GHOST prototype trial: EVA

The month of February has been very busy! I have my notes from the PNER conference mostly written up, but they still need to be edited to make sure they are read-able.

I wanted to get a quick blog post out to talk a little about my experience with the GHOST prototype saddle I’ve been testing out this month.

This prototype – termed EVA – is very different than the other GHOST saddles. It has a “tree” made out of the same material as Crocs. It’s very lightweight and has some flex to it, but is much stiffer than other treeless saddles I’ve seen. It also does not have panels, but they are not needed: this thing has no problem maintaining a vast spine channel even when using a normal pad. Pretty cool, right?

The EVA on Deli (with GHOST pad).

Pony modeling the EVA.

 I did end up needing the pommel bolster insert on the EVA as well to lift up the front of the saddle. As discussed in my trial of the GHOST Firenze, Deli’s conformation means saddles sit downhill on her. Though the EVA looked like it was sitting perfectly with a tight girth, the front of the saddle would squish down when I sat on it – the form is obviously more flexible there.

The front of the saddle. The front does squish down some when rider weight is added.

The pad ties onto the back ring of the saddle. You can kind of see how the seat is Velcroed on in this photo.

The rigging is awesome: adjustable like the other GHOST models, but with a wider spread. This added to front-to-back stability.

These are the rings for the stirrups. Note that they are attached to the tree like other GHOST models to prevent pressure points from the stirrup weight. 

The stirrup position wasn't quite right, to be honest. I ended up in the forward ring like I did with the Firenze, but I did feel like if my legs were even a little more forward it would have been perfect. In part this could be because I was having some discomfort from the seat pommel so maybe I wanted to push my legs out more in front of me. 

 The seat did kinda bust my girly bits in the front, if you know what I mean (I had a similar issue with my County dressage saddle). I think I prefer a flatter seat because of this. And generally my horse isn’t a complete loon – though she has clearly been feeling some spring fever this month. (I think she wants me to start conditioning, right?)

Don't mind our creep barn llama, Flipside...

The EVA with the Thinline.

It felt pretty stable once I switched to using my Thinline endurance pad, though I did notice the back end in particular kicking off to one side or another sometimes. This has been reported with other riders: some side-to-side instability. I think in part this is because the existing GHOST pad wasn’t quite wide enough for the stiffer saddle base on this prototype. I tend to like a pad with a little extra space beyond the saddle footprint and the GHOST pads, in general, are pretty minimalist in that respect. Both my Deli and I are dealing with one-side-weakness problems so it could be a rider/horse problem rather than a saddle problem. It rolled a little, certainly, but I think on a horse with a less pronounced barrel-shaped body and actual withers it wouldn’t be an issue at all (and the roll was about the same as the Firenze, to be honest, and I got some side-to-side roll with my old traditional treed dressage saddle as well). The Thinline had a wider base for the saddle to sit on, so I think that helped. And my horse seemed more comfortable with that pad setup more so that the GHOST pad.

Riding in the EVA! I did not get any arena pictures because my husband only seems to come along during "trail rides" (i.e. walking up the road because everything else is MUD).

At least these roads have some decent hills! I did try different stirrup lengths (this being the shortest).

The seat on the EVA was very secure but I tend to like a flatter seat. People that like to feel like they won’t move when the horse does some crazy antics will like this seat. I did have one crazy antics ride on Deli in this saddle and felt very secure throughout. Deli does not rear or buck, though, so I can’t speak to that kind of misbehavior. Epic spooking and thinking galloping around a slick muddy corner is a good idea is all I can contribute to this test!

The underside of the EVA. The velcro strip down the middle is one way they secure the seat (which you can peel up to add bolsters, or adjust the seat size). This saddle technically is an 18" seat.

I am very curious to see how they develop this. With a somewhat flatter seat and some other minor adjustment, I think I might want one! It feels more like a treed saddle but with the flexibility it could really work for lots of situations. I think, with some work, this could be an awesome saddle for heavyweight riders or riders wanting a stiffer/more secure feel while getting some of the benefits of a treeless saddle.

  

There are some things I preferred about this prototype when compared to the GHOST Firenze I trialed. First and utmost was the wider spread on the rigging. This seemed to help the problems I had with the saddle sliding back were much less with this rigging set up, though I also took the time to adjust my breastplate tighter before I hit the road hills!

I also like that you don’t need a special treeless pad with this saddle. And it's lightweight while still offering the kind of support you might expect for a treed saddle.

I think overall Deli moved more freely in the GHOST Firenze, Which is fine, because I bought a Firenze! It arrived yesterday and I am very pleased. I can't wait to try out my new saddle, especially since I got custom blocks (instead of the bucking rolls) done that I think will work well. This means the EVA prototype is going to be sent along to the next person. The hope is that, since this saddle is still in development, rider feedback will shape the next prototype.

My new GHOST Firenze with custom "banana split" block!

My (newish) cat, Jovian, checking out the custom block.

"What do you mean I can't sit on the new saddle?"

