Appy Days & Saddle Fitting.

Some cuteness to bring some warmth to out hearts in this cold, white weather.
Pally @ 3days old.

Not much as happened as far as riding goes this week. The deep freeze has finally taken it's grip on Ontario, Canada (AKA -20*c+), meaning my wimpery has taken hold of me and I have chosen my cozy sectional and snuggy over frost covered equine's. Sorry Pally-loma but you can stay snuggled in your stall and your own snuggy this week.

Saturday.
I did, however, make it out on Saturday and had a fabulous jump school with Pally.
I had set up the below for the day thinking I needed to work more on waiting with my body and releasing with my hands and not disturbing the pace in attempt to make the hard turns required for jumping in the indoor. While it is not uber tiny, it is awkward.
Refreshingly, all the flatwork that I have been doing with Pal these last few weeks, focusing my attention on balance and forward into collection have lended a little credit to Paloma's strength over fences. When I didn't muss with the pace and I allowed a swoopy, not too deep corner compared to my usual roll back turn that I feel is needed for indoor jump schools, I ended up receiving a balanced (behind), forward jump that started from the rock and push in the haunches, rather than Pal's typically quick and tight front end response and the following flat nose dive feeling.
Our consistency in achieving this tracking right failed, for the most part. The combination of jumping on the diagonal, right to left, paired with Pal's deep want to swap leads, (hullo weak side), ended in a sliding stop due to a unbelievably deep distance, which I couldn't blame her for. I didn't help, she didn't find a distance.
Although, we fixed it and moved on and got a couple 'good' fences, we never got the 'it' feeling that occurred the other direction. Baby steps right?

Tuesday.
Anyone else ever heard the saying, 'never Google your symptoms, you may just be dead already'?
Hmm yeap, so I Googled, 'CAIR saddle fit issues'. One wouldn't believe the number of mixed feelings on the Cair saddle systems!
While I haven't had any obvious saddle fit issues and no glaringly negative responses from Paloma, I always wonder why my bareback rides begin with an instantly soft backed and engaged horse, yet it takes a good 15-20 minutes to begin to receive this feeling with a saddle. With the exception of my old Kieffer cutback dressage saddle that I sold back a few years ago in order to afford my current saddle. (Plus, DH didn't understand why I needed a saddle collection. Men!)
Best solution to resolve my spinning mind, get a saddle fitter out.
I emailed Lori, my local go-to for tack deals and saddle fit, on Friday and got an instant response offering to meet me at the barn with the new stuff I ordered, more on my new goodies another time, and take a look at my saddle for the big 'ol price of zippo! God I love this lady!

Lori had never actually seen Pal but within two minutes of quiet inspection she told me why I am feeling some inconsistencies, what type of fit Pal needs and how to fix it.

Problem numero uno- Tree too narrow.
Widen the tree to an extra wide to achieve a bit more panel contact with the back, yup, Pal has zero wither and a round shoulder muscle. Then shim my half pad around the shoulder with the thin shim to fill in the empty space.

Problem numero dos- Static killing the messages.
CAIR is more or less a tiny air bag, while it protects the horses back from impact from the rider, it also dulls the messages stemming from my seat and the upper portion of my thigh. From what she is hearing, Paloma is responding to my seat when riding bareback and when in the Kieffer, which are saddles that are known for clear communication. Therefore, she is actually a very sensitive horse but she can't 'hear' me through the CAIR panels. Try shouting through a sound proofed wall.

So, in her opinion, she likes the CAIR concept. It protects the horses back from impact and soreness from inexperienced seats but for more experienced riders it is not the best option.
Plus side though, the saddle fit her perfectly after tiny tweaks. Despite the numerous drool worthy saddles she kept pulling out of her trunk, we couldn't find a better fit.

BEST Solution?
Ditch the CAIR and restuff.

Problem numero tres. 
Some of the Bates saddles cannot be re stuffed properly. So where does mine fall?
Do I chance the potential sacrifice of my saddle in hopes I may be granted reprieve from the radio silence?
Hmmm.... sounds a bit too religious and chancy for my liking.