Total Contact Saddle Fitting

I recently purchased a Total Contact Saddle from the company in England.  I've been eyeing them for ages, and have done tons of reading online with reviews in online forums.  My concern was that it will create pressure on the spine of my very shark-fin withered horses.  The online community all insisted that they didn't have this issue, even with older thinner horses with significant withers.  When I looked at the photos to support this, however, the horses pictured definitely were closer to the average horse's back than my OTTBs.  It's not terribly expensive, so I decided to purchase one and see how it would work here.

When it arrived I tried it on Highboy, Ferriana, and Daisy with mixed results.  I quickly discovered that the padding beneath it is extremely important, especially with horses as high withered and fit as Highboy and Ferriana. 

Here is a photo of the saddle on Daisy, the horse here with the closest to average shaped back.  I have a sheepskin lined cotton pad with a leather correction half pad, the TCS, with breastplate.

 

There's no tree in it - it's basically a surcingle with stirrup bars.  I've had such issues with several of the horses and their saddles popping up and hitting me in the butt when jumping that I wanted to see if I could get this to work and not interfere with my balance.

This photo is of the underside of the TCS.  You can see that it's just leather with billets sewn in.

 

For its first ride, I put it on Highboy with a sheepskin lined cotton pad beneath it.  He walked around the arena with me aboard but taking much smaller steps than he normally does.  I was able to get him into a trot with some coaxing, but he refused to lengthen his stride at all and felt like a slow sewing machine with legs shuffling and zero movement in his back.  I then added a thick leather correction pad between the cloth pad and the saddle, and he took slightly longer walk steps with that configuration, but still wouldn't trot normally.  We only did a few laps around the arena because I could tell he didn't like it.  

After I dismounted and removed the tack, I could see that his withers had had too much pressure on them, as he showed some discomfort with palpation and there was mild swelling just beneath the skin where the equipment had created pressure points on his spine.  I concluded it wasn't going to work with the setup I currently had on this horse, rubbed his back with liniment, and put him away.

Next I rode Ferriana with it, since she has a much wider rib cage but still has pronounced withers.  I had similar issues with her, it was a nearly identical ride as far as behavior from her.  She didn't have the irritation on her spine when we were done, though.

My third try was with Daisy.  Daisy is much smaller, has much lower withers than anyone else here, and she has a relatively wide rib cage.  Overall her shape is much closer to the average horse than any of the Thoroughbreds or warmbloods.  Using the TCS with a sheepskin pad and the leather correction pad on top worked really well for her.  I found that she was bending better to the right than normal, and she got her leads and lead changes much better than with her regular saddle.  I even jumped her in it and she went really nicely.  I didn't have any issues with it slipping side to side, though I could imagine that being an issue if we really got to doing some more aggressive riding with harder stops, sharper turns, and bigger fences.

These two photos are of me jumping Daisy in the TCS.  I loved it during this ride because it didn't interfere with my balance at all (as some regular saddles do due to my conformation and many saddles being built for people with a shorter femur than I have).  We were cantering a figure eight in the arena jumping the barrels in the middle, and Daisy got her lead changes nearly every time.

 

In this photo if you look closely you can see that it's just a cotton pad lined with sheepskin, with the leather correction half pad, and the TCS on top.

Fast forward a few weeks, and I decided to take it out again and try it with various different pads on Dewey.  Dewey is an OTTB with high withers, but he is at a heavier weight than Highboy and Ferriana.  Dewey also always tells me if something isn't right, though fortunately he does it by tossing his head and moving differently instead of bucking (like some of the horses I know and love...).  It was a rainy and foggy morning, and I was just in my work clothes for barn chores.  My pants were baggy enough that I could put my tall boots on over my knee high socks, but under my pant legs.

Withers Free Half Pad - 3rd Choice:

My first attempt with Dewey was using a withers free pad on top of a no-slip english pad.  This half pad has pockets on both the left and right sides, which I had filled with felt shims to create some lift in the front in an attempt to lift the sides so as not to place so much pressure on the spine and create some clearance.

 

This second photo shows the pocket into which I placed the felt shims

Here is the whole setup on Dewey:

 

Dewey wasn't actually as sweaty as he looks in the photos - it was a rainy morning and he was pretty wet before we started the day's project.  So most of his damp appearance is from rain and fog, not from working hard. 