 Fingers crossed this is THE saddle that will get us through lots of trail miles with comfort and happiness. I know I am going to have to play around with bolstering the front and I have plans for pad experimentation (including getting a laminated foam Skito that I can place on TOP of the Thinline pad). If there is an interest in these things I can endeavor to make an effort to catalog them here.

Fingers crossed March is the month where we start conditioning and building fitness for the long haul. I am looking forward to more saddle time and trail riding. So far 2016 has been turbulent with my own health problems and I need the relief some long trots on the horse I love will bring.

Last time: the 10 year anniversary for Deli and my relationship/ownership/guardianship.

10 years of Chestnut Mare under my belt… award please?

This week marks our 10^th year together.

A cold but sunny day in January, 2016.

I still remember the day Deli stepped off the trailer like it was yesterday. It was my first-ever emergency vet bill! We struggled for the first year and a half together as I worked with her on the ground, teaching her all the things a polite horse should know. I had trained baby horses before, but it was quite the challenge teaching an ADULT horse who’d had little handling how to do the basic things many horse owners take for granted. We also dealt with injury and illness during that time that put the STRESS in stressful.

Recent road riding around our barn.

But each year things have gotten better. We may be older and creakier with past injuries, but we are partners now. She turns 17 in May the day after I turn 32.

Road riding in February.

This horse is a huge challenge. But she also holds a piece of my heart that belongs to nobody else. Even knowing all the pain and hardship we would face in the past ten years I’d do it all again. I think she came into my life for a reason and vice versa.

I'm looking forward to the next ten years with this beautiful individual.

My husband made her a "mash cake."

Last time: PNER Convention Notes – "10 Things You Can Do Better" by Susan Garlinghouse, DVM, MS
Next time: Sharing my experience of the GHOST saddle prototype I tried out in February.

PNER Convention Notes – "10 Things You Can Do Better" by Susan Garlinghouse, DVM, MS

First in my convention-note lineup is a talk given by Dr. Susan Garlinghouse. She is fairly well known in the endurance world for her articles on equine nutrition and other salient topics regarding the health and fitness of our horses.

During this talk she essentially rounded up some of the more interesting things she had found from scientific research, and the practical applications of this recent research. Everything she talked about comes from her reading peer-reviewed research journals (so we don't have to?).

There were several points that are very applicable to Deli and I. I hope making my notes available will be helpful for other riders and horse lovers.

1. How to Feed Feet

There are tons of factors go into growing a good foot – bio-mechanics, genetics, age, breed, metabolic rate, temperature, and moisture (so the season and climate in general matter quite a bit for what a foot needs). Nutrition is a big deal but there is no one thing that is a silver bullet.

The key points from the nutrition standpoint are:

• Feed enough calories – the quality of their feed might not be high enough. In a positive energy balance they will grow foot 50% faster than horses on a restricted diet (not meaning the horse is on a “diet” for weight control, jut that the horse might be working more than the calorie intake received).
• Provide a good amino acid profile – don’t just supplement one amino acid and expect it to make a difference (for example, don’t just add methionine).
• Should you add minerals? If the mineral profile is already adequate, adding more is not going to help (and it might hurt). What’s more important that adding in single minerals is BALANCE. Don’t add a specific mineral unless you have a shown deficiency.
• Chelation of minerals is when bonded mineral to some kind of protein. This kind of mineral may increase rate of hoof growth. Minerals are absorbed more easily when chelated but it’s going to cost more money. Look for things like “zinc proteinate” or some kind of yeast. Zinc is a good one to be chelated.
•  Gelatin does not help – it has no scientific influence on hoof growth (And it’s not good for your fingernails either).
• Adding fat to the diet – adding a generic supplement will not help hoof, but it could help keeping the positive energy balance discussed earlier. However, adding fats high in omega-3 fatty acids IS beneficial for the foot.  This WILL provide direct benefits to their coats and hoof. Essentially these kinds of fats will add increased tensile strength if fed in the right amounts for long enough.
• Premium commercial feds provide a good vitamin-mineral balance if feeding around 5lbs a day. More cost effective than multiple supplements! For example: LMF Gold.

2. Feeding Biotin (for hoof quality) – it does work!

As for specific supplementation, Susan Garlinghouse discussed biotin extensively (which makes sense – it’s a common additive to hoof supplements). Biotin is one of the more expensive vitamin supplements. Most supplements do not add a lot of this because it’s expensive. The daily requirement for biotin is around 1-2mg/day just for general health. But if you supplement extra (15-20mg/day) you are going to get better hoof quality with some patience...

It will take 6 months to appreciate the difference with the 15-20mg/day dose. In about 9 months you should see a statistical difference (most horses grow out a foot in this timeline). In 33 months you see the increased tensile strength in the foot.

