THE CORRECTOR BY LEN BROWN, SADDLE FIT,

THE CORRECTOR BY LEN BROWN, SADDLE FIT, BY THE MAN THAT STARTED IT ALL!
THE SADDLE-FITTING MYTH! BRIDGING, DRY SPOTS, LOIN RUBBING & MORE!
You pull the saddle and there's a big DRY SPOT in the Mid-Back, it must be Bridging?
I get call and emails every day: "My saddle is BRIDGING! My Vet, Trainer, and/or Chiropractor looked
at my saddle on my horse and said, it's Bridging. They showed me where there's space at the low point of the
back under my saddle. They said my horse is sore in the withers and loin, and I have Bridging! When I take
off my pad it's dirty on the ends, but clean in the center! I have Bridging!"
Are you applying the simple logic above in accessing your saddle problems? If you are running out to
have your saddle RE-FLOCKED, or buying a Pad with Shims in the Center, or GETTING A NEW SADDLE
THAT FITS DOWN INTO THE CENTER BACK?...DON'T.
NONE OF THE ABOVE ARE EXAMPLES OF "BRIDGING"!
What I'm going to tell you about saddles is that most of todays beliefs about saddling are
INCORRECT. call it "GROUP THINK" if you'd like! The logical and simple answer everyone in the
industry is using must be the way it is?
Because of "GROUP THINK": Saddlefitting Gadgets are sold with the ASSUMPTION THAT: the horse's
back is a stationary object. Saddles are often sold and fitted using the same philosophy. It is as if; the blind
are all feeling the stationary horse: by using computer sensor pads, cookie dough blankets, back/tree gauges,
and sample trees for you to set on your horse. What else is there for you to do IF YOUR HORSE IS SORE?
None of these assumptions or gadgets are based on history, physics, NOR the moving horse with rider and
saddle ON!, nor the ULTIMATE! "SIMPLY PALPATING THE HORSE TO SEE IF HE IS SORE,
WHERE, TO WHAT DEGREE AND HOW LONG." I demonstrated palpating techniques and deep pressure
massage for the "sore horse clinics" I did at: Equine Fairs, for groups of Veterinarians in Europe, at two U.S.
University's Veterinary Equine Sciences Departments, and privately sponsored clinics in the U.S., Canada,
and four European Countries. I participated in these during the late 1980's and 90's. I was also the first to do
ads on saddling problems, "SADDLE FIT" clinics, saddling booklets published by the hundreds of thousands,
and I was the first to demand recognition of the fact that saddles were inherently harmful to horses. I fought
the industry at a very high price.
Before the above, a young lady named Lisa Dawes and myself had first: ridden horseback for 3,000 miles
thru 6 western states in 1982 with successful saddling, shoeing, and packing 3 of the 5 horses. This was Nonstop, no support vehicles, living outdoors for 8 months with these animals as our only transportation. They
came home in better shape than they started in. We rode, never did we get off and lead the horses.
Not one lost shoe, no lameness, and all saddling problems fixed in-route was our claim to success. I was
made a member of the American Farrier's Association a year after this trip. I then started the world's largest
custom saddlery with a patented system for protecting the horse. Still disillusioned with my FLEX PANEL
SYSTEM, after building 25,000 English & Western custom saddles and my own saddletree company over
17years, I shut down the OrthoFlex Saddle Company Inc. in 2001. (It wasn't worth a chapter 11 Reorganization Bankruptcy) With my 23 years of experience, I started development of a new system to make
saddles work "for the horse" in 2003. This system was separate of a saddle, replaced the saddlepad, and
was designed to work with any saddletree on any horse.
Incorrectly, I made some of the assumptions given as examples above in the 1st 10 years of my quest to
fix the problems of saddling "for the horse".
One of the things I learned in this journey is:
The best looking FIT is the worst case scenario for the horse. Where-as, the worst looking FIT of a hundred
year old saddle is much better for the horse than what's out there today.
In doing SORE HORSE CLINICS in the 80's and later, I always asked my audience to please remove the
word "FIT" from their vocabulary and replace it with "WORK" when speaking of horse and saddles at the
same time. I disliked the term Saddle-Fit Clinic but that's what people understood and it was hard to get away
from.
