Here is a goodbye photo of my wobblers horse, which I almost didn’t post because I didn’t want people critical of his thoracic sling or neck. Lol. Which for obvious reasons (many) would be absolutely ridiculous. But I’ll admit it crossed my mind because of social media being like that sometimes. COTH not as much though.
He was very loved and her post just took me back there, for all the good and the bad.
I believe that your comment was well meaning for the horse and I understand that when it’s your profession it’s hard to not look at people’s saddles I’m sure.
I’ve had a saddle fitter tell me she wasn’t comfortable fully fitting my horse (same horse I mentioned here) but because he was back sore. She suggested I call the vet. I have never taken training advice from my saddle fitter though and I admit if she suggested an expensive program like this I would be a little taken back. Now a chiropractor or massage therapist? Sure. I know what the massage therapist will do though, it’s no secret.
I think the program seems to have some merit and obviously some people have really found it helpful which I think is great. I think people should do whatever they want to help their horses. But the culture is off putting to many.
I’m not so sure about that. In the instance of a dominant horse in a herd, what is it that causes the effrontery-response (my own madeup term) and has him go-after a lesser member who doesn’t move away fast enough. There is something there… in that whole pecking0rder thing with chickens, or sheep or dogs when enforcing rank comes into play that makes me think ego is involved.
I think this is the case in “bad” leaders. Good herd leaders are fair and balanced. A horse who probably should have a more submissive role but somehow managed to get some power - will distribute discipline unfairly, often over the top.
This is true in people as well. Natural leaders are easy in the role. Non-natural leaders in leadership roles are psychopaths.
in my realm, i have one of these ‘bad leaders’. He’s just awful, and lives with a rotating ‘other’ horse and is ok that way. In the herd he’s a relentless brute.
My point is that there’s a whole lot of ‘ego’ in him. Or something that works quite like ego.
Or lack of leadership ability.
I guess it could be “ego.” I’ve met a horse or two with what could be called that. But really, it wasn’t that. They were horses that sucked at being alpha over anything. If they weren’t out with a horse who was one of the “natural leaders” they would bully and harass their way to the top and then distribute ridiculous punishments for invisible crimes.
what a cute face! I’m so sorry about his story and your loss.
I peeked at her Facebook page and saw a post of her sharing testimonial from a girl I know and strongly dislike. If this girl loves the things she teaches, I pretty much automatically know its probably either mostly BS or something that is common knowledge reworded to attract a woo-woo type of crowd.
Regardless, I get a weird vibe from her so that’s a no go for me. I learned long ago to trust my instincts on people like that.
I actually thought something similar last week ha! There is someone I know who hops on every single trend most of which have the same flavor but often contradict each other. She recently shared this online and I thought well here we go! I guess it was just a matter of time.
Obviously I have been aware of the group for much longer as I started this thread in the spring. I really was curious about the group. I’m a good target honestly… Rehabbing horse, paranoid owner willing to try a lot. I even sometimes spend money on things that I’m 99% sure is bull crap for the very realistic chance it might help. Lol. Like a red light. I know it’s crap and most likely a glorified heating pad but dang it I want one and I’m getting it.
So the fact that this marketing is turning me away says something, I think. Honestly I still I’m getting the idea that there is some benefit to her methods even if they’re very basic. But I cannot get down with how it is presented at the moment.
Your horse was beautiful and loved. Ignore the idiots, you had his best at heart. Hugs.
Thank you. No comments were directed at him but rather her post was relevant because I could easily see me being shamed as well. I appreciate your kindness.
I’ll try to paint you a picture.
Imagine you just got a new horse who maybe was in a really poorly fitted saddle that created a lot of atrophy, or your horse just came back to work after a long layoff and is really fat, or some other situation in which the horse is likely to change shape significantly. You don’t have a saddle, so you call a fitter.
If I anticipate that the horse will change so much that a saddle that fits him that day will no longer fit in 6 months, then I would instead recommend that you wait and do groundwork for a while until your horse is a shape that more closely resembles what you want as normal.
If you don’t have a trainer you may ask me, “what kind of groundwork should I do?” I would then make some recommendations. Depending on the specifics of the situation I have recommended the BTMM masterclass as well as other online resources, walking over groundpoles, a ProCore trainer, longeing on a slight hill, ponying on trails, etc.
