Water bottles

[Shadow14]

![](n the summer I always like to carry a bottle of water. I do not want it on my person, I like it on the saddle but it must not flop around or interfer with anything.
I get about 1 year out of a saddle before I need to take it apart and rebuild alot of the strapping. My Abetta saddle was one year old a few saturdays ago and pulled it down and sure enough found a number of straps worn almost through. Becomming a dangerous situtation but new strapping is only $2.11 per meter so it is cheap.

I know what does this have to do with water bottles? I liked my saddle so I went and bought another for a spare while picking up new webbing.
I took the OLD webbing, the billets if that is what they are called and cut out good parts of the straps and made a nice holder for a water bottle. I cut the webbing, take a lighter and burn the cuts to prevent fraying and using the wifes sowing machine put together a holder. I did have to buy a small amount of velcro. I put the holder on the spare saddle. I completely rig the saddle so when the time comes that I need it everything is adjusted and ready.
This is the water bottle holder I made. The domes are for doming the rain coat in heavy rain. I don’t normally dome the coat to the saddle in case I take a spill and the domes don’t let go.
The string on the side is to prevent any flapping while trotting of loping. This bottle holder is the same as on my working saddle and it doesn’t move. I have used this method for about 20 years with good luck and no irritating rubs
[IMG]http://i25.tinypic.com/9prvv4.jpg)
[IMG]http://i27.tinypic.com/34fk77q.jpg)
[IMG]http://i26.tinypic.com/33fdi5e.jpg)

[Auventera_Two]

Please don’t call her “the wife.” MY wife is so much nicer.

I like the Easycare bottle holders. They’re not too expensive, and they have plenty of strapping to cinch them down however you like. I also have the Justin brand bottle holders but don’t like them quite as much. A lot of people like Camelbacks also.

[chicamuxen1]

I found rolls of a heavy duty double sided velcro at REI. They actually sell heavy and extra-heavy grade. Anyway, where has this stuff been all my life??? It is the best thing since sliced bread. I have it all over my saddle now and it will really snug water bottle holders against the saddle or saddle packs and cantle packs. I have extra D rings added to the front edge of my saddles, BMSS and the current Sensation. So the water bottle w/holder is clipped to an upper D and this double sides velcro passes thru the lower D and around the bottle holder. I have a bottle holder hanging on both sides of the saddle, one for water, one for a bottle of electrolytes for the horse and a syringe. Or, like today, I had my GPS and brush clippers in one and water and a folding saw in the other. No flopping.

I think it really pays to be creative like Shadow14 and make your own gear. I’ve yet to buy saddle packs that have the straps or D rings in the right places. If I find a pommel pack that has nice pockets then I can always modify it to actually suit my saddle.

Try this double sided velcro!

Bonnie

[Shadow14]

[QUOTE=Auventera Two;3189045]
Please don’t call her “the wife.” MY wife is so much nicer.

I like the Easycare bottle holders. They’re not too expensive, and they have plenty of strapping to cinch them down however you like. I also have the Justin brand bottle holders but don’t like them quite as much. A lot of people like Camelbacks also.[/QUOTE]

Vickey did you have a nice ride today?? I know you were going to trailer away and do a 25 or so?? did it all come together for you??
I know nothing about the brands of water bottles you mentioned and if I can make something myself that is the route I go. I know this bottle holder works, doesn’t move, doesn’t interfer with anything. It also didn’t cost much since all but the velcro is recycled??

I usually end up dumping the water on Shadow near the end of the ride.

Sorry about the wife thing, she is my wife or 40 years. We have a standing date every Friday night and we try new restaurants every week.

[Shadow14]

Guys for saddle bags CCM bike nylon pouches are really durable, cheap and extremely light weight. They last me 5-10 years before they wear through. Adding rings is easy but they also rattle alot so be careful.
Part of my gear is a 10 foot 3/8th inch neck rope. It can be rigged into all sorts of things but is will secure a horse if I have to tie for an extended period. Again very light. I could rig reins from it, a headstall with reins or use over a girth if the buckel broke. I also carry a sharp knife in a nice case screwed right to the saddle. Also works as my hoof pick. A small packet of cleanex is self explanitory:D:D

[Shadow14]

Guys I just noticed I am no longer a trainee but a WORKING HUNTER:lol::lol:
and I don’t even have a gun.:lol::lol:
Norval
I want to be “going the distance” ?

[gdolapp]

I have the tough one horn bags with the water bottle holders on the one side of
them. I just use leadrope snaps and snap the bottem of them down to my saddle
and they don’t flop Your idea is really cool though.