Is it possible to fit a horse with a saddle? Certainly and there are people out there that try to do this for a
living!
After all my experience, I will state the following:
"The only way to fit a western saddle to A HORSE, is to ride the bare tree ON THE HORSE TO BE
FITTED". This must be done with 1/2" to 3/4" of felt cut & glued to bars to simulate later leather & fleece of
a finished saddle. There also should be rigging and stirrup straps attached and the shaped ground seat installed
on this tree you are to ride.
A SMALL AMOUNT OF ROOM SO BACK
CAN LIFT IS NEEDED!
IF THERE'S CONTACT IN THE CENTER
NOW, IT'S A ROCKING CHAIR LATER~!
GUT TIGHTENED AND CONTACT
IS PROVIDED VIA HORSE!
After riding you do the following to get the best results, viewing each change one at a time while riding:
Adjust Rigging position to hold the saddle where desired on the horse, JUST BACK OF THE
SHOUDLERS.
Shape the ground seat to balance the rider on this given horse. This must be checked while riding. It changes
completely because of the horse's back lifting or rounding when carrying the rider.
Shape the seat and adjust stirrup mounting position for rider comfort, leather shim the bars to give more
even pressures front to rear (that you can only observe when riding).
Cut to shape and glue felt on the bars. It must equal the thickness of your intended pad plus the skirt's
leather thickness in finished saddle. "If this isn't done right at this time, the finished thicker skirts/padding..
etc. changes the balance of the ground seat that you worked on earlier.
If you see problems with extreme pressure to the horse that you can view while riding or from small dry
spots after, this is the time to re-shape the bars with a shims material such as leather, or the equivalent, to
make the shape work for the horse. These 4 steps are what I did for my 3,000 mile trip saddle to work. It
worked well enough to not have a white hair on my black horse after 8 months of continual riding. (I also
included making the skirts a full 5/8ths inch thick and mounting them with the Tie strings). That let them
swivel to change angle as the hose moved.) I later skived those skirts thin where they contacted the gullet of
the fork. That slopped the pressure line hurting my horse that I didn't find until 800 miles of riding.
5. If you can't do the above successfully for rider and horse to be fitted, then you get a different tree
that you think will be better and start the process all over again.
NO ONE has made the traditional saddle work for the horse! I base this claim on studying 1400 years of
history and 26 years of the following experience:
Making and modifying 4 saddles for a 3000 mi horseback trek with 5 horses in 1982. Designing the OrthoFlex systems and building the company into a $6 Million a year business. All of this was about trying to make
saddles "WORK". for the horse. After 3 saddle patents & 25,000 saddles, I finally gave up on the Flex Panel
system & saddle in 2001. I went about designing a device separate of the saddle to make any saddle work on
any horse or Mule. I now build and market the result; a device called "The CorrecTOR".
Now let's start with the MAJOR MISCONCEPTIONS about SADDLING:
Riders see this and think they have "BRIDGING"!
THIS IS GOOD SADDLING, BACK UP! MOVEMENT ON ENDS WHERE HORSE
MOVES MOST! What do you expect?
GAITED HORSE - "ROCKING CHAIR
SADDLE" CAUSED THIS!
THIS ROCKING TREE WILL BE TWICE AS
BAD WHEN RIDING
HORSE BECOMES "PISSY" WITH THIS TYPE
SADDLE, TOO CURVED IN BARS.
ORTHO TREES ARE DESIGNED TO ALLOW
ROOM FOR PANELS TO MOVE, COPIED BY
TREEMAKERS AS GAITED TREES, ETC
1. Bridging is the most common of these and is based on having a dry middle of the horse's back while the
very front and rear area of the animal are sweated up and sensitive to the touch. Often a roaning of white in
the wither / shoulder area shows up later on. Simple logic tells the Rider that they have "too much
Pressure" front and rear and not enough contact in the middle of the back. They think their saddle is
BRIDGING! The real problem is just the opposite. A DRY AREA IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BACK IS
NOT LACK OF CONTACT!
