Len, I've been using the Corrector for about 2 months and I wanted to let you know how it was working.   I have a 9 yr. old REINING HORSE who was sluggish when he was asked to back up. I felt that my saddle was digging in behind his shoulder blades. Since I have been using the Corrector his backup has improved greatly. His turnarounds have improved as well. I wanted to thank you for a great invention.

— Sincerely, Melissa Peabody, April 29th, 2002 

Hi Len,  I am getting back into riding after ten years with bad back. Had sold all tack. Needed saddle. Searched Internet.   Was seriously considering ordering flex panel saddle, but read so many conflicting articles, did not know who to believe.   You were not selling saddle,  e=mailed you and you replied    bless your heart. Recommended Aust stock saddle.  Have ordered, thank you = have several horses. Much different backs, so the corrector is a  perfect solution. Thank you so much.   I told Colin you referred. Ordered their patrol poly.  Keep up the good work. It gives you faith in the human race that not everyone is just out to get your buck.

— God bless, LuAnn and Ed Sullivan

Hi Len,You sent me the Corrector last week and it really did seem to help the problem we were having with my very wide percheron/QH cross, who shakes his head and bucks over fences when the tree points dig in, and whose back becomes sore from the heavier rider who is on him once a week in the Wintec and rides totally from her seat. It worked beautifully for me, and he didn't offer to buck once with her either, for I think the first time in months. I've already told the other rider to buy her own and referred her to your website, so I hope she does! 

—  Julia Tussing,  who rides hunter/jumper equitation,works at the Stanford School of Medicine, CA.

 Just wanted to send you a note.  I tried the corrector yesterday, it was amazing the difference it made on my horse.  I couldn’t get my Tennessee Walker to extend his walk because it was uncomfortable for him, after riding him yesterday with the corrector, it was like riding a different horse.  All he wanted to do was get into his natural extended gait and go for it, it was great.  I've got a new horse now because of the corrector.

— Debbie Brix, Veronia, OR

Hi Len,

    I wanted to tell you ow my CorrecTor is working out for my Missouri Foxtrotter, Banjo. It's just great. If you recall, I mentioned to you that since I had him body-clipped, his hair was being rubbed off at the loin area on both sides. I used the Corrector with the shims at first (I know this was the opposite way of how you told me!). Anyway, it turns out I don't need the shims at all. I have been riding with the envelope pad ever since I got it and no Rubbing off of any more hair. I love the corrector and Envelope also. It's just beautiful. Thank you Len!  

— Roberta Franchimone, Santa Monica, CA

HI Len, It's Pat Schlaich out in Glendale, CA. We have the chestnut mare that had the roaning with the new expensive $2000.00 saddle, and the corrector totally handled the problem.

     Well it's been a year or more and my husband got a new cool pad for his mare, unfortunately he did not put the corrector underneath it, and a few weeks ago the roaning came back. Well needless to say the corrector is now underneath this new cool pad and already I can see that the roaning is going away. I also had another realization regarding the corrector and that is, that as your horses weight fluctuates throughout the year, the corrector keeps the horse from experiencing any adverse effects from the saddle due to weight gain or loss.

   I have just purchased a Mo. Foxtrotter and after reviewing all the information on your website have decided that I need to buy a corrector for him. Not that my current saddle and pad don't work, but because he is just a little over 4yrs of age and still growing and developing muscle etc. I don't want him to experience the adverse effects that can happen when wearing a saddle.

     I used my mare's corrector on him this morning and he really was moving smoothly and seemed to be lighter overall. Anyway, I will be calling you soon so I can order a corrector for our new boy. Thank you again Len for this wonderful invention, it just puts my mind at ease that we are doing the right thing for our horses by using the Corrector every time we go out. 

—   Pat & dave Schlaich, Glendale, California. 

 Hello Len,

 Been snowed in for a couple of weeks. Just got to ride today. Oh. So that's how Amir is supposed to walk, trot. Hum. I didn't ride far but I noticed especially going downhill, while he has been prone to be quite stiff and uncomfortable, like he is trying to hold the saddle (and me) back. Stiff gait, bumpy ride. Today he flowed into his walk with ease, his head was down, and he was obviously comfortable.

 I was so ready to drop you a kind but, firm note saying that it just didn't work and thanks anyway. More $$$$ down the tubes! I will try my other 2 horses and report back. I remember your said I perhaps won't need the shims for the others??? Also, I used only the Corrector today, but I can use a blanket right? I bet your get some really silly questions from people who should know better....it's just my obsessive_compulsive disorder showing! Thanks again, Susan  PS> she used it a lot on her horses since, it's still working. 