So yes, biotin can help a great deal with “feeding a good foot” if you keep in mind these baselines:

• Be patient and consistent!
• Improved quality: 5-7.5mg/day. At 15-20mg/day you see even better quality but no increased growth. At 50mg/day – you will see increased hoof growth. This will be around 15% better growth, plus a higher quality of hoof.
• Not every horse is going to respond, however. There are other factors that contribute to the hooves growth and strength (you need to have an overall good environment and supplementation before you can get payback).
• Biotin is a B vitamin (B7) and is not stored in the body – you have to feed supplement 2x a day if you are giving 50mg/day otherwise it will just be “an expensive pee puddle”.
• Her personal favorite is Paragon Biotin Plus – one scoop is 50mg. It also includes yucca. Yucca in naturally-occurring feed supplement is okay (otherwise it’s on AERC’s prohibited list).
• I personally recommend HorseTech’s Bioflax20 product. I didn’t know horses should be getting at least 20mg/day of biotin – but looking at the dosages for this product the horse does get the 20mg in the normal dose! The company also has higher doses in other products.

3. Feeding Fat

This topic is one I’ve seen discussed a lot within the endurance community. So, why feed fat? It has 2x the calories that protein and carbohydrates do, and it’s highly digestible! So feeding fat makes it easy to maintain a horse’s body weight.

The vegetable fats are more digestible (about 90%) and animal fats  are somewhat less  digestible (about 75%) because they have an added mineral content. In contrast, forage on average is 50-60% digested. What is not digested is poop, urine, or heat. You need that also, but heat is also a byproduct of exercise. A horse gets very hot during exercise and when their normal cooling process aren’t operating, they can get to a lethal core temperature in <15 minutes.

Feeding fats DECREASES the thermal load! Thermal load is higher in: larger horses, carrying heavier weight, heavily muscled horses. (This will tie into competing the non-Arab in endurance because one of the primary advantages Arabs have is a lower thermal load.)

Fat in the diet also provides glycogen-sparing effect. Glycogen is animal storage form of starch. Glycogen is a big bushy molecule. It’s not efficiently stored compared to adipose tissues so is in very limited supply. This means that feeding fat makes the animal more fuel efficient and Improves glycogen utilization. Once a horse had adapted to a high fat diet (which takes 5-10 weeks) they can still replenish glycogen repletion. High carbs are not something you want to feed a tired horse, so getting horses fat-adapted makes their rebound easier after a tough ride as well.

Fat is a SAFER feed than a lot of grain! Horses get more fuel efficient when exercising using aerobic metabolism processes and when they are used to burning fat, this process is encouraged over anaerobic energy uses. The glycogen sparing effect is also associated with a decrease in respiratory exchange ratio.

The comparison of oxygen consumption to CO2 produced does relate to the glycemic cycle in a horse as well. Adding dietary fats smooth’s out the glycemic/insulin curves from starchy meals, so your horse will have less of an energy rocket-boost and then a corresponding crash. Ideally its better to have sustained energy. Another reason to avoid large swings in the glycemic index is that insulin suppresses the horse’s ability to oxidize fatty acids – and you want them to be oxidizing fatty acids. All of this ties into how you want to feed a horse before a ride: ideally you want to SMOOTH OUT the glycemic/insulin curves.

Other considerations of a high-fat diet in the endurance horse include:

• Horses on high fat also digest grain better.
• One thing to note that is perhaps a bit unexpected: horses on generic HIGH fat diet show symptoms of being insulin resistant! However, if you change their diet to include 1-2oz of marine oil daily abolishes IR effect. So with a high fat diet add a little fish oil and add that. Dr. Garlinghouse recommended the product “EO3”, which is a marine oil source.
• Don’t ever syringe straight oil down the throat as it does not induce the “swallowing” effect and they can easily aspirate it into their lungs.
• What about the adage that you should stop feeding fat a couple days before an endurance ride? Essentially, fat consumption makes the horse less hungry. You want the horse to be stuffing itself with FORAGE before and during the ride-day as it is the best thing for gut health and water absorption. During the ride you should not add additional fat to their meals. You want your horses hungry whenever you make hay available to them. A horse can’t utilize fat on ride-day anyway. Edit to add another comment from Dr. Garlinghouse: "It's okay to feed a ration that happens to contain significant fats, and it's okay to add a high fat feed, like rice bran, as a flavoring agent. Just don't add a specific fat source, like pouring corn oil on their mash. I generally stop adding additional fats a day or so before a ride." 
• What about coconut oil? One of the fatty acids in coconut oil is lauric acid – the only other place it’s found is in breast milk. Lauric acid has been linked in some research with cancer fighting properties. But before you get too excited, this is what the actual research said about lauric acid and cancer: one of the metabolic byproducts of it, when put into a lab petri dish the “cancer did not like it.” Does this mean it actually has cancer-fighting properties? No! Essentially just think of coconut as fat a fat source. (It also tastes good and is therefore a palatable fat if your horse is picky.)

4. Chia seed vs. Flax?

These two seed sources are commonly fed to our equine partners and in her talk Dr. Garlinghouse compared them. Actually, she mostly talked about the benefits of feeding flax.

