SADDLES by LEN BROWN

Their are some of my saddles below. Basic options you can find in the store along with Video on each model. Len will advise you as to the DROPPED TRAPEZOID LOOPS FOR A LEGS UNDER RIDE. Short leg riders love them. The store has the 50% DEPOSIT PRICE to start the build on your saddle. CALL LEN to finish or plan your order & get the custom options you desire. 

Saddle Sales

All saddle sales are final. There are no refunds. If you are unhappy with your first saddle, Len will do what he can to make you happy by either modifying that model or replacing it with another model of equal or lesser value. Any repairs or replacements are at the full discretion of Len Brown. Any unauthorized saddle shipments will not be accepted. Instructions and WHY to use balance Shims.  The CorrecTOR with Front Balance Shims and Envelope Pad make a "COMPLETE SADDLE-FITTING SYSTEM ".  The horse's shoulder rotation (or body bending) bends the front shields, that act as a flexible lever against the saddle tree---that leverage positions the saddle & keeps the tree from damaging the shoulders.  

 The 190 sq. inches of front protective shields spread the weight over the shoulders and withers where the most damage from tree bars occur.    Front Balance shims are used to lift the saddle for: the rump-high horse, thin or small horse, the too-wide saddle. They also help hold the saddle back through better contact where the bars have too much flare in front (as is seen in many saddles coming out of the Southeastern U.S.)    

Almost everyone asks me how to use the Balance Shims. I tell them to remove them and ride your animal 15 minutes at a walk & slow trot or gait; notice the way you feel & sit in the saddle. Then unsaddle and put 2 front shims in  on each side, ride again the same way comparing how comfortable you are from one extreme to the other. Occasionally you need 3 shims, some horse saddle combos only 1, others none! By trying the differing combos in one session you'll know what is best for you and therefore your horse. In one session, a few minutes each ride, you can remember what you felt like moments ago. It doesn't work to try & remember the feel one day to the next.   What is a balanced Saddle? > When balanced you should be sitting relaxed with little pressure in the stirrup at a walk & slow trot, not "tilted forward" (too low in front). when you feel it you'll have a "BFO"! (blinding flash of the obvious!)   

Too low in front is like riding down a hill all day long and will sore withers even through an Ortho-Flex delrin panels,any saddle,or even the Corrector.   Balance of the rider is important the more you ride. It holds true with any saddle. NOTE:  You can't adjust the balance of a rider in TREELESS SADDLES,in the extremely flexible "Flex-tree" saddles,or in the FLEX-PANEL SADDLES. No room for shims in an Ortho-Flex or any other panel saddle. The mechanically adjustable systems I made were good until they started adjusting themselves. John Lyons would bring Zip and his ORTHO-FLEX by every few months TO GET IT TUNED UP AND ADJUSED FOR BALANCE ETC.         

You should feel what your horse is doing as he does it, not be behind the movement of the horse (that's too high in front).  If you need shims at all, you'll usually need 2 on each side in front. YOU ARE NOT FITTING THE HORSE WITH THE SHIMS! They go on top of the shields and adjust the way your saddle sits you and as a result, work for the horse & you.    

To determine if REAR shims are needed; First balance your saddle from the front as described above. After getting yourself + your saddle properly balanced, reach back and feel up under your bars in the rear while riding at a walk.If it's a western saddle have someone walk beside you and put there hand up under the skirts. If they can slip their fingers up under the tree bar, above the pad, 2" or more,YOU NEED BOTH REAR SHIMS!  You are filling in the gap and taking pressure off the center of your horse's back! He will collect, round, stop, drop his head and relax more while listening to you better.  All this is because he's NOT FIGHTING the curved bars trying to HOLD HIS BACK DOWN! Many horses are forced into this unnatural position with the Tree cinched front and rear. That's why, after getting sore in the center of the back and vertebral column; They become pissy, won't reach with the hindquarters..etc.etc.      

WHILE RIDING,most trees on a good back will have 2" or 3" of no contact at the rear of the bars.  Those same bars will be digging into the loin while the animal is standing still and you are sitting in the saddle.  That's why I keep telling people you can't fit a saddle while the horse is standing still.   

You have to be riding the animal with the bare tree, then you can see what's going on.  Chiropractors can't say the back is out while looking at the horse standing.  Vet's can't determine one shoulder is larger than another while the horse is standing!  The above can only be determined while the horse is moving because he never stands with even pressure on all 4 legs.   The back is always "OUT" 1.5" or more on every horse while standing. (FRONT TO REAR,SIDE TO SIDE".) To check your horse's confirmation, have someone lead your horse as you walk behind looking over the croup.You'll be surprised at how even he is in movement! Few horses are "OUT", and the ones that are have developed that way as explained on Pg. 11 of this site. Read the story of Victoria and her Arab SHAMIR at the bottom of page 11. She was sure her horse was so much larger in one shoulder than the other because of a trailering accident where the horse was physically scarred. After nine months of the Corrector and instructions on page 11, she has a different horse!         

 For saddles with too much curve in the bars (as happens with many trees that are custom-fitted while the horse is standing) you can correct them with front and rear balance shims described above.    For the horse with one shoulder larger than the other, the horse that won't hold one lead or bend one direction:  Go to my page listed on the navigation bar upper left, pg. 6 "Saddlefit by the man that started it all".    

It will tell you how to use the shims and why your horse is like that. Plus you'll learn how to fix it in short order. You've got to have the shims and a just a little technique.  "You will find it's fun when it's more comfortable for you both." Len