— Susan Yacavone, Plainfield, NH.

Hi Len, I like the corrector just fine. I've been using it on three rides now, and started out without shims and then added two front shims. Otherwise the forward hung stirrups on the Imus saddle will swing forward too much so that I can't put any weight into them.

   It fits just fine into the "envelope" type cover that came with the self inflating "Equi Air" pad (which sprung a leak in no time at all and got thrown out a few years ago).

    When I cinch it up good and tight it keeps the saddle in place very well, especially for mounting, but it does loosen so I have to tighten it again after about half an hour.    I now understand that your meant to tighten the cinch from both sides, rather than pulling all the slack on one side only. The horse seems very comfortable and I can see where it will keep the bars from digging in during turns, stops or going downhill. The saddle itself fits her well, but there will be many times when guests come to ride and I will have to use saddles that won't fit so well. I still hope to buy a few more in time so I can send one corrector with each of the two horses that I hope to sell every year.  I do wonder if the horse wouldn't like something cushioning underneath it, but I suppose that you researched it and decided it works better without.

— Jani London, Charlie Lake, B.C. Canada

  Actually this is my third corrector.  I have four horses I let other people ride.  So when I can save up for a fourth, I'll be purchasing another probably.  We ride all winter long, the horses have snow rims and borium on their shoes.  I'll probably be purchasing one for a friend soon too, she's always buying new saddles like I was doing.  My horse is finally happy, well happier.  He's kind of grumpy by nature.

Thanks for you note, appreciate that.  Take care, thanks for what you do!

—  Tilly

I received the Envelope pad today. Thank you for making the exchange for me. Your pad Is the only pad I use now. It works with every saddle and every horse just as you said. Thanks again,

— Nancy Plagge,  Sheffield, Iowa

Len,

Just wanted to let you know that I've enjoyed using your saddle pad.  It really seems to make a difference to the horse.  I use it with a dressage saddle for pleasure riding.  The saddle had been professionally fitted twice, but the horse was never happy about being saddled.  Now that I use your pad, he doesn't seem to mind!

— Kris Adrian, Western Australia 

 Len it's working great on my foxtrotter- of course, she's still nursing her filly so we don't get to ride her very far or for very long, but I had no idea just how much pressure the saddle was placing on her shoulders before your pad - I expect it will work just as great for our new gelding - his saddle appears to fit him pretty good, but I don't want to wait for the pain and behavior problems to begin to find out we need another of your great pads.  Thanks again!

—  Denise

I just had to write and tell you THANK YOU for such a wonderful product!  I have ridden my mare only 4 times with the Corrector and we have had improvement every day in taking her left lead.  Today, she is taking it after just a couple of steps after I ask her, no more fighting with her to take the left lead.  She is a much happier horse and I can tell a difference in how she is carrying her back.  Before the Corrector, she looked like her back was getting really low and the area behind her shoulders would look caved in after riding.  Now, her back is back to normal, no more dents where her saddle sits and no rubbing.  She even is not getting as sweaty as before and I am riding longer.  I can't believe what a difference this has made.  Another plus is I can feel my horse better.  I will never be without one of these for as long as I am able to ride.

I have a question on using the shims.  I have all 3 on the left, none on the right and have my right stirrup 2 holes longer, left stirrup 1 hole shorter.  She is getting better every time I ride.  How long should I ride this way?  She doesn't seem to try to throw me off the wrong diagonal, but I have noticed going to the right, she does not like to long trot too long.  She keeps trying to quit when I'm posting the wrong diagonal ( it is very hard to do going to the right too).  She's not taking her left lead right when I ask, but just a couple of steps after asking.  I'm thinking I should keep riding this way for a while, but thought I should ask you for how long.  I don't want to goof up her right lead by doing it too long.

How long does the Corrector last?  Is there a point when they wear out?  I don’t want to be without one, so you better let me know if you ever quit making them!  I love the envelope too.  My other mare (20 years old) has a shorter back than my young one, so this Corrector is too long for her.  I don’t have a staddle that fits her yet either as she has really big shoulders, short low back and high rear end.  Do you have any recommendations for a saddle for her?  If I can find one, then I would order another Corrector for her.

Thanks again and I will keep you posted.  I'm thrilled so far though!