These seeds have equivalent omega-3 content but Chia is twice as expensive (so why buy it?). Flax helps with hoof and hair quality and helps as an anti-inflammatory. It’s good for arthritis and it’s great for horses in the endurance sport because endurance creates a certain amount of inflammation in joints and tendons even if it's not a chronic condition.

So what are the research points for flaxseed in a horse's diet?

• Every horse should be getting omega-3 fatty acids.
• Some endurance horses who had metabolic issues did well on 4-5lbs of flax a day (suggesting it's pretty safe for horses with metabolic issues).
• Lingan is higher in flax than in chia – lingan is a phytochemical structure (ie. An insoluble fiber which just providing bulk).  It does have a weak estrogen-like properties but the Dr.  Garlinghouse assured us that that is near impossible to actually make a measurable difference. She told us a story about a bunch of stallions on a rigorous breeding schedule who needed a lot of calories and were getting 5lbs of ground flax a day without experiencing any fertility issues. Though it has not been tested in horses, lingan can be protective in humans (prostate and breast cancer!).
• Human grade flax seed is okay to feed to our horses. Golden and brown flax is the same.
• Don’t over-grind the flax. You degrade the omega-3 if you grind it too much (because it gets too hot). Also, getting it pre-ground is risky. As long as it’s not rancid it will still provide some fat content to the horse, but the omega-3s degrade more quickly. Feed within 10 days/2 weeks. Put it into freezer bags to make it last longer.
• Flax does have the cyanide precursors that in some bodies do turn into cyanide. But the dose makes the toxin! It is another “cowboy myth” that flax seed is toxic because of these cyanide precursors. How did the myth start? It began– from cows fed linseed cake (which is the same plant but with the oil taken out of it). Cattle have the enzyme to break down the cryogenic precursors and they had some issues arise. Horses do not have this enzyme! Or at least not in high concentrations.

So how much should you feed?

• For flax: give a cup to 2 cups a day (start at ½ a cup a day or you will get diarrhea) for a horse doing LD or 50s. It’s more palatable than a lot of the oils.
• What about flaxseed oil? Plain flax seed is 20-25% fat and is a lot less expensive. The oil is harder to keep fresh – it’s very sensitive to light, and needs to be refrigerated.
• What about grinding flax? You will get 2x the digestibility out of ground (slightly ground). This is different than oats (where grinding does nothing) because flax is a SEED and has a hard hull.

Someone asked about black oil sunflower seeds. For BOSS – good way to get fat into them as a source of calories. But they have more omega-6s than omega-3s (and omega-6s are pro-inflamation). But at a better ratio than most vegetable oils!

5. Feeding Grain to the Endurance Horse

Oats, corn, barley, etc. The main thing to remember about feeding grain is: there is a limit to how much grain horses can digest in a day.

When feeding 5-11lbs of grain a day the risk of colic increases by a significant percentage. Why? Starch meals are digested by enzymes in the small intestine. It is like a conveyor belt and just keeps moving when healthy. When there is too much grain it gets dumped into the cecum. The cecum will treat it like forage because that's what the cecum does!

When grain gets to the cecum it makes the environment acidic ( which is called "cecal acidosis"). This condition associated w/ colic, laminitus, endotoxemia, EGUS, and other things you want to avoid in your equine partner. What's more, ulcer medication does not heal ulcers in the hind gut, so you should avoid ulcers as best you can. Dr. Garlinghouse noted that horses with fore gut ulcers often have diagnosed hind gut ulcers.

Other considerations for feeding grain include:

• Feeding 10lbs of grain a day also decreases fiber digestion.
• Sub-acute cecal acidosis contributes to decreased appetite.
• Digestibility NOT improved by splitting a large amounts of grain into many meals.
• The least digestible grains are corn and others with a very hard casing (the “hard grinds”). There is NO advantage to processing oats or other grain feeds compared to the straight grain (crimping, rolling, etc.). 
• Commercial feeds do things to grain to make them more digestible, so if you want to feed grain that might be the way to go.
• With respect to sprouting grains (as in fodder): it does improve digestibility, improves the vitamins the horse can access, and makes it palatable. If the grain is still intact enough to sprout and grow then you know you are getting a high quality grain. 

6. Ride-day Breakfast

• Re-think 4am grain or concentrate breakfast. Why not? Because you don’t need the energy spurt at the start of the ride. You want the burst later and you don’t want a slump at the “lunch” hour. This does not mean they can't get a mash of soaked pellets or something similar. So give them a flake of alfalfa in the morning. Or soak some pellets of alfalfa. Just to make him happy!
• The horse should be eating FREE CHOICE forage all day long! And days beforehand. This packs the gut full and will help store water if nothing else.
• Feed them any concentrates the DAY BEFORE (before midnight). The "lighter fluid" can be filled up the day before and your horse's glycogen stores will be full. And you will skip the glucose-insulin curve with this practice.
• Make sure he finishes all concentrates before midnight the night before.
• The only horses that need carbs during the day are the ones being competitive. 

7. Preferred Gait Studies

How does the body mass and distribution of weight affect energy costs? Does reducing mass of a distal limb increase energy efficiency? 