Riders and saddlers look at the saddle on the horse while standing and see this pressure at the front of the
bars. With the rider aboard it shows pressure at front and rear of the tree bars (as it should). When the horse
starts to walk, with the rider onboard, the back comes up 1 to 2 inches in the middle and the contact is then
transferred to the middle of the back.
With most of today's saddles, the bars are quite curved and/or flared, thus causing a "Rocking Chair'
effect when riding the horse. You should see sweat at the front and rear of the horse or pad after riding for
short periods. These are the areas of most movement under saddle and the friction creates heat and sweat, then
dirt follows. Reading clean pads or a test sheet after riding only tells you where the horse is moving most!
(that tells nothing about saddle-fit) Today's Saddles are too wide when used behind the shoulders. Therefore
they tend to drop down in front and tilt the rider forward as the back comes up. Double padding raises the
saddle 50% more in front than rear but brings with it pinching at withers or rolling on a round back. The
endeavor of trying to pad up a saddle that doesn't "WORK" is a CATCH 22. You are dammed if you do, and
dammed if you don't!
A LACK OF CONTACT TO THE SADDLE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HORSE'S BACK ONLY
OCCURS MOMENTARILY WHEN RIDING AT SPEED OR BENDING & TURNING. BRIDGING
IS A MYTH THAT SELLS MILLIONS IN NEW SADDLES THAT ARE WORSE FOR THE HORSE
THAN THE ONES THEY REPLACED.
Regular riding with a too-curved saddle and the horse's behavior deteriorates after a couple of weeks. This
type of Soring is rarely visible in the middle of the back, but can be detected by palpating slowly with firm
pressure. When I was saddling police horses around the world, every saddle fitted, via a mold, for a dropped
back was returned within 30 days to have the tree bar's center shims removed because of soring in the middle
of the horse's back.
The behavior from this is what I term "Pissy"; wringing of the tail, dancing around, head tossing, silly or
bad behavior in general that wasn't there before the new "wonder saddle". Police departments knew there was
a problem, they knew their horses. After enough of these custom fitted to a mold, curved bar trees, I
had the Police department that thought they had-to-have a special cuved bar tree to call a departement that
had already been thru this "Logical Saddling Error". I never did any more shimming of the tree in the center
while I owned OrthoFlex Saddle Co. Inc.
THIS SADDLE IS A ROCKING CHAIR BEFORE RIDING!
IT TOOK FRONT & REAR SHIMS TO LET THIS HORSE LIFT IT'S BACK. BARS TOO
CURVED!
DRY SPOT THAT'S NOT GOOD; SADDLE
TOO FAR FORWARD!
SMALL ENOUGH TO BE HIGH PRESSURE,
AREA OF BARS BEHIND FORK. "THE
SQUEEZE"
2. DRY SPOTS mean I have pressure points and show ILL FIT ? I have seen customers more concerned
about eliminating Dry SPOTS than anything else. DRY SPOTS DO NOT ALWAYS MEAN YOU HAVE
PRESSURE POINTS ! The lowest point of the back behind the withers is at Thoracic Vertebrae 7&8. This is
the part of the back with most up and down movement. Side-to-side movement of the vertebral column
increases as you move away from this center of movement.
The back lifts most at this point and comes up to the saddle if not locked down due to severe contraction
of the back from direct pain. Unless riding at speed, DRY spots the size of your open hand or larger, on
either side of T/7&8, is an indication of good saddling and riding. Large dry spots are areas of firm contact
and no movement and are most often a positive sign.
Getting back to basics: Figure Pounds Per Square Inch and you'll know a person isn't heavy enough to
cause pressure sores over an area this large.
A dry spot on one side of the wither is the horse dropping the saddle to his NON-LEAD SIDE, not a
crooked saddle or rider! (Read page 6 on thecorrector.net to learn about this indepth.)
Once skin is repeatedly damaged do not expect dry areas to immediately start sweating just because you
removed the pressure at that spot.