— Debbie Trujillo

Hi Len,

    First let me say I love my Corrector.  I've had it about a year now and can't imagine not having it.  It works great on all my horses, from my high withered QH to my younger horses that are going through awkward growing spurts.  It has also lead to 2 other boarders in the barn to buying one as well.  Now for my question.  I am currently looking at a Tex Tan show saddle.  After reading your site and seeing that you were very heavily involved with Tex Tan I was wondering what your opinion of their EquiTex tree is?  Is this the tree you worked on or is this a newer form.  Any information you can give me would be great and I appreciate your time.

— Jenni King Peoria, IL

I love it!  From the first day, she eased up her shoulders and has started to pick up her leads.  Her lope is much easier to ride and she doesn't seem to bee running away (from the pain) as she did before.  I'm most impressed with the sweat pattern after using the corrector.  Both sides of her back sweat evenly - there are no hot, dry spots now - even with me still using Dad's great saddle!

Remember, I had purchased every type and thickness of saddle pad I could before finding the corrector.  Now all I need is a garage sale.  Thank you for your help.

— Roxann

“When we first learned about the Corrector by Len Brown we were sceptical, but after borrowing one and using it on a mare we are training we were sold on it. What really convinced us was when we used the corrector on a filly that had just came back from 6 months Reining training and were advised by the trainer not to get on her, she was not safe to ride! We decided to try the corrector on her and she rode off as quiet as a kitten. We were sold and I called Len and ordered two Correctors for ourselves. - Ps Thanks for your help Len, Doug and Christy McMullen Ontario”

— Doug McMullen,Longtime Reiner and horseman from, Aylmer, Ontario, Canada

  Hi Len, I wanted to enter a testimonial on your web site so here it is;I have struggled with the saddle fitting issue for three years. It seems that the better the horses are the harder they are to fit and the more you ask of a performance horse the more important it is to keep him comfortable in his work with a good fitting saddle.  I have bought no less than 7 different "orthopedic" pads and 9 different dressage/eventing saddles in the quest for horse comfort. Some of them have been helpful but nothing has made as much improvement in the horses as the Corrector.  After 5 months of owning one and using it for the breaking in or training of 5 different horses the Corrector stands alone as the only thing between a horse and a saddle that makes a lasting improvement. Not only has the Corrector proven to help my horses use their backs while wearing it but the improvement is still there even if you take the Corrector away for a few rides!  To me that proves that the Corrector is more than just a pad, it's a training aid that helps horses build the correct muscles they need to perform. The same muscles are also frequently wasted away by conventional saddles. Haven't you seen a hundred horses with the muscles behind their withers wasted away?  They were all horses that had worn saddles weren't they? Example: Terrace Creek owns a nice little mare with potential as a child's event horse. She turned five years old this year.  Her conformation and her personality always brought her compliments, but she never scored as high in her dressage tests as we all expected. She had gaits, she was willing, and she had a great topline but she hadn't learned to use her back well enough to be truly competitive. The extra wide saddle tree she needed did not lend itself to thick padding. The first time wearing the Corrector she wanted to stretch down every stride and I wasn't sure just where this was going. After about three rides she was able to use her back in both the long and low balance and a lovely, more upright frame. The Corrector was the secret to her full potential.  It's a real joy to see this horse enjoy her work with the eagerness she shows now.      It's pretty hard to look good on young horses in their first years of riding. And naturally I used to blame my riding but after the Corrector  was used on my horses for just a couple of months I started to receive compliments on my riding,- well that was  interesting!  When your horses feel better, you feel better, and then you ride better!  The Corrector might be the secret to the  full potential of   horses and  riders.                                                                                                                               

—  LINDA SIMMONS

Dear Len, I''m inside on this cold, windy Wisconsin day looking forward to warmer days ahead. I figured this was a good day to share with you my thoughts on the CorrecTOR pad that I purchased from you last summer. I knew from past experience that the Ortho-flex saddles you developed really worked to fix saddle fit problems. I had a Patriot model that I bought to use with the Paso Fino that I used to own.  That Patriot fit the Paso so well that the white hair and muscle atrophy he had from previous ill-fitting saddles went away. When I sold my Paso, then purchased an American Paint Horse Hiatts Bar "Drifter", I knew that I wanted to ride in a western style saddle so I sold my Patriot. I really wanted an Ortho-flex but I was not pleased with the saddles offered after your association with the company ended. I bought a really nice barrel saddle that fit me perfect and Drifter pretty good. He's a 14.2h stocky Doc Bar bred Paint. 