We know there is a linear relation between increasing mass and energy costs. When measured in fit Arab horses, adding 1.5lbs to each ankle increased energy costs by 11%. If the same amount of weight was at the center of gravity increased energy costs by only 0.6%. So every 1lb you add to the legs equals the same energy cost (approximately) as adding 18lbs over the center of gravity (such as tied to the saddle or breast collar). But you don’t get the extra “credit” points when standing for best condition if you have things on your horse's lower limbs.

So what should you do? Essentially, balance hoof protection against unnecessary additional weight! Ask: does my horse really need splint or bell boots? Does he need the heavy shoe or can I find something lighter? Or maybe be dynamic and change the booting and leg protection throughout the ride. For example, if you know the first loop is going to have a lot of brambles or cacti, put on protective boots and then pull them off for the second loop which has more sandy terrain.

(This is one reason it's important to train in the gear you are going to use, too, so your horse get's used to the energy expenditure required in wearing boots.) 

8. The "Sweet Spot" for Gait

Energy costs for the horse rise outside the “sweet spot” – ie. the speeds they are willing to keep up all day long. Most horses will have this for each gait. If the horse chooses their own speed they will usually choose the sweet spot themselves. Where an extended (or collected) gait goes away from the sweet spot we should make them transition to a different gait or else they are expending energy needlessly. The main qualifier for this is that if you have an inexperienced horse they may try and tell you their "sweet spot" isn’t quite what it actually is (I promise, Deli, the sweet spot is not jigging sideways). It's always good to change gears every now and then to use different muscle groups, anyway.

This is another area heart-rate monitors can be very useful. With a heart rate monitor you can tell his "sweet spot" is – that’s where his heart rate will be the lowest at that particular gait. As your horse gets more experienced that sweet spot is going to change. It usually gets faster as a horse gets more fit mentally and physically.

I am really curious to figure out Deli's "sweet spot". She can trot like a demon sometimes (approximately 14mph) but she seems most efficient at 7mph or so. Her walk varies widely, usually slower at the start (2mph) and warming up to 3-3.5mph. Not a fast walker!

9. Joint Supplements

The only joint supplement that is supported by data is Cosaquin. And yet even cosaquin is only about 3-4% bio-available to the horse. Glucosamine and the different sulfite joint supplements are not bioavailble to the horse when ingested. Why? The size of the molecule matters and can't be utilized well by the equine.

Adequan (or Legend) works better because you are bypassing the digestive tract. Adequan is 90% more bio-available. So Dr. Garlinghouse's recommendation is that you get 2 vials of Adequan rather than buying expensive supplements. In the long run this might actually save you money!

Here is another article I found comparing Adequan, Legend, and Pentosan. I'm particularly interested in researching and asking my vet about Pentosan for Deli, as she doesn't have any specific joints that are problematic (just a history of traumatic injury).

10. The best thing to feed DURING the ride is hay! 

You can also feed a lower-glycemic mash (triple crown senior is pretty good for this). As an aside – green grass is MAGIC for horses! If you have access to pasture and your horse is not sugar sensitive, green grass can do wonders to multiple systems in a horse’s body. This includes ride-day.

This is what we do at the end of anything long: a good roll!

That's all for now! Since a lot of what Susan Garlinghouse spoke about related to nutrition, I thought I’d provide a link to an article on nutrition and management made specifically for Green Beans.

Last time: The 2016 PNER Conference was a blast!

Next time: Notes from "Endurance Foot Care" by Sue Summers and Lee Pearce.

The 2016 PNER conference was a blast!

This past weekend was spent in Portland, Oregon at the Pacific Northwest Endurance Rides Conference. I’ve made it a must-tend event for several years now, and it’s an easy thing for me to do since I live in Portland.

The highlight of the long weekend is both seeing familiar faces and meeting new folks in the endurance community. It always reminds me that PNER is just that: a community. There are cliques and insular groups within it, of course, but by in large they are welcoming folks. Green Beans such as myself are welcomed in this region – probably in part because the leaders of the “movement” originated here!

The next big highlight is, of course, the speakers and round-table discussions. I always learn something valuable and take extensive notes so that I can eventually share my thoughts and the information with others. One of my favorite things about horses is the constant need to learn and adapt (says the perpetual student), the Conference speakers have a ton of valuable information that is applicable both to endurance and horse care in general. The speakers and panels I attended this year included: Moving Up – Smart Conditioning for Every Distance (though I missed the beginning of this), Managing Equine Liability, “10 Things You Can Do Better” (by Dr. Susan Garlinghouse), Endurance Foot Care, Beyond Conditioning, and Running on Empty (the Do’s & Don’ts to Avoid Dehydration). I also attended a round-table discussion on competing the non-Arab in endurance. If you are interested in any of these topics, stay tuned! Over the next month I will be posting my notes and thoughts on each of these panels and discussions.

Pretty GHOST saddles on display.

