Ask an Expert    Tack Halter Alternative       Back in the Saddle       Saddle Shopping Q. I've always used a nylon web halter on my horses. I see more and more nylon rope halters in use and wonder why they have become so popular. What are their advantages? Can I make my own? A. Stuart Derochie of Frontier Western Shop in Claresholm, Alberta, provided this answer: Good question - you are right, there are a lot of people switching over! First, I should point out that there are different types of tied rope halters on the market. They vary in quality as well as in diameter and stiffness. Many leading trainers prefer 1/4 to 5/16 inch size rope that has a bit of stiffness to it. The stiffness helps keep the halter open when putting it on the nose and the size keeps it from being too bulky. The surface area of the rope is smaller than one inch nylon web and this, combined with the knots, offer a more concentrated pressure on the head, especially over the poll area. When the horse is cued to move forward, he is generally more responsive, giving to the pressure. Another advantage of the rope halter is that it is extremely strong and has no hardware to break. Not only does it discourage a horse from pulling back because of the pressure, but a good one won't break, so if a horse does test it, he won't get free and think he should give it a try every time he is tied up. The most common problem I see with rope halters is that people do not do them up correctly. To keep the halter from pulling loose, you must tie a simple knot (a half-hitch) on the loop or eye and not on the tail. It is possible to make a rope halter yourself. You must use the proper rope, know where the knots go, and know how to build them. You can't buy the right rope as cheaply as you can buy a made up halter, as manufacturers buy the rope in bulk. Still if you want to try making one, there are diagrams showing how in the Febuary 2001 issue of Western Horse Review, page 31. Back to Top Q. My horse and I have had a couple of months of down time and I'd like to get back in the saddle soon, but I'm dreading the initial pain - when I have trouble walking normally after a half hour on my horse. As I get older, I find it takes longer to get back into shape after taking a winter break. Are there some exercises I can do that will get me through the first rides without the usual discomfort? A. Vicky, Bob, and Ed of Raven Physical Therapy (High River, Okotoks, and Nanton, Alberta) provided us with this answer to your question: You have hit on an issue that none of us, regardless of our chosen activities, can afford to ignore. The tendency to have difficulty restarting activities after periods of down time will only worsen as you get older. The major causes of this are the decreases in muscle flexibility and the gradual loss of muscle strength associated with aging. While everyone should have a plan to deal with down time from their chosen physical activities, the risk of pain and injury if you start back "cold turkey" increases dramatically after you hit 30. The best solution is to avoid the down time. Exercise a friend's horse if yours is unavailable and get access to a riding arena or brave the cold on a regular basis in the winter. However, if the down time is unavoidable, you can reduce both the pain and the risk of injury by coupling a stretch and strength maintenance program with a sensible start-up schedule. The muscles used most when riding are the muscles of the inner thigh, calf, trunk and buttocks. Exercises using a large beach ball will help maintain muscle flexibility and strength during a lay-off (Refer to Western Horse Review's March 2001 issue for instructions and photos of excercises). These exercises are also valuable as part of your year round training program to improve riding performance. The entire program should be done a minimum of three times a week but daily would be even better. If you don't have a ball you can mimic the stance in the pictures or even go as far as setting your saddle up on a barrel of some description and working on that. When it is time to resume riding, keep the duration of your initial rides to about 25% of the last sessions on that horse before the break. Stretches 4 and 5 can be used following the first few workouts to reduce thigh and calf soreness. Increase the duration or intensity of your rides by approximately 10% each time you (and your horse) were pain free after the previous ride. The better job you have done with your maintenance program, the quicker you will be back to painless, full length, full intensity riding. Back to Top Q. I'm ready to buy a good saddle and I've started looking around and talking to retailers about what would be best for the type of riding I'm doing and hope to do in the future. One of the issues that is confusing for me is the different trees available - wood, plastic, fiberglass, bullhide, rawhide and even treeless are some of the options I've come across. How does the tree material effect the performance of the saddle? What are the pros and cons of each type of tree? Is one tree superior to the others? A. Master saddle maker Ken Cameron, who operates K.C. Saddlery and Western Wear in Red Deer, Alberta, tackled this question: To answer your question completely is very complex. Saddle buyers often have their own reasons for preferring one type of tree to another, but I have found that it usually works like this: The first saddle a person buys costs about $800 because the buyer is new to horses and not sure how serious they will be about riding. The second saddle, in the $1,800 range, is purchased