Here is the video of Dewey riding in it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEoYLwExPsc

 

You can see in this video that Dewey is tense in his back, even at the walk.  I don't have the TCS girthed up too tight because I need to see how Dewey reacts to it without too much pressure.  He takes smaller than normal steps, and once he starts to trot you can see that he is hollow in his back with his head up in the air.  This next photo shows him trotting, but taking a relatively short step with his hind foot, and arrows drawn in to show his head lifted, and his back lowered.  This was the setup he liked the least of what we tried today.

Felt Cutback Half Pad - 1st Choice:

Next I tried the TCS with a pad that is essentially a one inch thick western felt pad that is also cut back to accommodate high withers.  Here is the photo of it on Dewey:

Here is the video of Dewey trying it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJHcN9DFpuo

Dewey liked this much better.  You can see him taking deeper breaths, longer steps with his hind end, lifting his back and lowering his head.  This was his number one choice out of what we tried today.

Foam Front Riser Half Pad - 2nd choice:

The third try was with a closed cell foam half pad with front riser. Here is the photo of it on him:

Dewey liked this foam pad with riser better than the withers free half pad, but not as much as the felt cutback half pad, so this was his number two choice for the day.  He did stretch out some when riding in this, but not as much or as consistently as with the felt cutback. 

Here is the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVPmsM54xB4

This photo has the arrows drawn in so you can see what's going on with his body.

 

Lastly, to let Dewey actually move well and give him a chance to canter I put the felt cutback pad back on him.  Here is his video from the final setup.  I did notice that the felt cutback pad and TCS did need to be placed farther back, so that it rested in the lowest spot on his back.  This allowed the stirrup to be directly under my seat, so that my balance was better and thus I didn't interfere with Dewey's balance either.

Here is the video from the final setup:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Ueo9iePBQ

By this point Dewey has realized we are doing tack fitting.  He starts out a bit braced, and you can see him lift his head and tense up a few times at the beginning as he tries to determine which setup he is currently wearing and how comfortable or uncomfortable it will be.  Once he decides this is the comfortable setup he settles right down and his gaits improve quite a bit.  His canter levels out to be more balanced, and his trot after cantering is very nice as his back has loosened up more from cantering in the comfortable setup.

 

 Summarizing Dewey's experiment today:

• Dewey's preferred half pad is the 1" thick felt cutback.
• The TCS works on Dewey best with the felt cutback pad and saddle placed far enough back that my leg is under me.
• Dewey's second favorite pad is the closed cell foam front riser pad, but it's not ideal.
• Dewey definitely does not like the withers free pad, likely because it didn't have enough padding in the front to give him sufficient wither clearance.

Dewey's Bridle Adjustments

I jumped Dewey a bit this morning before the wind turned on and I had to retreat to the barn to clean tack (4 saddles, 5 bridles, cleaned and conditioned - phew!).  I've been jumping him in the hackamore, but he's been tossing his head a bit when we canter and make tight turns, so I videoed the ride with the Pivo to get a better idea of what's really going on.  I was suspicious that he was losing his balance in the turns and that's why he was tossing his head, because he is so short coupled he really needs to use his neck for balance.  

However, when I watched the video this evening, it was a much simpler explanation.  Dewey has a face that is shaped a little differently than the average thoroughbred.  He has a thick throatlatch, but a somewhat small distance between the middle of his face and his eye.  When I slowed down the video and looked closely, I discovered the real reason he was tossing his head at the canter.  When I would ask Dewey to lift his inside shoulder by lifting my inside hand, the hackamore would tip forwards, causing the cheek piece of the bridle to nearly touch his eye!  Each head tossing incident was preceded by the leather sliding forwards on his face.  

Here is a photo that illustrates the issue we're having:

Dewey has a short distance between his eye and where the bridle straps sit.

So when I lift my inside hand to rebalance him in the corner,

 it pulls the bottom of the hackamore backwards, and then the bridle cheek piece forwards.

Having the leather nearly touch his eye understandably irritates him.  Because he's such a good sport he doesn't put his head down to buck me off (as some horses I know and love would do), he just tosses his head to tell me something is wrong.