Another exciting thing to happen at the PNER Conference: I ordered a saddle! There were lots of saddle vendors at the conference this year but I stuck with what I’d tried. I ordered a GHOST Firenze. Fingers crossed I get it sooner rather than later, but the saddle ships from Italy and it will take time to make as well (particularly since I’m getting some “custom” accents). I am still doing a game of international telephone to see if the saddle maker can do a block or knee roll that would better suit my leg conformation. But I do know I am getting a black saddle in the oiled nubuck (the same material as the demo saddle I tried). I briefly considered getting the synthetic material, which was very nice, but I kept coming back to the rich pliable nubuck. And the black? Well, Deli’s official colors are “black & blue”, which suits us.

I also left the Conference with a saddle prototype in-hand. Also from GHOST, this prototype uses the same material as the Croc shoes as a tree. The result is a stiffer “treeless” saddle which may offer more support for heavyweight riders. Based on what I’ve felt of it, it also seems to offer a more definite “twist” than most treeless saddles. I’ve done one short ride in it just to see Deli’s immediate response – no rejection so far. It feels very different and I am excited to experiment and give feedback. How often is it that someone gets to influence the design of a saddle! I’ll report on my findings for the prototype as well and I am very happy to have a saddle to experiment with while my Firenze is being made.

Deli tacked up in the GHOST EVA prototype.

I don’t know if this is Deli and my year when it comes to actually getting to an LD (or two, or three), but I’m trying to remain positive while letting the universe do its thing. There is a lot I can’t control when it comes to riding in endurance. To a certain degree I can control Deli’s health, but given our history I’ve had to become accustomed to meeting the emergencies as they come and with minimal

During the conference someone I was in a discussion with made a good point: the real reason this sport is called “endurance” is because of everything it takes to get onto the actual competition trail. The conditioning miles, tweaking horse nutrition, keeping your horse healthy, figuring out tack, and working on mental readiness. It’s all hard work. It all takes serious problem-solving skills. I really like problem solving – it allows me to always be in the mindset of a student, which is a role I enjoy. But I’ve been lusting after that elusive endurance trail for eight years now. That longing was only intensified by my one and only LD.

I joined both AERC and PNER for the first time this year. The new job and a more predictable income allows for little things like memberships. I’m curious to see how these memberships affect my place in the endurance community. I still need to get my one LD completion attached to my new AERC number. Deli also has a number now.

I am not making plans other than a goal to: hit the trails. Whatever that may mean at the time. For example, this month (February) is busy with business trips and jury duty and meetings upon meetings. It’s still mud season in the Pacific Northwest so I am allowing February to be Deli and my month of stretching, yawning, and cleaning out our literal and figurative closets. 

Last time: My final thoughts on the GHOST Firenze demo.

My final thoughts on my Ghost Firenze trial.

I ended up keeping the Ghost Firenze for an extra two weeks on trial. This was a good thing. Due to the weather it had been difficult to ride as much as I would have liked that first week. The extended trial was appreciated.

I got to experiment with some other things which is making my decision-making process much easier:

• Different girths, moving the girth around (the rigging allows for this).
• Different pads. I tried my favorite endurance Thinline with sheepskin (pictured), a thicker Western pad, and combining the Ghost saddle pad with the Thinline.
• Longer periods of dressage work in the (often slick and ooky) arena.
• Trotting small cross rails (she just trots big over them).
• Different stirrup lengths to test knee comfort while half-seating (since I prefer cantering in half seat or two-point).
• Riding with a crupper.
• Riding with a saddle bag (it makes me think I’d want more rings because the placement doesn’t quite match my bags).
• Riding through a huge bolt-spook and not budging.
• A trail ride! Not as long as I would have liked (only 4.5 miles), but I was able to trailer out to the nearby horse and hiking park Tryon Creek for a ride on some good hills. (Also it was an awesome trail ride adventure in and of itself – a good test for Deli which she passed with flying colors!)
• And very important: different bolstering. Specifically bolstering the front pommel WAY more than before and trying to fold the felt inserts given in different configurations. This made the biggest difference in my comfort.

My final thoughts:

As I’ve said before I really like this saddle. Deli moves much more comfortably than she ever did in my dressage saddle. With me bolstering the saddle way more in the front I felt like I was in a much better position and I had no back soreness or issues from her after that. The bucking rolls were hardly noticeable with the bolstering. I might do a wedge-shim in the PAD plus a wedge in the saddle itself when I eventually work things out.

The trail ride showed me that the saddle wants to slide forward and back QUITE a bit. She didn’t seem irritated  by this slipping, oddly enough. I WAS irritated by it, though! 

Saddle after coming up the biggest hill. WAY back.

I think this can mostly be solved by a tighter breastplate. I should have just adjusted it on the trail ride but my fingers were freezing (it was 35 degrees). I was also curious to see how much she fussed, to be honest.

