WOW Convert

 While Pyro is recovering from his respiratory infection, I want to ask if you have a moment to talk about our Lord and Savior, WOW Saddles. 

Pyro modeling his "good enough for now" adaptation of Missy's WOW saddle.

All jokes aside, trying to fit a young Paint/morgan cross with narrow shoulders, broad back, short rib cage, long lumbar spine, and little to no withers through growth spurts that leave him teetering between being downhill and level, all while he builds topline that makes his shape increasingly more flat front to back... has been an absolute nightmare for the past several years. This is a long post, so... saddle up.

His has a... challenging... conformation in more than one way.

As a rather unconventional cross (and therefore shape) Pyro has been hard to fit the entire time he has been under saddle. We've spent a good deal of time in a Brockamp bareback pad. The fact that I was able to ride a 2-year-old, playful rubber band bareback tells you all you need to know about the quality of those pads, but that's a story for another post. 

Riding in the Brockamp at Dancing Horse Farm as a 2.5 year old

I searched for a "Grow With Me" type saddle that would accommodate my plans for low level dressage and jumping, but nothing I found used was quite right. We ended up being stuck either bareback or in whichever western saddle that fit him best at the time while I kept struggling to bring him along in dressage. 

Out of desperation, I even tried to shim Missy's wide M. Toulouse jump saddle. It was unsuccessful. 

I found one of the few saddle fitters who service our area and had them out to assess the fit of my current saddles and give suggestions of what might suit Pyro. At this time I learned about the Loxley line of saddles, which are available with an adjustable tree. Their Foxhunter model is not marketed as an AP saddle, but it's a jump saddle with a deeper seat than most. I did some test rides, and, with the understanding that it could be adjusted as he grew both through gullet plate and wool flocking, I pulled the trigger on ordering a custom Loxley with the adjustable tree. 

This saddle was BEAUTIFUL, exactly as I envisioned for a young horse dream saddle. It also fit me like a glove, staying out of my way and allowing me to forget about it (as good equipment does) and just ride. Pyro seemed comfortable too, so we carried on with our baby horse dressage and eventually introduced jumping. 

A couple years older, figuring his body out

This saddle was our go-to for 2 full years, and during that time it would work well... until it didn't. As he regularly changed shape, I'd dutifully message the fitter to come adjust it for him. Unfortunately, it was like pulling teeth to get on their schedule. Since I was the only client in the area, it felt like I wasn't a priority, even though I had purchased this custom saddle through them. 

There were many sweaty bareback rides as I tried to keep up on his learning while his saddle was waiting to be refitted.

As you can imagine, this lead to a lot of frustration. I had this beautiful, expensive, custom saddle that I couldn't adjust myself and regularly couldn't use as Pyro changed shape. Meanwhile, a friend of a friend introduced my barnmates and me to WOW saddles. These modular saddles are easily adjustable, either by adding or removing air from the panels' front and rear air bags, or by completely swapping out parts. 

Missy patiently letting us measure her for a WOW saddle

The brand's gauge (plus some virtual assistance from a knowledgeable fitter) allowed us to easily spec out what components each horse would need if we were to build them a WOW. While still struggling with Pyro's Loxley, I built a WOW "retirement saddle" for Missy by sourcing used parts and putting the saddle together myself. 

She seemed to really like the Flair panels...

Even if we had to play with the front-to-back balance.

Fast forward to the latest round of Pyro changing shape, his saddle shimmying forward, contacting the fitter... contacting the fitter... reminding the fitter I work an 8-5 and can't haul in during the week... and finally getting on the fitter's schedule almost a month after I had first reached out. 

Meanwhile, Pyro got lots of ground work while we waited.

Once the fitting appointment rolled around, I was dismayed to hear that Pyro's shape had changed such that he was no longer within the bounds of what his custom saddle could do. As he built topline, his back lifted, making the curve of his back front to back more straight and flat rather than curved. This is a common occurrence as horses get more fit. It also rendered my custom saddle useless to us. 

(*cue internal screaming and pulling out hair*)

After getting to take a trip on the SDAA (shock/denial/anger/acceptance) wheel, I refocused my efforts on what I had available: Missy's WOW saddle. 

Baby's first dressage saddle

When I sourced used parts for Missy, I obtained a few extra parts, ones that I was able to swap out to make something close to what the gauge indicated Pyro needed. The "wrong" parts meant that the saddle was unbalanced front to back, but I was able to accommodate that by adjusting the air in the panels. 

Pitching my pelvis forward since it was cantle high

Despite me being unbalanced, Pyro seemed very comfortable

As expected with the Flair, good even contact

I like where it sits on him, even with not quite perfect parts.

After a couple rides of tinkering with the air, both Pyro and I were pretty darn happy and comfortable!

Much more balanced

The saddle stayed behind his shoulder, and I like the angle the girth lays.

We were blessed by a visit from the WOW Saddle Fairy (our friend who originally introduced us to them), who dropped off one more "correct" part for Pyro. I haven't gotten to swap the new headplate in due to Pyro's illness, but I look forward to tinkering with it, and I know that what we have currently WORKS.

The WOW Saddle Fairy also dropped off our very own gauge for the barn!

As someone who is happy to tinker with equipment, being empowered to work on, adjust, and change my own saddle is a welcome experience. My husband (a mechanical engineer) says I would've made a fine engineer myself, so working on a saddle like this comes easily to me. It's as simple as using the gauge to measure, a screw driver to remove and replace a few bolts, or a pump and valve to adjust the air in the panels. I can easily brainstorm with my barnmates and other local WOW users, and we can get virtual support from the fitter who helped us do the initial measurements. Exploration and inventiveness are encouraged with this ecosystem. It's a refreshing changed after my experience with the Loxley.  I'm officially a WOW convert, at least for me and my ponies.