[jeano]

Another vote for One Wrap velro, it’s the greatest. I’ve been wondering why Abetta still uses two pieces of regular velco to make their stirrup hobbles–mine have been replaced with a nice length of the one wrap. I’ve got the stuff all over my saddle,have used it to adapt seat savers, secure hoof picks, water bottles, etc to the saddle, even made a clip on bridle using this stuff.

Only problem, treats for the horse are secured in a velcro-closed saddle bag—so everytime anything on my rig makes that rrrrrp sound, both my horses pose like statues so I can reach a treat up to them. They have learned about delayed gratification, though, so they do move on after taking a moment to beg.

[Auventera_Two]

I use the one-wrap velcro stuff (it’s super strong! :eek:) for my cell phone holder. I love that stuff. It is so much better than old traditional velcro.

Norval - yes, I had a wonderful ride. We did 11 miles Sat. and 11 Sun. We’re up to trotting/cantering the whole thing without hardly any walk. We stopped at 2 water crossings and sponged/rested, then carried on. I carried the GPS and we tried to maintain around a 9mph trot which was really comfortable for us and the horses. The lady I ride with is a long-time CTR rider so she is an expert pacer. That’s exactly what we need.

I’m really surprised that I’m not at all sore today. If you’d told me a year ago that I could trot and canter for 11 miles I’d have thought you were nuts. My horse is getting stronger and stronger and doesn’t even sweat except under the saddle. P&R is excellent. I wish our first ride of the season hadn’t been cancelled this weekend. That was a real bite. Oh well, there will be others.

[Shadow14]

Anyone running the Abetta saddle and finds the stirrup’s don’t swing back and forth freely will find if they remove the front 2 screw on either side that hold the seat, there is a form of overgirth joining the 2 large rings. This overgirth is a safety feature if the 3 screws let go on the main billeting. This overgirth hinders the forward swing of the stirups and make it feel like something is binding.
I cut out this overgirth, put the screw that comes in it into the front billet strap and reinstall the front screws for the seat.
The stirrups feel freer and no long bind.
I do pull my seat back at least once a year and check everything under there.
With a new saddle I do the same and make sure everything is tight and as it should be.

[Auventera_Two]

I rode in English leathers with aussie 4-bars on my Abetta. The western fenders were too hot and covered so much of my leg - between me and the horse.

Here’s a pic of what I’m riding in now. Treeless with bottom fastened leathers and aussie 4-bar irons. I like this setup. I have the merino wool covers for the leathers but I found they make me more uncomfortable. What I like instead, but isn’t shown in this picture is the memory foam seatbelt protectors you can buy at Walgreens. You just velcro them on to the bottom of the leather and they provide great cushion against your shins.

(The bay is my horse)
http://www.hphoofcare.com/sweetsgear.jpg

[Shadow14]

Vickey if you take a treeless saddle you can bend it front to back. Absolutely no load is spread out over the horse’s back. With saddle I run 200 plus and if only my putt made contact with the horse I would end up with a sore backed horse.
Also with no tree the saddle relies on either your balance or a tight girth, both lacking sometimes. I can ride with a fairly loose girth and still have no problems with the saddle rolling.
Riding treeless is going backwards to the Indians and their buffalo robes and an overgirth thrown over their horses back. And I don’t believe the indians to be the horse horseman, sure they could ride but killing a horse was normal.
A treed saddle is a foundation of support for both you and the horse.

Anway I don’t see how I could possibly run english stirrups on my western saddle???

[Auventera_Two]

Well - your treeless arguments are really getting old Norval. You do what you want - I do what I want. Treeless is working excellent for my horse. I can tell a HUGE difference in her stride length and comfort in the treeless. HUGE. THis mare now cruises downhill in a good working trot instead of grinding on the breaks and tip toeing her way down with her ears pinned, which is what she did in the Abetta. I thought the Abetta fit her perfectly, and when following all the traditional criteria, it DID fit her perfectly. But SHE told me it wasn’t working. There are many treeless endurance competitors who wouldn’t agree with you at ALL.

This weekend I was given the name of an endurance rider in our region who has over 4,000 competition miles in endurance, and LD, and she rides treeless. The PAD is the most important thing about treeless. Also I’m a lightweight with a meaty backed horse. Heavyweights with a protruding spine seems to cause more trouble, or so I’ve read/been told.

Anyway - yes, you can use english stirrup leathers. All you do is pull the fenders off and thread the english leathers through the slot in the tree. It takes 5 minutes to make the switch. I used english leathers on my Abetta for a whole year before I switched saddles.

[dreamswept]

Anway I don’t see how I could possibly run english stirrups on my western saddle???