Deli wasn’t a huge fan of any of the girths except her sheepskin-floof covered and VERY stretchy Montana Cincha. This might be in part because she isn’t clipped yet and any hair catching irritates the heck out of her. Also she does like the softness of the stretchy-mess. So inevitably the saddle does have some tendency to roll if more weight goes into one stirrup. A tighter breastplate and even the addition of a crupper for those longer rides would help that. Honestly every saddle I’ve had on her rolls to some degree.

I am thinking of trying a mohair girth or something similar on her, since the Ghost totally allows for our number one problem (saddle being pulled forward into the shoulder by her forward heart girth). Notice the angle of the girth on the above picture? That isn't "forced" per se, though in that shot the saddle is sitting too far back. The rigging is really nice for horses with conformation like Deli's (that forward heart girth & round rubs and laid-back shoulder combo) but would work for a horse with more "straight" conformation too.

Posing with the Thinline pad. 

Most treeless saddles require some kind of built-up pad. I've avoided a lot of treeless saddles because Deli certainly needs a nice spine channel. The Ghost has panels that support the seat above the horse's spine. Since Deli does not have a protruding spine or a narrow frame i thought I'd try it with this pad.

She did fine without the super-padded treeless pad (ie. my Thinline), but even though it didn’t touch I didn’t like how close the “tree” came to her spine. Since both Deli and I love the Thinline I am interested in getting a Skito half-pad (with their heavyweight foam) to place on top of the Thinline to account for it being treeless. This material-type combination is what we use for our bareback riding that has worked so well. I like the Ghost pad as well but I am someone who likes having backup combinations. I imagine if we ever get to LDs I’d like to change my pad during the vet check if I have time.

For our little trail adventure we mostly walked in part to riding with a greenie horse and also because the park was very crowded. It was the day after Christmas and Tryon Creek is within Portland city limits. The trails are very nice and totally winter-ized, however. We trailered up to the park and unloaded. Deli looked around calmly. I had popped her boots on prior to loading so save the hassle in the parking lot. Deli basically ground-tied while I saddled her, watching curiously as other riders pulled their rigs in and out of the parking lot. Ready to go I mounted awkwardly from the truck tail and off we went. Deli eagerly moved out at a nice walk. She was a little slower at the walk but she usually is when leading the pack – which she did the WHOLE way! Tryon Creek is forested but not tightly closed in and Deli eagerly looked ahead the whole way. She put her muscles into the hill climbs (she excels at climbing hills – going down, not so much) and never put a foot wrong. We had some balking at the first of two of the bridges we had to cross, but not a difficult fight. Mostly I am proud of her for how good she was around the mobs of hikers/walkers, families, dogs, joggers, and other riders. It was the day after Christmas and CROWDED. Deli was also a great example for the greenie who had a few brain farts when crossing culverts. She is communicative of things that are worrying her – basically you are just aware she is aware, though. She was awesome. She even got called a “trail schoolmaster” which makes me LAUGH because, NO WAY.

Red Hawk Pony in Tryon Creek.

So what’s next? Over the past week I’ve been ruminating on the saddle issue. If I want to have the opportunity to ride more I need something more than my bareback setup. Deli has been, historically, not easy to fit. The Ghost seems to be a good fit. One of the bigger points in its favor is how adjustable it is. You can add bolsters, exchange seats, adjust the stirrup positions, etc. I can even get one made without the bucking rolls.

I still have that worry of: what if it doesn’t work long-term for what I want to do with Deli (Which is, limited Distance rides, extensive trail riding, schooling dressage). I suppose I will NEVER know that with any saddle though!

I am probably going to get this model. I like the forward flap quite a bit. My legs are more underneath me that they ever were with my dressage saddle! Clearly that one had problems beyond the girth-fit issue. One thing about this Ghost saddle is that the price seems very competitive. That’s a huge draw for someone like me! I still have to figure out whether to get it with or without the bucking rolls, what material (different kinds of leather, fleece, and synthetic are available), and what color. The demo I tried was the oiled nubuck, which I liked. My life on the wet side of Oregon has me considering the synthetic option, though.

Hmmm...

Last time: Demo-ing the GHOST saddle.
Next time: The 2016 PNER Conference summary.

Demoing the Ghost Firenze.

I am just finishing up my saddle demo for the treeless Ghost saddle. It wasn’t the best week the demo a saddle because of the epic storm that has been thrashing the Pacific Northwest since Tuesday. And my “epic” storm I mean downed trees, SIGNIFICANT flooding, closed freeways, mudslides…

And for those who don’t live here and think its weird someone living in Portland would comment about the rain: this isn’t normal.

I still got a couple good test rides in on the Firenze, though no long trail rides unfortunately. I am fairly new to treeless saddles but I’ve tried a Startrekk and a Freeform on Deli before. She disliked both and there is little more to say. I have personally ridden in an older Ansur, but not on Deli. Ansurs are WAY out of my price point, anyway.

The Ghost Firenze with Ghost pad - size 18" seat.

The rigging , the pad, and the stirrup attachments.

The best “trail” trial I had for this was riding 3 miles up the road and back in the freezing rain today (luckily, I have a waterproof saddle cover that fit). Deli was kind of pissy (wanting to go home), but it was hard to tell whether it was the weather, all the cars, or the saddle. We did some more trot work in the arena upon returning and she was nice and forward still, which is usually a good sign.

