Happy with Cheyenne and Arizona

Dear Barefoot team,
It started seven years ago, when I met this big-framed trotter off the track. As his big soft eyes scrutinized me fearfully through the iron bars of his stall divider, I was a goner. Love at first sight!

On second sight: a horse with impossible, swaying gaits, clumsy, no collection whatsoever, always hurrying, and so on. So started our painful journey with saddles, and a ton of money got wasted on saddles I bought and sold again. I always had the feeling that Jamiro was tense, uncoordinated and unfocused. His shoulder was blocked and the withers didn’t have enough clearance despite custom-fitted saddles. There remained massive doubts if Jamiro’s movement patterns were caused by habitual reflexes or by pain or saddle soreness. Trotters trained for the track often have the tendency to toss up their heads and hollow their backs. This is of course a catastrophe for horse and rider.

My horses’ anatomy exacerbated our saddle fit problem. He has prominent shoulders and huge withers that reach far towards the back, and he is built uphill. This makes all saddles slip forward and squeezes his shoulder blades even more, and makes them pinch the withers. In the end, I bought a trail saddle from a well-known manufacturer, even though Barefoot treeless saddles had been short listed already. My friend Natalie had bought the Cheyenne model from Barefoot for her Haflinger mare, and on every ride kept going on about how great and comfortable this saddle was. I had decided on this trail saddle, because by this time I was still unsure if a treeless saddle was suited for a horse with such a problematic back shape. While Natalie sat cozily in her saddle, I increasingly lead my horse, because after a few meters in the saddle I developed unpleasant knee and back pain. The result: I was frustrated! Apparently there is not one saddle in this world that will be comfortable for both me and my horse!
I was already contemplating putting Jamiro ‘out to pasture’! One evening I surfed the net and looked at Barefoots’ website, checking out the testimonials and other Barefoot models. The information was convincing, so I reached for the phone the very next day, and explained all our trials and tribulations to a caring and helpful Barefoot representative. We emailed back and forth, I sent photos of Jamiros’ back according to the instructions, and very quickly I got an evaluation and recommendation for a fitting saddle. I was pleasantly surprised by such specific ‘remote diagnostics”, because I didn’t even get this much information when having saddles fitted at my place by other sellers! I found new hope with my saddle problems and dared a last attempt with the following order:
The Arizona saddle, but with the soft insert (extremely good suggestion from Barefoot!). The saddle doesn’t have a horn anymore with that, but that’s not a problem and looks good.
The Physio pad (highly recommended because of it’s good shock absorption – a worthwhile investment!), and further accessories.

This was a turning point. I became a trail rider ;-)!
The saddle is perfect, with the special Physio pad it doesn’t slip to the front anymore, doesn’t slip when mounting, Jamiro is a new horse, he is more agile and coordinated and doesn’t lean on the bit anymore. His shoulder is wonderfully free and his movement is considerably more harmonious and relaxed. Because of the soft, flexible fork there is no pressure on the withers and the muscles. It is really a relief not to have to worry about saddle fit,( also in view of changes in muscling), slipping, saddle sores, pressure points, or, worst case scenario, the saddle causing pain. For me, the saddle is soft and comfortable. Even after lengthy trail rides I don’t have any knee or back pain. I perceive Jamiro’s gaits as much more pleasant, because the movement is more gentle and is transmitted more evenly. I am completely satisfied, happy, and riding is fun again!

Thank you so much!