Those dry spots on the withers may be permanent or not sweat for months after rectifying the initial saddling
problems. AS I SAY ON MY WEBSITE: "BRING ALONG A CRYSTAL BALL IF YOU ARE INTO
READING DRY SPOTS". Dry spots 4 inches or smaller on both sides of the withers is a good indication of
EXCESS tree bar PRESSURE............RECCOMMENDATION: Palpate your horse for soreness every time
before you saddle up and forget chasing every dry spot.
DRY SPOT IS OLD DAMAGE!
WON'T GO AWAY SOON.
A LEVEL BACK SADDLES USED TO
FORWARD, NOT SORE! OLD
DAMAGE.
TREE TOO WIDE CAN CAUSE DRY SPOTS FROM ORTHO TREE ABOVE WILL CAUSE THIS TYPE
HI PRESSURE
WHITE HAIR.
IF FOOTOF BARS DON'T CONTACT HORSE
DOWN LOW IT'S ALL "PINCH" ABOVE.
GAITED & OTHER TREES COPIED FROM ORTHO
FLEX CAUSE ROCKING AS ON THIS HORSE!
3. White HAIR OR ROANING OF WHITE IS A PRESSURE PROBLEM? White roaning is a history of
fluid under the skin. Solid white hair is where it was slipped in more serious galling and pressure. Roaning of
white is not a pressure problem, 1st it is one of movement, 2nd it is mild pressure. Enough heat from friction
and said pressure causes fluid under the skin. That is where you see roaning. This roaning can disappear with
a coat change if you make necessary changes in saddling. Stirrup strap swing can cause white hair if the
saddle isn't constructed properly to protect from friction to the horse in the upper strap area. Narrow straps
also add to this problem as do riders that stand the stirrups or swing their legs. Some Endurance riders &
most Competitive trail riders ride Two Point and they still brag about it. (The detrimental effects of such to
the horse takes most of a book.) When high pressures happen under a saddle for a long enough time, you
won't see white hair. The skin will slough off and you'll have an open sore on your horse. If your horse has
pink skin be sure to keep it protected from the UV's as it is healing. Bacon Grease is great for keeping flies
out and healing while toughtening the skin. Seldom is pressure isolated from friction under a saddle on a
moving horse's back. Mainly the sides of the withers is where pressure alone can do the damage. Then
infection often sets in. If it runs under the scapula, it is life threatening "FISTULA".
WHITE HAIR FROM TREE BAR AND SKIRT!
ANY CONTACT WILL CAUSE THIS EVEN
THRU PADDING!
REAR WHITE IS BAR, FRONT WAS VERY
TIGHT SKIRTING LEATHER.
IF YOU HAVE CLEARANCE WHEN RIDING,
YOU'LL NOT HAVE THIS! RUN LATIGO
STRAP UNDER GULLET TO CHECK!
4. You must have 3 FINGERS CLEARANCE above the WITHERS? As John Lyons once pointed out to me
when fitting ZIP with his first OrthoFlex tree, "A 1/4" or quarter mile, it's all AIR". This 2 or 3 fingers
clearance thing started by someone writing a magazine article. (The well known standard in saddling:
"1.5 lbs P.S.I. or more causes damage deep in a horse's muscle tissue!", was started the same way by the
medical editor of Equus in an article on saddling. When cornered by another writer he admitted to "Pulling the
figure out of the Air". Welcome to the all helpful world of horse magazines and
unedited and unsubstantiated world of equine experts in print.)
If the saddle is not touching the top of the withers, or pad on them, when riding, YOU HAVE NO
PROBLEM.
This mandated clearance has nothing to do with saddle Balance or "FIT". On the other hand, BALANCE OF
THE SEAT FOR THE RIDER IS VERY IMPORTANT! NOTHING WILL FUNCTION FOR THE HORSE
WITHOUT A BALANCED SEAT FOR THE RIDER. YOU CAN ONLY CHECK BALANCE WHILE
RIDING and by FEEL. Throw away your level that some saddle fitting articles tell you to use to "Balance
your saddle" while the horse is standing still. It all changes when the back comes up as you are riding.
TALK ABOUT WHITE HAIR, NOW ABOUT TREELESS!