It can be done.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/dreamswept/TuckersGrove%20May08/tuckers_grove3.jpg

[Shadow14]

[QUOTE=Auventera Two;3190008]
I
Norval - yes, I had a wonderful ride. We did 11 miles Sat. and 11 Sun. We’re up to trotting/cantering the whole thing without hardly any walk. We stopped at 2 water crossings and sponged/rested, then carried on. I carried the GPS and we tried to maintain around a 9mph trot which was really comfortable for us and the horses. The lady I ride with is a long-time CTR rider so she is an expert pacer. That’s exactly what we need.

I’m really surprised that I’m not at all sore today. If you’d told me a year ago that I could trot and canter for 11 miles I’d have thought you were nuts. My horse is getting stronger and stronger and doesn’t even sweat except under the saddle. P&R is excellent. I wish our first ride of the season hadn’t been cancelled this weekend. That was a real bite. Oh well, there will be others.[/QUOTE]

Good for you Vickey. All it takes is a little practice and you will be up to that 50 before you know it. I missed this post earlier and I don’t know why??
11 miles at a nice working 9 mph trot is a nice workout. I ran roads today because I want a long lope and bush trails just don’t offer that, not wet trails anyway. You might also find that your horse developes withers with that kind of work.
A easy lope is no faster, a little harder on the horse but sure easy on the rider. In my old age I find a lope far more comfortable.
Vickey find a restaurant that serves a nice breakfast and roughly 10 miles from home. Make it your goal and ride to it saturday and sunday mornings for breakfast. Use a neck rope and tie the horses, teaches them patience and gives them a breather before the run for home.
I took off today and spent time with Shadow after the ride hand grazing

[Shadow14]

[QUOTE=Auventera Two;3190658]
Anyway - yes, you can use english stirrup leathers. All you do is pull the fenders off and thread the english leathers through the slot in the tree. It takes 5 minutes to make the switch. I used english leathers on my Abetta for a whole year before I switched saddles.[/QUOTE]

I know I could thread them through but what about the looks. The rigging is totally exposed and the swinging of the stirrup leathers would catch on the rigging. YOu need some type of fender.
What feels nice is riding in shorts and chaps. The feeling of leather on the legs is good:lol::lol:

The treeless arguement is not mine. There is tons of information out there about the evils of treeless.

[Auventera_Two]

Regarding treeless - like I said before on other threads about this - each person does their own thing. Until the horse says it’s not working, I am quite happy to continue riding treeless. The thing with treeless is that you can’t use a cheapie saddle blanket. You have to use a high tech pad that absorbs shock and distributes pressure. There are a lot of endurance riders who go treeless. I don’t think either point of view is “evil” it’s just different. If you don’t like it, there’s nobody holding a gun to your head to try it, is there?

I never had a problem with swinging legs/catching on rigging, etc. I rode in that setup for a long time. I guess each person/horse is different and if it bothers you, then you’d have to use fenders, but I had no problem.

As for riding in shorts - you can buy merino wool tube covers, in conjunction with saddle covers.

[Shadow14]

[QUOTE=Auventera Two;3190945]

I never had a problem with swinging legs/catching on rigging, etc. I rode in that setup for a long time. I guess each person/horse is different and if it bothers you, then you’d have to use fenders, but I had no problem.

As for riding in shorts - you can buy merino wool tube covers, in conjunction with saddle covers.[/QUOTE]

To the tune of 2500 miles?? That is roughly what I put on per year and anything that rubs wears out. I nearly wore through the rigging on my Abetta in one year and one fender is just about wore through. I really like leather for wear but it is far heavier and with me every pound counts.
Vickey your ride this past weekend is almost my daily run so equipment must be at it’s best and NO rubbing allowed. Even a heavy girth billeting wears through quickly. If the swing of your leg in the stirrup is not smooth and friction free it wears through and that includes the stirrup leathers, not really leather here but fairly heavy fabric, but it wears through within a year.

[Guilherme]

Norval, did you even try a “camel back” type water carrier?

My son did a year in Iraq and swears by them. They don’t flop about, are comfortable to wear, and easily accessible without using your hands.

I’ve never tried one astride but intend to later this spring.

G.

[Jess1]

I second the camelbacks. My husband is a marine, and he LOVES them. They are absolutely awesome and he got me turned onto them and I love them.

I’ve had my Abetta for three years now, and it’s about beat up, but it’s still going strong, but I do notice the fenders are pretty stiff about moving back and forth. Going down a hill they get stuck in the forward position, and I have to really push down on my heels and move my legs backwards to get into the proper position. Uphills, they get pushed back really far and don’t move back where they’re supposed to be without effort. Only thing that bothers me about them.