I take lessons from a hunt seat stable.
I have this wonderful new-to-me Spanish saddle, the Talavera Potrera saddle with sheepskin on the seat (I’m now calling it my little old lady saddle) that needs dressage girths. My riding teacher has one dressage girth since she does not teach dressage beyond the basics except to people who take private lessons, often on their own horses using their own dressage saddles and who have the correct size girth for their horses.
Luckily, since I ride at two stables, I had given my dressage girth collection (Lettia Coolmax dressage girths) when I gave the other stable my EZ-fit treeless saddle that was just too unsteady under me (bad balance from my MS), so I only need girths for one stable.
I try to limit the size of the horses I ride–13.2 hands to 15.3 hands. However, as we all know, some of those ponies are rather portly and some of the bigger horses are rather slab sided.
I provide my own tack because of the additional “safety” gear that I put on my own jumping saddle. I provide the saddle pads because these lesson horses REALLY appreciate the Far Infrared Radiation mostly non-slip saddle pads that help their backs stay comfortable under my often unsteady seat. I provide my own girths too because I vacuum/brush off my girths after every ride. I do this so that the horses, from the feel of my tack, do not “forget” that they are carrying ME, disabled and all, and not the more athletic young riders that usually ride them.
I also use my own bridles (Micklem) with Fager titanium or leather bits. I use a double bridle because I am the only one at either stable that uses a double bridle, and I use rainbow stop and/or notch reins because otherwise my hands “lose their place” on the reins. I own a lot of bits so I can find one that will work on a horse comfortably even with my hand problems (hand tremors, lack of proprioceptive sense).
In return the lesson horses do not scowl at me when they see me, stand relatively peacefully when tacked up, and usually do not misbehave under me.
I just figure that if the horses feel comfortable with the tack I use they will be much less likely to misbehave under me because they do not feel irritated by the tack. I have found that horses who feel irritated by their tack are so much more likely to misbehave under me than when their tack feels comfortable to them.
I invested all this money so that I can ride with moderate safety on comfortable horses who stay relaxed and alert under me.
Besides both the ladies whose horses I ride are rather pleased that I am 1) providing the tack that keeps me safer even with my handicaps and 2) trying to keep their horses as comfortable as possible under my less than perfect riding.
