Saturday, 31 October, 2009

Talk about information overload!  In the Society of Master Saddlers’ inaugural bridle fitting class, it was obvious that lectures were hastily prepared as the lecturers scrambled to organize their PowerPoint presentations.  Time constraints were frustrating as the instructors spoke faster and faster to cram stuff in.  Admitedly, the course should have taken up two full days (I would say three), and the instructors were most apologetic.

Still, we made the most of our truncated lectures, learning the basics of bridle making and measuring, with emphasis placed on the preferred method for the placement of straps and buckles.  We were enthralled with the presentation given by the veterinarian who discussed horse physiology as it pertains to saddles.  Today he brought out a horse’s skull and proceeded to discuss the anatomy of the horse’s head as it pertains to placement of the bit.

The subject of bits could have taken up two full days by itself, as they embrace a subject that is incredibly vast and complicated. I confess feelings of inadequacy where my knoweledge of bits is concerned.  Sure I have a basic understanding of what constitutes soft and severe, but there are so many subtle nuances that vary from bit to bit I find myself getting intimidated.  Of particular interest to me is that the function of a true “gag” bit is to encourage the hrose to lift its head, not for leverage.  Also, gags are ideally ridden with two reins so they aren’t as severe.  I don’t think many American riders use them appropriately.  The same is true for curb chains and lip straps, one often fitted too tightly, one hardly used at all.

Today’s practical had us taking measurements on a snarky pony named “Pip,” and going through various bits and bridles on other horses, learning to fit them properly.

I must note that in the UK, crank nosebands are rarely used, and the majority of show bridles lack both stitching and padding.  The ultimate goal in selecting a show bridle is finding one that best flatters the horse it’s on.

After class we ventured back to the hotel and had dinner at the neighboring Porridge Pot restaurant.   My head swimming with information, I had difficulty falling asleep despite being plenty tired.

Friday, 30 October, 2009

Day two of the class was entirely practical in nature.  The class was split into five groups, each group rotating through various stations: Template Taking, Conformation, General Purpose Saddles, Close Contact Saddles, and Dressage Saddles.

In Template Taking, we were taught the proper way to record the shape of the horse’s withers and back.  This technique is useful in determining what saddle should be used in the immediate future, as well as measuring and chronicling changes to the horse’s back, as horses’ backs do indeed change with work (or lack thereof).  We also used weight tape to calculate approximate body weights.  Not only is this helpful in determining the saddle to be used, but it’s again helpful to track changes in the horse’s body, especially with young horses.

In Conformation, we learned to identify aspects of a horse’s conformation and the challenges that conformational changes can present when fitting a saddle (young horse, obese horse losing weight / thin horse gaining weight, etc.).  We further learned to identify subtle lamenesses and how they influence movement and subesquently saddle fit.

In the various saddle stations we were presented with horses used by the school and asked to select from dozens of each saddle type to find a saddle to fit each horse.  My group began with a cob/arab type with a relatively healthy back.  This horse was pretty straightforward to fit, requiring a medium-wide tree and flatter panels to acommodate his broad, flat back.  The remaining horses had extremely large withers and were more “slab sided,” presenting an obvious challenge when finding the saddles to fit them.

Interesingly, all horses displayed significant muscle atrophy around the wither (although the cob’s atrophy was minimal).  Further, most of the horses had various degrees of stiffness and lameness issues.  When it was discovered that all of the horses in the school use inexpensive synthetic saddles (whose name I shall not reveal), the situation became obvious.  Apparently the school was given these saddles to use on their school horses, and although one horse was in his late teens, the others were too young for such unfortunate body conditions.  Their atrophied backs are directly due to improper saddle fit.  What an amazing and sobering display.

I will say that the degree of lameness varied from horse to horse at the school, but I wouldn’t be able to declare a single horse as sound.  One sad gelding in particular could barely walk, the arthritis in his hocks was so bad.

Although the condition of the horses was somewhat sad, the fact that they were able to quantify the perils of improper saddle fit filled me with gratitude that I may be able to help prevent problems like these from arising in other horses.  Thankfully, the students of the college paid close attention to our fitting assessments which were validated by the instructors representing the Society of Master Saddlers.

