Saddles

Sometime back in June we took the horses out for a ride.  It wasn't a particularly long ride, maybe four miles or so.  While on the ride I started noticing that my right knee felt like it was tweaked.  I thought it was just the combination of old injuries and old age and I figured the pain would end shortly since I do recover from injuries pretty quickly.  Though when we got home and I dismounted I nearly fell to the ground.  My knee was bad.

This injury caused me to limp for nearly two months.  To remedy it I got back on Msm with Glucosamine which takes at least a month to kick in. Finally by mid-August I was walking without a limp, however every time I got on my horse the pain would return for the duration of the ride.  I tried raising and lowering the right stirrup, but nothing helped.

The thing with western saddles is the stirrups hang in an unnatural position.  There is lots of leather that is in a constant battle to twist your leg.  My saddle is synthetic so it can't be trained to stay in a natural position for the rider.  It was time for a new saddle; so I bought a Tucker with irons.  I know, I can hear the horse people out there clutching their breath.  For you non horse people it's like saying, "My Ford Fiesta just didn't feel right so I bought a Mercedes."

Regardless, my first ride on the Tucker was the first painless ride I've had in months.