past weekend M and I did our 1st endurance ride. I rode him 125 miles in three days and the Specialized Eurolight fit M like a glove. He had no back pain and no rubs. He did so well that he placed 15th in a field of 132 in his 1st endurance ride. Not only is the Specialized comfortable for M but this was my 1st endurance ride, too and I was as comfortable as my horse. This goes to show that the Specialized Saddle not only works for the Arabs in the endurance world but it also works for gaited horses. I love my saddle.
Becky Lange
Santa Maria, California