Used Bates Caprilli Close Contact Saddle for sale. Rare-Flocked panels!

This is a used Bates Caprilli Close Contact Saddle.  I had the CAIR panels replaced with Flocked panels, and love the results!  Not all horses respond well to the CAIR panels, so the flocking is a great, and RARE, alternative.   I have ridden in this saddle just a few times since I got it reflocked and one time it was squeaky.  The saddler assured me the tree is sound.  I am assuming the squeak will disappear altogether with use.

It has a 16 1/2 ” seat and long flaps ideal for longer legged riders.  It has the adjustable gullet system, with the white-extra wide gullet currently installed.   It is in good used condition- I rode it to several year-end high point horse show titles last year.  It has a great “bomber jacket” type patina which seems to “absorb” scratches and dings.

I am asking $1000.oo or best reasonable offer.

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Dominus Close Contact Saddle Wide Tree, Long Flap

17 1/2″ Dominus Close Contact Saddle, wide tree, and long flap.  These saddles were designed by Peter Menet, who is the maker of Amerigo saddles, before Dominus was bought out.  It has both knee and thigh blocks, and air flow knee rolls. Has slight discoloration on seat which is not visible with a rider in the saddle.  Missing one billet guard. This saddle allows a correct, secure position without locking the rider into place. Asking $850 or best reasonable offer.



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Crosby Dressage Saddle, “Robert Dover” Freestyle II For Sale

This is a wonderful, old style Crosby Dover Freestyle II.  It has a 17 1/2″ seat, medium tree that fits very generously, more like a medium wide, and narrow twist.  The molded flap and concealed thigh blocks allow you to sustain a correct, effective seat  and close feel without locking you in place like so many modern, overpadded saddles.  Slightly forward flaps accommodate the long-legged rider.

Saddle is in good used condition. Stitching is tight, leather is soft and conditioned. The panels are soft, smooth and even.

There are some minor scratches and markings on the back of the cantle from old nameplates.  The seat shows some discoloration, which is not evident when you are riding, as do the underside of the sweat flaps.  All of the marks are cosmetic and don’t affect the function or comfort of the saddle at all.

Billets are nylon reinforced with leather stitched on either side.  There is one section that has loose stitching, though still perfectly safe and not stretched due to the nylon.

The tree is sound and the billets are tight, the saddle is ready to ride and certainly clean enough for showing.

I am asking $850 or best reasonable offer.

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Bond Street All Purpose Adjustable Saddle For Sale

Used 17″  Bond Street all-purpose saddle in great condition.  Tree is solid and the stitching tight.  There are a few scratches in the  leather which are not noticeable unless you are very close.  Any discoloration in the photos is due to Leather Therapy that hadn’t yet been fully absorbed.

Bond Street saddles are unique in 2 ways.  One is the memory foam seat and panels, which offer unparalleled comfort to both horse and rider.  The other is the adjustable tree, which offers a custom fit with the turn of an allen wrench.  Solve the problem of sore backs or hard to fit horses.

This saddle was $2500 new.  They are now called Cynron saddles, and sell for over $4000.  I am asking $1200 or best reasonable offer.

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Of Tai Chi and Half Halts

Mark has been wanting to take tai chi classes.  While I have some experience with it, and use it extensively in my own riding and teaching, I have not wanted to add to a life already near to bursting with activity.  As I lay on the ground waiting for the ambulance, I committed to finding a class for us during my recovery.  As it turned out, a wonderful sensei I have known for years was teaching a weekly class not far from us.  Three days after the accident, we began.

Last night during class, Sensei paused the lesson for an urgent distinction.  All the world is some combination of yang or yin, expansion and contraction, sending forth and drawing back.  Before yang/ sending forth, or bodies naturally draw back slightly to prepare.  Before yin, our bodies prepare by slightly moving away from the new movement, by expressing yang.  This seeming contradiction is natural and necessary.

Go ahead, pause your reading and try this now!

Again we moved through the tai chi form, only this time we intentionally prepared for each movement by moving oh-so-slightly towards its opposite.  The movements expressed a new and beautiful flow and groundedness.   The “human half-halts”  created seamless transitions and expressive movements.