After class, our new Icelandic friend joined us for dinner at the Windmill Inn at Stratford upon Avon.  It was supposed to have been the pub where William Shakespeare himself was entertained, and was over 500 years old! I wonder whether there’s anything in the US’s history that’s quite that old – anything still standing and still performing its original function, anyway.   The food there was wonderful (as was the ale).   I had braised beef with mushrooms while Bret had a burger – how American of him.

Thursday, 29 October, 2009

We left the hotel around 8:30 am, fighting a surprising amount of traffic to make the morning tea in the nick of time.  Class began promptly at 9:15, and was comprised of equine professionals from all walks of life.  Some were retailers, some aspiring saddle makers, a fair amount were equine chiropractors and osteopaths, and other equine care practitioners.  Among the students, only 3 were non-UK residents: one from Norway, one from Iceland, and myself.

Class today consisted entirely of lectures with a saddle fitting demonstration at the end.  The philosophy behind good saddle fit practices revolves around the premise that above all, the horse’s comfort must come first.  The problems that can often arise as the result of an ill-fitted saddle are numerous and devastating, and are, according to the Society of Master Saddlers, completely unnecessary and preventable.

It is the general consensus that attempting to generically fit a saddle to multiple horses is a daunting task given the fact that no two horses are built alike.  There is danger in attempting to fit a saddle to more than one horse, making it  essential that great care is taken to ensure that the proper pads are used when taking on such a fitting.

Interestingly, the British view of American riders is that we tend to scrap good saddle fit practices by compensating with pads.  Ideally, only a very thin pad should be used,  but only with a properly fit saddle.  I did try to come to our collective defense, citing our new shift toward thin yet functional pads such as ThinLine and Back on Track saddle pads.    Apparently British horses are missing out!  No one in the class, save for the students from Iceland and Norway, had heard of either product, and were most interested in learning about their benefits.

After class, Bret and I drove our classmate from Iceland back to the hotel before heading out to the top-rated pub in Leamington Spa, the New Inn.  We sat at the bar, the supposed place to sit if you’re interested in socializing (apparently if you want privacy you sit off at a table).  Sure enough, once our American accents were noticed, we found ourselves surrounded by some kindly locals who were most interested in learning all about us.

We had some lively discussions about politics and the state of public education (Public education in the UK differs vastly from that in the US, primarily because Publicly educated children are considered to be of the highest echelons of society – so basically Public education in Britain = private education in the US – see, I’m learning a lot!).

The food at the Inn was, well interesting.  Bret had a meat pie (which I wish I had ordered).  Having no idea what the various entrees were, when I asked for a “healthy” entree I was directed toward “jacket potatoes” with various toppings.  I decided upon a Jacket Potato with Shrimp.  Boy was that a mistake.  A jacket potato is simply a baked potato, the one I ordered coming with canned shrimp dumped unceremoniously upon it.  Trying not to offend the cook (who, incidentally, kept peeking out of the kitchen to see how I was enjoying my meal), I dutifully devoured as much as I could before declaring myself officially stuffed.   I must say I enjoyed the hand-pulled ale (Bret and I both had “Stella”).

After dinner we ventured to the local grocery store in Leamington Spa to pick up goodies to bring home from the UK.  I stocked up on Polo Mints, having promised to bring them home for the Olson’s girls to give as rewards to their horses, and Bret picked out various kinds of candies to present to one of his British friends who pines for food from his homeland.

Wednesday, 28 October, 2009

We were wide awake by 6:30 am, having basically passed out at 7:30 pm from jet lag.  Having a few hours to kill before the train to Warwick, we took a long walk through Regent’s Park, admiring the Queen’s Gardens and pausing to take several photographs along the way.  Stopping for a well-made latte at a small cafe, I was told that tipping in the UK isn’t as generous nor gratuitous (yes, pun intended) as it is in the States.  Apparently leaving a 1 pound coin for a 1pound40 latte is a bit of a faux pas.   Lesson learned.