My general impressions:

• Well-constructed, fairly minimalist with a more ridged but flexible base, a stiffer pommel arch which gave it the most structure, and areas for both the leather seat and panels to be Velcro on (seats are interchangeable). This would allow the panels to be adjusted. I messed with that very little.
• The Ghost pad also seemed well-constructed - the foam is different than what I'm used to seeing in Skito, though.
• I like the panels system that gives the spine lots of clearance (*note, when I tried the Freeform it did NOT have the sympanova panels, just a bulky treeless pad).
• Sit’s “higher up” on the horse due to the extra padding – typical for a treeless.
• Initially it was tipped way to far forward due to Deli’s sway back and the fact the saddle does squish when you sit in it. The saddle dealer included some felt seat inserts which I placed under the seat as a bolster. That really helped. I might want an even bigger bolster if I get this saddle.
• Deli was initially wiggly, and then really moved out nicely for some easy arena work. She seemed more comfortable than our old dressage saddle and than just the bareback pad just based on her willingness to trot on and relax her head down with little urging.
• Comfort for me was decent after I figured out where to have the stirrup leathers (there are two spaces to put them) – except for the bucking rolls. I hate those things. I have a VERY long upper leg and big thighs. Bucking rolls just do NOT work for me. Luckily this saddle comes with the option to have them removed so I tried to ignore them and focus on other aspects of the saddle.
• I absolutely LOVE the rigging system (see pictures). It worked great for my forward-heart-girth & laid-back-shoulder gal. The saddle did slide forward and back a little when we did some hills.
• You have to cinch it up much tighter than a treed saddle. Saddles always roll on Deli because she is a barrel, so I had to be mindful of that.

Visual of how it all layers together:

Me on Deli (but before I put the bolster in the saddle pommel:

After I put the bolster in the pommel:

More shots of the "inner workings" of the saddle:

Showing the foam in the pad.

The panels can be peeled off the flexible frame.

Potential issues to be addressed or actual problems:

• I am heavier than the “maximum weight” of 175. Not much heavier – and given the diet I am now on (for specific health reasons other than losing weight) I’ll probably be 175 or less by the time the weather is nice enough for longer rides. Still. I will never be a lightweight and I have a mental block about the treeless + fat person issue.
• Her lower back was somewhat tender after our last ride (in the area she gets fatigued easily).
• MY lower back and crotch were also a bit sore after riding up the road. Again, it’s hard to say why. I still felt like I was being tipped forward sometimes so If I get this saddle – maybe a bigger bolster? Shim the front of the pad? Not sure. I don’t get any soreness when riding with the bareback pad, and I’ve done around 5 miles pretty regularly (before it started raining every day) with that. Related to this: I feel like I could sit more comfortably without the bucking rolls hitting me uncomfortably.
• The saddle did slide forward and slide back when we hit some minor hills. Not enough to make her fuss, but it was noticeable.

I’m concerned about the slight back tenderness today. Hard to tell if it was saddle related or because she was so tense and “up” for the whole of riding up the road. I also haven’t asked much of her dressage-wise for several months since we have not had a saddle. Still, we only went 4 miles. Can her back remain good for 25 if she’s iffy after 4? Her back didn’t feel tender like that riding 5 miles in the bareback pad, but she was tenser today (due to the weather/timing) and I asked her for more in the arena.

I would like to be able to use Thinline somehow since Deli does really well with that. I think Skito COULD make a treeless pad for this saddle, or I could add Thinline shims into the pad itself (or the panels!). There are lots of ways to adjust and self-modify this setup, which is a plus.

I tried putting our Thinline pad UNDER the Ghost pad, but Deli wasn’t a fan of the layered pads. I wonder how much a treeless pad is needed with the panels and a barrel-shaped horse? I should have tired just the Thinline in the arena but it didn’t occur to me till just now.

Otherwise I am seriously considering getting this model. There were lots of things to like and in general Deli seemed comfortable. She did her lovely power walk reliably without being nudged a lot, which is usually a sign she feels good. She certainly moved more freely than in our old dressage saddle! The pricing on these saddles is also very good – I could get one NOW. The other saddles I was considering (Trailwise, Alleghany, maaaayyybe Stonewall) would all be double the price of this saddle or more. And there is no guarantee they would work long-term either. Finding a treed saddle to fit her particular conformation has been difficult if not impossible so far.

One VERY note-able observation: when I first rode her in the arena when it was dry she picked up the canter easily. With the dressage saddle it was always a struggle in the arena. I thought it was just her but not I'm not so sure... I couldn't canter again after that because parts of the arena were semi-flooded and it was too slippery to canter at all.

It bears musing. I wonder if it's a good idea to get this so I at least have a saddle to RIDE in. If it does not work for Deli and I longer-term we can always sell it (like we would any saddle that did not work). I certainly recommend this saddle based on what I've seen so far.