YOU CAN'T BALANCE RIDER IN A TREELESS SADDLE! RIDER TOO FORWARD,
WHITE SHOWS FLUID UNDER SKIN!
5. TREELESS or FLEXTREE SADDLES will solve my saddling problems? Both of these concepts are
hundreds to thousands of years old. The Treeless saddle ridden by the American Indians was a leather pad
with Panels stuffed with hair or whatever was handy. They prevented contact to the horse's spine. Stirrups
were attached to the leather flap and were only used when riding at a walk to rest the feet. When riding at
speed they leaned forward and picked up their stirrups and held them back with their moccasined toes. There
was no pressure in the stirrup at speed nor any strap pressure across the spine. A breast collar and crupper
were used as well as a girth to stabilize the saddle. These were better for the horse than the way treeless are
made and ridden today!
The ZENITH of Saddling was reached in England with the FLEXTREE ENGLISH SADDLE. My friend, the
historian and Master Saddler, Barry Swain told me how these saddles were made. Nothing has been built like
them since. Firm generous Stuffed Panels and a hand stuffed seat were in these saddles. The tree's seat could
flex concave or convex and allowed the horse to round his back. Pressure was not carried throughout the tree
because of the flexible bars in the seat area. A riding style called "THE CHAIR SEAT" was used to keep
Stirrup pressure down and protect the horse by making the rider move with the horse and stay in the seat.
It never worked well for jumping. Caprilli and later his student Count Elias Toptani, who won major
jumping events with the Forward style jumping Seat changed English Saddling Forever. The first Toptani
type saddles were made with the webbed seat and rigid trees like saddles still in production today. It made a
rigid tree and a cheaper saddle. The modern style English saddle was born as well as people riding saddles too
far forward. This forward seat turned into a "forward saddle". Not intended by Caprilli or Toptani his
student. They never put the saddle up over the horse's shoulders as has been done ever since. A few Europeans
don't do this when jumping, Americans are the worst. (Now even their western saddles are made to ride over
the horse's shoulders.)
6. Any pressure over 1&1/2 pounds per square inch will cause tissue damage in my horse? This figure
was taken as fact after published in a respected horse magazine in an article written by a Veterianrian on staff
in the 1980's. later when confronted he addmitted to my wife' "pulling that figure out of the AIR". (he made it
up) Computer sensor pads and a small industry was developed on this HOT AIR. There are no figures or
studies that have determined what pressure it takes, or for how long it has to be present, to cause deep tissue
damage in the muscles of the horse's back. I have shown that pressures over 12 P.S.I. at a gallop caused no
discomfort to my Grey in his wither/shouder area.
Want to know how to test pressures per square inch under your saddle? You can't do much with a
$20,000 computer sensor pad. They only measure pressures accurately up to 4 psi. That's according to the
original inventor of the sensor pad. The knockoff's from Canada claim to measure higher but I don't believe
that horseshoer for a minute.
I've had both unit's put under Ortho-Flex. I couldn't tell you anything from the limited data available. Only
that in most cases the info was manipulated by the operator. The first time pressures were measured by the
inventor and they showed good. That was stationary. One lady vet did it in a clinic and they were manipulated
just to make her "dog & pony show" look good. We have solid evidence of such.
To measure pressures get some bubble wrap, preferrably large bubbles. Get a board that is 1" X 1".
Get a scale, bathroom will do, and slowly press the board onto a bubble. Watch the pressure at which the
bubble breaks. You'll find the different colors of bubble wrap will break at different pressures: 2/3, 6/7,
10/12, Pounds per square inch.