This particular issue doesn't happen with his bit, because there's no leverage with the snaffle bit in which he works.  (His head tossing with the bit is nearly always that he needs a dental to correct for a molar which grows sideways towards his tongue in his mouth instead of straight down to meet the bottom teeth.  He had a dental just over a week ago so that has been corrected for.) To try to correct the problem and make him more comfortable I switched out that hackamore for one with less leverage, and I adjusted the top portion of the noseband so that there is as much space between his eye and the cheek piece leather as possible.  I'll give it a try and see what he says.  

Otherwise we had a great ride, with some decent photos from the pivo video.

 

Tuesday Schooling Rides

As I continue videoing routine rides on my horses, I lean closer and closer to getting a new phone just so I can upgrade the video quality.  My phone is several years and many versions older than what is currently available, and I'm seriously coveting the better images that can be captured with current models.  

In the meantime, here are my favorite stills from today's ride on Highboy.  No surprise his stretchy trot made me happy.

Even though the lighting isn't fabulous on this one, I love it because Highboy and Rizzo have their legs in nearly the exact same position in their strides.

o

 

I do have yellow kinesiotape on Highboy's hamstrings, applied in such a way that the tape encourages his hamstrings to relax and lengthen, ideally helping him reach further forwards with a longer step especially using his right hind.  Unfortunately I didn't have him clean enough so the tape didn't stick for the whole ride.  When we were done I washed his haunches with soap and water to remove any oils from his hair, so tomorrow the tape should stick better.  I did feel a difference in him when the tape was sticking at the beginning of the ride, though.
This is the video for Highboy for today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_FHT4CTHJI

I also rode Dewey this morning and this time I recorded his warmup.  He's not moving quite as well as he normally would, because I absentmindedly put on Raven's dressage girth instead of Dewey's.  He's a good sport and doesn't complain, he just doesn't move with quite as much spring in his step.  I didn't realize that was the issue until the end of the ride, when he turned his head around and bit at the girth straps, then gave me a pointed look.  I apologized to him, and made a mental note to use the girth he likes next time.  

Despite both being thoroughbreds with high withers and close in age, Dewey and Raven are shaped just enough differently through their chests and girth grooves that they have distinct preferences for girths.  Raven's girth is this one:

It has lots of stretch to it, with the elastic at the center and the sections of girth that expand.  I also have made a sheepskin liner that sits between the girth and her sensitive skin.  This girth allows her to take deep breaths and move more because of how much it expands, without rubbing or irritating her.   It's also shaped with a bit of a curve, which accommodates Raven's girth groove being more forward. 

Raven has a wide rib cage and a narrow chest, which creates a gap behind her elbow.  That is conveniently where the leather padded buckles rest against her sides but don't create any pressure.  Dewey doesn't like this girth because the buckles (though resting on leather padding) press into his sides since he doesn't have the same gap behind his elbow that Raven has.  

 This is the girth that Dewey prefers for dressage:

Dewey likes it better because there is even pressure across the whole thing, and no curve to its shape.  His girth groove lies directly below the saddle billets, so a shaped girth (like Raven's) kind of creeps forward between his front legs.  He also prefers the buckles to be completely covered with the fluffy sheepskin-like fabric so they don't touch his sides.  

They're small differences, but they significantly change how each girth feels to each horse.  I want them to perform at the best of their ability, so it's my responsibility to ensure that their equipment is exactly right. Thankfully Dewey is a forgiving sort so he didn't make a big fuss about me putting on the wrong girth today.  Raven is not so magnanimous and will create a big scene with rearing, kicking, and biting at me if I accidentally try to girth up with the wrong one.  She also won't let me get on if the girth is wrong.  So I give a nod to Dewey's gentle temperament, and make a note to myself to be sure I use the girth that fits him next time!

 

Here is the long-ish video of Dewey's warmup today.  If you look closely you can see that at the beginning of our trot work he stretches his head forwards and down, but does it tilting his ears right and his nose left.  He does this for about a half lap of the arena, and then straightens out.  I suspect it's because I have a bit in his mouth, and I've mostly been riding him in just a hackamore recently.  Once he acclimated to the sensation of the bit and realized I wasn't going to ride him any differently with the bit in his mouth than I do with the hackamore, he switched back to traveling normally.