because the person is enjoying riding and starts to see that their saddle doesn't fit their horse all that well and maybe they want something that fits them better too. The third saddle is in the $2,400 range, as the person decides to concentrate on one event - team penning, barrel racing, roping, western pleasure, trail, cutting or reining. They may also like the colour better. The fourth saddle costs around $3,000 and comes about because the rider is having a little trouble getting himself and his horse in sync. He has decided to shop a little harder and wants the style, function, decoration, colour, seat length and maybe the type of horn he likes. He wants a custom saddle, but can't see paying the price, so buys a "production line" custom saddle. The fifth saddle is purchased at the point when the rider realizes how much there is to a good saddle. The fifth saddle is the true custom saddle, with a custom tree made to fit the rider's preferred type of horse or in some cases a particular horse. The tree is made to fit the rider in seat length and width, in cantle width, height, and dish, in fork shape, width, and height, in horn style, height and diameter. It has a custom ground seat to fit the buyer's body features and custom fenders to fit his inseam and leg size. The weight, decoration, colour, brand of leather, sheepskin, stirrups, conches, silver, padded seat, skirt shape, rear cinch, latigos, cinch, etc. are made to taste. Now, to relate the type of tree to the grade of saddle, consider the wholesale price of trees. A wood tree, usually knot-free pine, costs $40 to $65. They are lightweight and have some flexibility. Some are covered with cheesecloth because they have been treated with a wood preservative. A cheesecloth covered wood tree with rawhide on the lower corners of the bars costs about $160. The rawhide helps to prevent the lower area from cracking. Straight wood is not used these days because of cost, difficulty achieving uniformity, and lack of durability. A wood tree covered with light fiberglass costs $175. The fiberglass strengthens the whole tree to a degree. Light to medium fiberglass was used extensively from 1960 to 1975 but is seldom used today because durability was not the best and other materials (ralide) beats it for durability, price and uniformity. A wood tree covered with heavy fiberglass costs from $395 to 500. Heavy fiberglass can make the wood almost impossible to break. A few custom shops use these special trees because of their close contact to the horse and their durability. A wood tree covered with rawhide (cowhide) runs about $335. The rawhide creates a hard shell over the wood, giving it strength and durability with some flexibility. A "bullhide" (usually heavy cowhide) covered wood tree is very similar, but has a little extra strength that is needed by heavy ropers. These also cost about $335. A step up from the run-of-the-mill rawhide or bullhide tree is a rawhide covered wood tree hand made by a custom saddlery, costing about $500. Rawhide trees have been the most successful trees produced over the past 150 years. Then there are molded plastic, or ralide trees, costing $35-90. These trees beat everything on price and allow assembly line uniformity and the use of precut parts. Ralide trees are used in most assembly line saddles; almost every saddle under $2,000 has one. (Durability is a question in my mind. Because we do a lot of complex repairs, I most likely see more broken ralide trees than most shops or stores. We charge $350 in labor and materials to replace a tree.) Molded rubber trees are an experimental development that offer assembly line uniformity combined with flexibility. This material may have some potential and may become more popular as it is perfected. (In my mind there may be a problem with them sending the heavy pressure right through to the horse's back from where the load is situated, rather than distributing the load over the entire surface of the back.) A "treeless" saddle has a fork - no-tree-cantle base that maximizes flexibility and costs about $95. Because treeless saddles do not restrict the horse's movement in any way, they appeal to some special interest groups. (However, they too have a drawback in that they may not distribute the weight over a large enough surface area.) So, the type of tree that you should look for is one that is safe and functional and that allows the specific style and use you have in mind. The saddle industry is very, very competitive. The value of a saddle directly reflects the cost of the materials used, plus labor/manufacturing, retailing and marketing costs. Cheaper saddles mean cheaper labor and material costs. You get what you pay for. Saddle buying tips for the wise: (1) Make sure it fits. Nothing is more important. Ask if the shop will take it back if it doesn't fit. (2) Buy a saddle that fits your budget and is justifiable in terms of how much riding you do. (3) Make sure you buy something that you can resell to recoup your investment. Ask what your saddle will be worth if you bring it back in a year to trade it in. Compromised merchandise has a lot of depreciation. On resale you are expected to lose some money. (4) Ask about service. Some stores won't service what they sell. If a saddle shop won't stand behind what they sell - walk. Back to Top IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: At westernhorsereview.com our 'Ask an Expert' page is not intended to replace diagnosis or treatment of your horse by your veterinarian or other professionals; westernhorsereview.com does not assume any legal responsibilty.