Play with this the next time you ride!  Before asking for yin (collection, downward transitions, quiessense), generate slightly more yang (impulsion, extension, exhuberance) and  vice versa.  Come back and share your discoveries with us!

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An Unexpected Season

I chuckled sadly when I noticed that the last post in the blog was Mark’s exhortation of wearing helmets every time, every ride.  The post was his response to Courtney King-Dye’s accident.   She was not wearing a helmet.  The results may have been very different had she been.  We’ve been praying for her and are so grateful as she continues to recover.  But for us, helmets remain; every time, every ride.

I only chuckled at the irony.  Since then, I was also involved in a bad accident. Naturally I was wearing my helmet.  I know by the way I landed my results would have been very different had I NOT been.  As it is, I have small fractures in 3 vertebrae that are, thankfully, well on their way to healing completely.   No riding for the next month or so, but teaching and writing are doctor-permitted and self-prescribed 🙂

Spring traditionally sees the young horses’ teeth floated and formal education begun, and the older horses’ return to schooling and showing.  The accident occurred literally the day this season began. For me, forbidden from the saddle, this will be an adventure, a season unlike any other I have experienced.

Let the journey continue!

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Happy Birthday to Grace!

Happy birthday to you!

Grace turns 4 today; and I just found out that she shares her fourth birthday with Secretariats 40th.

Small wonder, her thunder! Dang can she move in a hurry when she wants!

I best not forget to bring home some carrots!!!

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Abetta Trinity/Serenity Endurance Saddle for Sale

This is a lightly used Abetta Trinity/Serenity endurance saddle with a  15″ seat and extra wide 7″ full quarter horse bars for a fantastic fit.  This lightweight saddle has a super-comfy memory foam seat to make those long hours in the saddle feel effortless!  It also features an extra high cantle for additional back support, comfort and security.

I’ve only ridden in this saddle a handful of times.  The fleece underside is in like-new condition.   I put a different pair of fenders on (in picture)–you will get those plus the original Abetta fenders (which are in even better shape).  Stirrups themselves are not included.  Asking $299.00.

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On Helmets… Every Ride!

I ride motorcycles. I ride horses. I wear a helmet for both. In the motorcycle world, we call it ATGATT (All The Gear, All The Time). My wife says in Pony Club it was “Every Ride, Every Time”.

Basically, the human body is not designed to operate under forces greater than the human body can generate. By riding more than 5 miles an hour, on an object that weighs 500 pounds or a horse that weighs 1500, You run the risk of exceeding conditions the human body can cope with.. particularly when it comes to head trauma.

Dressage… is not “inherently safer” than anything other discipline. Other disciplines just add -more- risk. We ask other motorcycle riders… “Open Casket or Closed, your choice.” Sadly, the disparate cultures around elegance, tradition, and “the cowboy way” all conspire collectively to keep helmets off when on horseback in their respective disciplines (or as some of you would probably posit, lack thereof…)

Fertilizer happens. Every day. The chance may be one in a million, but if you draw the “one”, you’re either prepared, or you aren’t.  I’ve gone down on bikes, I’ve yet to come off a horse. It will happen, I’m sure. But my helmet saved my life once… I went in head first on the asphalt at 45 mph. I was prepared. Are you?

I’d rather be laughed at for wearing a helmet than eulogized for not. Macho isn’t riding without one, macho is is stepping up to the plate and setting the example for those who don’t.

I love riding. I love motorcycles. I love my horses. I love my wife. I wish to continue to do all of the above. I wear my helmet, every time.

I challenge every single one of you to set an example for your friends, families, and fellow competitors. Put it on, keep it on, and stand your ground: Safety first.

Stay Safe,

Mark

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Easy Acupressure for Equestrians

We are all focused on our horses’ well-being.  Tack fit, nutritional needs, fitness, massage, training… no topic is too minute for the caring horseman to address.

All too often we fail to turn this discerning focus onto ourselves.  Sally Swift, founder of Centered Riding (TM) pointed out that when we are working to evoke change in another, whether it is our student, our horse (or even our spouse!), that change comes about most effortlessly when 80% of our focus remains on evoking that same change within ourselves.

I just stumbled across this great acupressure resource.  As stretching and bodywork for the horses are vital pieces of my daily training routine, I’m excited to find simple, parallel exercises I can do for myself.

Explore and enjoy!

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