      I ride a lot! The majority of my time in the saddle is spent trail riding in the Southern Kettle Moraine State Forest in Eagle, WI. It's a 27,000-acre state forest with miles of horse trails. Drifter and I ride these trails 2-3 hours at a time, about 4 times a week. Last spring I was concentrating on conditioning and just getting used to Drifter. We trotted for hours and I started noticing dry spots and the beginning of muscle atrophy on his back behind his withers. If that section of his body wasn't already white, I'm sure I would have seen white hairs starting also. I was already using a Professional Choice Ortho-sport pad but knew I needed to do something so I didn't cause Drifter more serious damage from our long rides. I looked at saddles but really didn't want to spend more money on saddles. Then I saw your ad in the Trail Rider magazine. I called you and told you my tale of woe. I had my CorrecTOR pad by the end of June. 

   I started using the CorrecTOR pad and am very pleased with the results. After several months of use the dry spots have been shrinking and the muscle has even come back! I'm sure that drifter is more comfortable. His saddle stays in place on hills, up and down, and it doesn't roll ,at all,  side to side. We've been having fun on the trail, riding in parades and have even tried team penning. Now we're looking forward to warmer days, above zero anyway, and much more riding. The only problem I have with the pad is keeping it clean. I made a fitted cover for it out of an old flannel sheet. Works great! Well, I've rambled on long enough. Drifter and I are very happy with the CorrecTOR. Thank-you for coming up with a way to correct saddle fit problems at a reasonable price. 

—- Linda Long and Drifter 

“This handwritten story was sent to me by a young horseman you'll never forget from the Tennessee River area, he doesn't know anyone hooked up to the internet and he said he'd send a picture when he gets a camera. He trains horses for a living.Shaddow is a gelded mustang. He was born and raised for three years in the wild part of Wyoming. I adopted him about 5 years ago. He's a good all around guy. Now this horse is Dark Bay, he is very beautiful. His neck is so thick, which attaches to his fully rounded muscular shoulders, that a lot of people that see Shaddow ask me why or how I can trust a wild mustang stud. I just laugh and tell them he is just an honest and slightly lazy gelding... Okay back to the point, if I would go to the pasture and play with him everyday, he would always come to me sideways so I would just sit on his back bare back. This is his way of showing off to the other horses in the pasture, and he is very proud that I do just what he beggs for. If he has an idea that just maybe somebody is watching. you can be dead sure that he will be caught showing off again.Shaddow is of course a sensitive horse. He learned how to be in the wild. He learned that he had to be because if he wasn't, sensitive and really picky about staying in a comfort zone he would die from starvation, dehydration, or a predator.When I trained him I didn't know how to train a mustang. It does not take long to learn if you just start. He made it very clear to me that him and I were buddies if I allowed him to be comfortable. When I trained him to a saddle, he would horse around rearing and bucking till my ridged saddle had gave him a full back massage and all of his sore spots were warmed up, and finally he would give up and accept my pinchy saddle, and we would go on a ride. I could see the saddle was hurting him, so I tried 3 different saddle styles and all kinds of different pads. I loved him, and I knew he loved me. Some days he would buck just hard enough to get me off his back. Then after a 10 min. break he would walk sideways up to me and beg me to get back on.      What a Horse, I would always tell myself. I would alternate my different saddles, so he wouldn't get as sore just in one spot. That seemed to help. I always felt a little guilty about his saddle soreness but I never knew what to do. One day a buddy of mine was explaining to me the advantage of an orthoflex saddle, I never knew anybody had ever made such a thing. Then he told me Len Brown had quit making that saddle. My excitement shrunk away. I knew that is what Shaddow needed. I just figured anybody that had a good saddle like that would never sell it to me for a used saddle. I was beginning to believe the only true comfortable way for the horse would be if we all rode bareback. It seemed impossible since I was doing cowboy work everyday with Shaddow at a feedyard a couple a years ago. I decided to see if I could find a type of air ride pad that would hold the whole tree off of the horses back at all times, but that still didn't seem like the answer. In spite of all the saddle problems, Shaddow would perform really well in a certain gait which was a different speed with each different style of Saddle. If I would after work saddle him up at the feedyard and let him pick his own gait which ever matched that saddle. There I go.... the horse picking his own gait, which seemed a little bit  backwards, I always thought a horse was supposed to stay in the gait his  rider had picked. Well needless to say the horse was happy that way. It made me happy to see my mustang buddy prancing along like He owned the world. We would make terrific steady miles never slowing down and never speeding up. I knew and could feel his power and long endurance as long as he was comfortable. Some days it was a 10 mile  ride, sometimes a 15 mile, and even up to a 25 mi ride all in just a few precious moments of daylight after work. He still wouldn't slow down or take a slower gait unless I would put a different style of saddle on... Okay, so I was just shopping for a good comfortable air pad when I found an ad for the Corrector. By Len Brown, that's when I remembered the orthoflex saddles he used to make. I figured if anybody knew how to make a comfortable pad Len Brown would. So I tried one out.  Let me tell You' !  Shaddow likes any gait with any saddle. This horse is just contented anywhere, at any speed, with any saddle.”