Re: the expense: I would think that the cost of a chiropractor or massage therapist would be similar to the BTMM membership, but the BTMM membership has no expiration and would likely save you other health care costs in the future. Food for thought?
Have you come across many situations like this? Most people I know would want to ride and have a saddle solution, unless it was a lameness/injury situation.
This is assuming it’s actually something that is that beneficial. Which appears to be pretty subjective.
Agreed. They either want to ride or find a method/excuse not to ride.
So you don’t fit saddles to 3-6 year olds? Weird, many young horses shouldn’t be ridden under saddle?
I’ve had good experience with a sympathetic start under saddle along with ground work and hacking out, in addition to yep, regular saddle fit checks and adjustments. And no, my 7 year old is not is the same saddle that she started in as a 3 year old, that’s okay.
Some of the best rehab for horses that are thin, lacking muscle, otherwise disadvantaged is sympathetic, light riding. You use a saddle which fits the shape of the horse’s spine and pad the ever-loving shit out of it to take up space while creating the perfect cushion. As the horse puts meat on its bones, you gradually reduce the amount of padding until you get to the point where you don’t need any.
This is not a new concept. It’s been around for years.
If I had waited until my current horse was finished putting meat on her bones to have a saddle fitted, she’d still be standing in the damn aisle of the barn learning to lower her head/turn off her brachiocephalicus. I would have missed some of the most fun rides and experiences ever and she’d be completely loopy from not getting out to experience the world.
Wait and do ground work? FTS. Fit the saddle to the horse that will result from correct work, show the rider how to pad it and how to check for pad removal over the current months and help riders to ride their horses instead of being told their horse is broken and needs witchcraft and voodoo before it can possibly be ridden.
Current horse is in same saddle as 9.5 years ago. It’s gone through super thick padding to thin 1 layer saddle pad and had a shim or 2 moved around inside it and a couple gullet plate changes. I fully expect horse to go into her 30s wearing the same (same model if it wears out) saddle because it fits her back shape and if I keep her fit and working properly, that isn’t going to change a lot.
Recently started working another “disadvantaged” horse the same way. It will be interesting to see if this umpteenth “disadvantaged” horse responds the same way or whether she has read the modern thoughts on not being ridden while “disadvantaged” and will refuse to pack on abs and back/topline while being ridden while disadvantaged. LoL
I understand and maybe this is talked about in the group, but how do we know that there is none other things going on with the worst contributing to the bad posture and nerve impingements that this method is geared towards? I asked if there was any studies on this method, but I have not seen any yet.
If a horse is not being ridden and has such horrible posture and a topline that it cannot be fitted with a saddle, to me that really points to having body workers chiropractic and probably most importantly the vet out.
If they are being ridden and that is the cause of the horrible posture, then I guess I can see more of a need for this program. Because these people need education. More importantly they need a better training program but maybe this program will get them on the path. I don’t know. But my order would be perhaps body worker, then vet and farrier. Then maybe look into this program. Which many of us have actually tried to do and that is the issue there’s not enough information without paying.
The saddle fitter I work with will fit saddles on horses no problem. She has a lot of brands that are adjustable and multiple ways to get you through at least the first 6 months to a year! It’s just important that you involve the saddle fitter are very regularly. But that’s true for a lot of dressage horses in general. They go through some tremendous transformations.
I’m all for riding in a saddle that fits but sometimes it seems like there is waaaay too much agonizing over the fitting process, and too much insistence on a “perfect” solution or no solution at all. Doing ground work for months/years just because the horse’s back might change and the saddle won’t fit him as well after he grows or builds muscle?? Gimme a break.
I think of saddle fitting a lot like buying a good pair of shoes … if they are the wrong size or shape, or poorly made, you’ll have blisters and sore feet and be an unhappy camper … but unless you have some really strangely shaped feet or an injury or something, it’s also completely possible to find decent shoes off the rack that fit you well enough to be pretty comfortable all day long, even if they don’t fit you exactly the way custom ones would.
Purely anecdote, of course, but I’m seeing just as many sore-backed horses these days when it’s practically considered terrible horsemanship to not have a separate saddle professionally fitted to every single horse, as I was back in the days of “this saddle fits every horse in the barn.”
oh my, he certainly looked beautiful and sweet. so sorry for your loss.
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