His trot is also much better quality after his canter in the warmup.  This is because the canter is a gait that naturally gets the horse to lift and stretch his back, so after a good relaxed canter the back is much more supple when we return to the trot. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbIrsJ54ClA

Note Rides Again

I've been casually riding Note, or One For Nothing, over the past several months.  He is definitely coming around, and I'm starting to think he just needed THAT MUCH TIME to let down from racing life and acclimate to being a gelding instead of a stallion.  He's gotten much quieter for everything:  handling, tacking, grooming, riding.  I can ride him in the arena by himself or with other horses, or ride out in the back forty by himself or with other horses.  He's much more civilized when I am handling him and we are around mares, he rarely says dirty words or yells any catcalls to them anymore.

When I'm not around  he can still be quite aggressive with other people and horses, but at least he understands the rules when he's wearing a halter and I'm nearby.  He's a beautiful horse with a ton of athleticism and talent, and he's definitely making progress, but I still don't trust him with other people.  It remains to be seen whether ultimately he will become trustworthy, but at least he's going the right direction!

I finally found a good combination of bit and saddle for him.  He was so mouthy, biting at the bit, manically chewing on it while riding, twisting his head around.  I'd had his teeth checked by the veterinarian and there were no issues, so I'd ruled out dental problems.  I began the process of finding him a bit that he liked.  I tried many different kinds, on many different rides:

He didn't like any of the above bits because the mouthpieces were too straight and so didn't lie comfortably in his mouth.  He also doesn't like the loose rings because the bit moves too much.

These three piece snaffles were ok for a little while, but ultimately he decided he didn't like that much movement inside his mouth, either.

These two are quite expensive name-brand bits, and in the past my pickiest horses have like them because of the shape of the middle piece.  Note said absolutely not, though, because he doesn't like the loose ring or the three pieces, and he didn't care that these are expensive quality bits.

The one he ended up choosing was this: 

He likes it because the mouthpiece is solidly attached to the D ring sides, so the bit doesn't swing around on the ring.  It has only one joint in the middle, so there's minimal movement inside his mouth.  The mouthpiece is also slightly curved, which accommodates the shape of his tongue and the bars of his mouth.  Finding the right combination of features is a process of elimination.  I had to determine the bit that he liked, and going through this somewhat lengthy affair gives me sufficient information about how his mouth is shaped and what exactly he doesn't like about each type of bit.

Once I found his favorite, he rode like a different horse.  Absolutely no head twisting, no incessant chewing, no excessive saliva, but not a totally dry mouth.  He had a straight neck and head, gently bending at the poll, with quiet lips, tongue, and mouth.  He also was much more comfortable moving forward, lengthening his stride at the walk, trot, and canter without me having to really push him.  His "stickiness" and shuffling gaits were another indicator that he didn't like what was in his mouth, because bits are the brakes.

I also discovered that Raven's newer jumping saddle fits Note better than the others I'd been using on him.  The combination of a happy mouth and comfortable back made for a great ride today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4tEkhYnxNU

Here is some of his trot work over cross rails.  It's been a while since I have done any jumping with him, so we were essentially beginning again with Going Over Poles 101.  When horses are at the very start of jumping training I keep everything very positive and encouraging to make sure the horse enjoys the job.  I don't mind the stopping and looking at fences, because how else will he know what he's going over if he doesn't check it out?  Better he learn what this is about at slow speeds, looking while we are jogging or walking, rather than stopping to look when we are going fast and unseating the rider.  You can see the progression in this video from staring at the first jump, to finally trotting over uneventfully.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV6zAArd-gM&t=26s

This weekend Note also demonstrated his skills at opening gates.  I teach all my horses how to do this politely so that we can leave the arena and hack out in the fields without me having to dismount.  It also comes in handy when we are on the trails and I need to go through a latched gate, and it fits well with one of my mantras:  Every good dressage horse should open gates.  Forrest the border collie is pictured here supervising.

Note also had his first bareback ride with me yesterday.  I had the bareback pad on him because he has some super high withers, but it was his first time being ridden without a saddle.  Initially I got some funny looks with Note asking me if I'd noticed I'd forgotten something, but he settled in quickly and we ended up having a good ride at the walk, trot, and canter, and walking over ground poles.