— Caleb Schmidt, Linden, TN.

I recently purchased your Corrector pad and a set of shims and wanted to let you know that it works great!! Last year I purchased a 14.2H three year old Doc Bar bred Quarter horse as a reining prospect. I tried repeatedly to fit saddles on him with no luck and purchased and re-sold 3 saddles in the last year. He is very short backed and his rump is higher than his withers. I finally found that a reining saddle with semi-QH bars fits him best, but the gullet was not wide enough to accommodate his well developed shoulders. Therefore, the saddle was pushing on his shoulders and causing pain which made his spins and turns slow and choppy and required constant adjustments to his shoulders. I hated this situation as I didn't want him to be in pain, but could not afford a custom saddle and was at a real loss as to how to remedy the problem until I found your Internet site. Now, thanks to the Corrector pad and a set of your shims, the saddle is lifted off of his shoulders and he is turning and moving freely. As an added bonus, he no longer swishes his tail during saddling and no longer threatens to buck when he is being warmed up. I can't tell you what a wonderful difference this has made in his attitude and performance and in my guilt level! The corrector is a wonderful invention! 

—  Brenda Noble Tucson AZ

Hi there Len,

    You certainly have my permission to use the report on your website. I have had the chance to try it on two other horses in the past two days, so here is some more fuel for the fire. The first horse was an Icelandic gelding, 8 yrs. old, an import from Iceland. A nice looking example of the breed, small and sturdy, low broad withers; about average on the difficulty of finding the proper placement for the saddle for most of our volunteers. The advice on your website about how to always find the edge of the scapula is proving very useful in educating the less experience volunteers!  This little fellow has always been very popular for his quiet and calm demeanor, read as he has long ago figured out how to tune our the class in which he was being used. He has never been willing to make much effort under saddle unless the rider was working really hard to get him moving, always like that in the class environment, usually better out on a trail ride or just riding in the pasture. I rode him in his Icelandic saddle, which he typically is ridden in, and the first thing I noticed as we began our ride was how much more energy he put into just walking, and how he offered to Tolt and Pace at the first cue, and this is in the arena which is his usual dull class environment. It was unprecedented with this horse, but very much what I have experience every time using the CorrecTOR. I'm not a very experience gaited horse rider, but I certainly felt more accomplished with the  correcTOR making things work. This horse's owner acquired him for a very reasonable price because he had been found lacking in the kind of action and energy in his gaits that were expected of him. I believe he may have more potential than previously believed... 

    The second horse was a Percheron gelding, also 8 years old, not a great example of the breed conformationally, already developing a dropped back, but with very well made sloping shoulder and pronounced withers, but a hollowing behind the shoulder leading to a short back, a combination that makes for some interesting saddling issues. This is another one of the quiet, "tuning of the world he doesn't care for" horses; he can be more lively in different environments. For this horse I used a dressage saddle that fits him as well as can be expected, an off the rack type, not even a draft breed specific saddle.  

     Saddles have typically ended up too far back because of his prominent withers and dropped back, and I had my doubts about the CorrecTOR being able to fit where it needed to go to do it's best work. No fear, it was flexible enough to follow the withers and dropped back, and after placing the saddle on the CorrecTOR where it belongs , girthing up and getting on, the saddle was level, had enough clearance between gullet and withers, and I didn't need to shim, front or rear.     After going up and down hill, walk, trot and canter around one of our pastures, neither CorrecTOR or saddle had moved, and our test subject was moving willingly in a nice, comfortable frame. Also noteworthy, was that this was the first time I've ridden him where he offered a canter depart at the slightest leg cue, usually he'll grudgingly move off only after a very thorough and convincing set of cues.  I must admit that I'm still surprised at what lively and capable horses we have hiding inside those usually stolid, unprepossessing creatures I see in class. I thought we had done a pretty good job of saddle "fitting" and maybe we had, but they never "worked" this well before.  Even the poor fits work great; I know you mention it now, but I think you should more strongly emphasize on your web site that all the traditional enemies of a good saddle fit for the horse are the very thing that make the sadle work so well with the CorrecTOR in the equation; Weight, and pressure, etc. It's a delight to see and feel the horse realize how much more freedom of action they have with the CorrecTOR. Some seem a little worried at first, that they are securely saddled and have a riders weight, but a free shoulder and back.  Perhaps a little confused by the contradictions in what old experiences have taught them and what their new experience is teaching them. They've all quickly adjusted to it, it probably helps that the freedom of action isn't compromised by a shifting load; the CorecTOR and saddle have stayed in place very well. All of the horses I've tested so far have also shown more flexibility turning and bending, and also more willingness to halt square and  balanced. I thought I had a good appreciation of how broad are the effects of saddle fit on the horses performance and behavior, but this has really put an exclamation point on everything I had learned before. The centering and prevention of slipping mechanisms of the CorrecTOR are hugely useful also, and they don't require another product to buy, such a deal!