Eager to set out for Warwick (and having to check out at 11 am), we ventured to the Marylebone Station well in advance of our 12:50 pm departure.  We did some people watching, dodged the dozens of pigeons unfazed at being indoors, and took in a light lunch before boarding the train.

Watching the rolling countryside was of more interest than the books that Bret and I were trying to read.  Instead, we were captivated by the small farms with their neat parcels of land.  Unlike the urban sprawl we find in the States, the outskirts of London quickly turns into remote farmland, and you can’t help but feel as though you’re stepping back in time, if only a short way.

When we arrived at the Leamington Spa station, we immediately went to retrieve our rental car.  We’d brought our GPS system (we call her Bridget), but found to our horror that it didn’t seem to want to work straightaway.  Assured that we could rent a GPS tomorrow (their sole GPS was out for the day), we were given printed instructions for reaching the hotel.

The drive was, well…exciting.  Rather than have stoplighted intersections, the Brits have “roundabouts,” and lots of them.   After spending nearly 45 minutes trying to decipher just the exact moment to exit the roundabouts listed on the directions, I made one last valiant attempt with Bridget, and was able to convince her to locate and guide us.  We reached the hotel at long last and couldn’t help but laugh at ourselves when we realized that our 45 min+ excursion should have taken a mere 12 minutes from the station!

On a complete side note, the initial terror of having Bret driving on the wrong side of the road in the wrong side of the car wasn’t as prolonged as I would have anticipated.  He picked up the technique rather quickly, and I’m proud to say that we didn’t have a single head-on collision.  I can’t say that I’d be as adaptable.

Monday, 26 October, 2009

I have to say how fortunate I consider myself that my husband, Bret, was able to tag along with me for this trip to England, so that we could combine my educational experience with a little bit of vacation.  Neither of us have “crossed the pond” before, so it’s going to be an exciting trip!

We landed at London’s Heathrow airport after a pleasantly uneventful (albeit long) flight to find it delightfully sunny and warm.  Taking the Heathrow connect to Paddington Station, we hired a cab to take us to our first night’s destination: The Americana Hotel on Gloucester Street.

We decided to capitalize on our early arrival with a visit the Royal Mews (also known as the Queen’s Stables),  as they close for the season beginning 1 November.

We found our way to the Baker Street tube station and purchased Oyster passes to allow for easy travel.  We hopped on the Jubilee line, then Victoria, and emerged to find the Royal Mews a few short blocks away.

Admittance for the Mews was steep at 7pounds 50 (about $12 American), especially after hearing that most of the horses were offsite for exercises presented to visiting heads of state.  Still, it was a worthwhile tour, as we managed to see a couple of Her Majesty’s Horses as well as a majority of the coaches used for various official functions.

Of particular interest was the Golden Coach used for every coronation since George IV in 1821, its opulence fitting a royal ceremony.  The display presented in the Mews was nearly as magnificent as the coach itself, incorporating four life-sized waxwork horses and two riders.  Incredibly lifelike, these models allowed us to better visualize how impressive the coach must be, especially when considering that it requires 8 horses, not 4, to pull.

We ambled around Buckingham Palace for a bit after visiting the Mews.  We were still dazed from the flight so we retired early.

An early morning phone call from Olson’s President Mike Akers on Tuesday, asking me if I had a valid passport, has evolved into a trip to England to study with the Society of Master Saddlers, one of the only organizations in the world that has a recognized program for educating and evaluating saddlefitters.

This amazing opportunity is the first step to becoming a Qualified Saddle Fitter – a distinction held by only about 15 people in the United States.    The long-term goal is for Olson’s Tack Shop to have someone on staff that not only knows how to fit a saddle, but also how to reflock and repair saddles.  To have this service available to our customers will be HUGE, as we are not tied to one specific line of saddles and therefore are motivated to help riders and their horses find the right saddles for them, regardless of whether they’re new or used.

As a non-commissioned salesperson, you can rest assured that you’ll have a satisfying saddle buying experience without being pressured to buy something that is not appropriate for you or your horse.  I am committed to helping each and every customer find the perfect saddle!