Then get some spray adhesive at Wally world. It works like a sticky note adhesive if you get the right
kind. Spray the Bubble Wrap and then a 1/2" thick felt pad, stick together and you have a Pressure sensor pad
better than the Cookie Dough or Computer pads! This pad has normal pad thicknes which compares apples to
apples. PUT THE BUBBLE WRAP AGAINST THE HORSE. It gives you air channels and a real AIR
PAD. You can now track pressures, better than the "experts", and at what gaits or speeds those
pressures occur. That's because you can hear the bubbles break while you're riding. Then palpate your
horse where the bubbles broke after removing your new Pressure Sensor test pad. Riding this pad has done
what? It has relieved the highest areas of pressure so it is reduced in that area. I tried to sell these to the
horseworld in the mid 1990's. Few sold, so I dropped it. Just make your own if you want. The Cookie dough
pad tells you almost nothing. IN ALL OF THIS, PALPATING YOUR HORSE THE NEXT DAY IS THE
ONLY WAY TO DETERMINE IF YOUR SADDLE IS WORKING !! Regards, Len
MOST "WIDE" TREES ARE FLATTENED IN A COMBO OF PRESSURE AND FRICTION,
ANGLE - NOT WIDE
ONE RIDE!
MOST WIDE TREES CARRY MORE PRESSURE SAM TAYLOR OF COLEMAN TX. HAD
IN FRONT AND ARE "ALL PINCH"
SORES HEAL WHILE USING CORRECTOR!
7. A wide tree will STOP PINCHING at my horse's WITHERS? Only a few custom Western saddle
makers ACTUALLY make a WIDE TREE. Most, like the Full-Quarter-Horse-Bar TREES, and all English
"WIDE" Trees, are just flattened in the angle of the bars. Only the lower points of the Bars are widened. They
are turned out by adjusting the angle of the fork mating surface. English trees are not bent as sharply at the
head when manufactured.
If the point or foot of the bar doesn't carry weight below the horse's withers, on the upper ribcage, IT'S ALL
PINCH (ABOVE), at the TOP OF THE BARS OR PANELS!
This is one of> THE MOST PREVALENT PROBLEMS IN SADDLING TODAY! When these bars are
turned out.... the curve front-to-rear is simultaneously increased and you're back to "ROCKING" as well as
pinching as I mentioned at the first fo this article.
WHY ARE MOST SADDLES BUILT THIS WAY? Manufacturers are doing this to keep from having to
make NEW: fork patterns, ground seat patterns, cantle patterns, and all new Leather patterns for the saddle.
(Welcome to the Saddle World.) In other words, they are too CHEAP to make a wide saddle in most
instances. Unless a more expensive type of tree is used, the riders seat would be wider as the tree is widened.
Riders don't like that, so nobody mention that wide saddles aren't really wide saddles, please.
A wide tree or flared bar tree has to be well up over the shoudlers to keep from tilting the rider's seat
downhill. Saddles don't WORK for the horse when used with the shoudlers grinding away under the bars.
Moving a saddle behind the shoulders an inch or so requires a narrower Fork to prevent excess pressure on the
sides of the withers. Built....JUST LIKE THE SADDLES OF A HUNDRED YEARS AGO; that the
SATURDAY NIGHT COWBOYS ABANDONED IN THE 1960s & on.
Build a Short saddle with Narrow gullet, straight bars, with short flare, little rise to the seat, a 3/4ths rigging
and most of the saddling problems you see today would disappear.
Only thin pads can be used with the SADDLE of YESTERDAY that I just described. Even then, 7 horses
per cowboy were necessary for a CATTLE DRIVE. Changing horses everyday let them ride a few hundred
miles to get the cattle to market in Kansas. Saddling problems never allowed for just one or two horses per
cowboy.
The first saddle I made let me rider over 3000 miles thru 6 states in 1982 without one white hair on my
black horse. He still wasn't really comfortable until I went beyond typical saddle construction after that trip.
It's been a long journey. First 25,000 saddles and now thousands of The Corrector devices, all just to
overcome the 1400 year old problem of "SADDLE-FIT".
Regards, Len Brown
TYPICAL WEST SADDLE POSITIONING, 4" OVER SHOULDERS
TIE-DOWN TO TIGHT, TREE TOO WIDE & WAY FORWARD THEN DOUBLE
PADDED: ALL TO BALANCE RIDER!
THE "WATSON PANEL PINCH" WRONG
ANGLE & WIDE TREE!
ANY SADDLE OR SYSTEM CAN PINCH
WHEN THE WIDTH & ANGLE DON'T
MATCH THE HORSE!