    Please feel free to use any of this on your website that you find useful.  I appreciate your interest in my opinion on how the CorecTOR is working for myself and the horses I ride, and I shall continue to provide feedback as I use it for more horses and different circumstances. A great idea beautifully executed, I thank you and the horses thank you!

—- Paul J. Mears

I just got my corrector and sock and have tried it out a few times.  What a difference on my horse!  He no longer drops his back or balks at hills.  He is now a very happy pony!!  And so am I!! Now I feel comfortable taking him out on the long trail rides... I didn't realize that trail riding could be this great!

— Jen

Hello Mr. Brown:    I just wanted to let you know that I am very pleased with the corrector pad I recently purchased.  We spent a week riding in the Missouri Ozarks and the pad worked great!  I placed in as per your instructions; used on the line on the pad as a guide for my saddle and was very pleased.  My saddle did not roll; moved very little up on the shoulders when going down hills (and we go down some pretty steep ones) - and best of all I had no dry spots on the withers, which was my problem before I got the corrector.  I also feel my horse's back stayed rounded more.  I ride a small quarter horse with a long stride and once in awhile he felt strung out.  With the corrector, he just "felt" more together.  I palpated his back/shoulders after each ride and there was no apparent tenderness.  I think the corrector is a good tool even if you "think" your saddle fits your horse.

— Pat Jackson

Dear Mr. Brown:

Just wanted to write and give you an update on our use of the corrector pad.  My first ride was not a great one, but I soon found out it wasn't the corrector causing the problem.  After saddling up with a few friends I needed to use the ladies room, so I had the hubby hold my horse while I took care of business.  My husband "God Bless Him"  is not a horseman, his idea of horsepower is riding his John Deere.  Anyhow the girls and I were off and planned on a good 3-4 hr. ride in the Manistee National Forest.  Things were going pretty smooth until we got maybe an hour into the ride.  BJ suddenly started to act quite strange.  He throws temper tantrums occasionally and will stomp his back right foot to let me know he's ticked about something.  He started to quickly turn to the left, throw his head, with front feet coming off the ground and then stomping his back foot.  After several times of doing this through the course of the ride, I though to myself something is wrong.  Could the pad be pinching him?  It was the only thing new, I thought.  The girls kept reassuring me he was only throwing a temper tantrum and just kept him going straight.  So every time I felt him start to turn to the left, I put a little more pressure on the right rein.  He just got madder.  So I got off him and walked him a little and he seemed fine, although he was playing a little more than usual with his bit.  I decided to head back to camp and give up the ride for the day.  Once I got back and took off the saddle and corrector I checked his back for pinching or rubbing, nothing? In fact his back was completely wet, no dry spots like I got from the other pads.  I thought this is strange.  Then I proceeded to unbridle him and BINGO there was the problem.  Apparently my hubby let him graze (alot) while I was taking care of business before the ride and he had a web of grass the size of a half dollar whined around the right side of his mouthpiece.  It was so tight I had to cut it off with a knife.  Boy did I feel bad.  Needless to say the next day out we went again and what a ride.  BJ never would hold still for me to put the saddle pad on (this day he did).  He would never let me mount him without moving around(this day he did).  Once out on the trail he moved right out with nice long strides and when my Arab horse girlfriends wanted to canter, he went right into his gait and we went right on by them and left them in the dust.  So needless to say my Kentucky Mountain horse BJ and I, >THANK YOU.  I will keep you posted and wanted to let you know I passed on your web page to other gaited horse people and then some.

—  Denise Moon. Dunica, MI