Ryder Lux Dressage Saddle

The saddle shopping has begun in earnest. While I am fine purchasing a saddle on Ebay, I still prefer a local in-person purchase when I can. So, through the local dressage grapevine I have ended up with this beauty to try out. It is a Ryder Lux dressage saddle, 17.5" MW, and nicely within my budget. I am hoping that it will work. Plus, I actually know this saddle. I rode in it for a time back when I had Rose and was between saddles. I liked it then, and it fit her well, but I was selling her and it seemed silly to buy the saddle at the time. 

Today was the day that I was going to give it a good trial run. However, my plans to haul to my friend's house tonight and properly ride in it vanished when we suddenly had an emergency at the office and Hubs would not be home until very late.

That left me with two options.

A. I could lament my sad situation, open a bottle of wine, and continue to bat my eyes at the pretty object cozied up in my office chair; Or...

B. I could get my kid in his snow clothes, tell him he has to play outside in my vicinity, but not too close so as not to get squished by huge horse feet, and attempt to ride through 1-foot of snow in my front paddock. 

I went for option B.

Let me tell you, option B was a big thing for me. This was the first time since JR was born that it even crossed my mind (rather, I felt comfortable enough that he wouldn't kill himself without 100% of my supervision) to ride my horse while he was doing his own thing. In case you lost count, JR is now 4-1/2 years old.

So, feeling comfortable that JR would manage to not kill himself while my attentions were elsewhere, it was time to get off my princess perch and just deal with what I had. A very snowy sloping paddock. It was not the best ride, but good enough to get a feel for the saddle. I think I like it, a lot.

Gentry with the Ryder Lux saddle, and apparently a winter hay belly in the works.

Given the terrain, it is hard to be too critical. Gentry was trotting like a giant warmblood through the snow, which made a sitting trot impossible, and the canter felt like we were flying. Probably because we were, given that he had to lift his feet so high to trudge through the deep snow. Through all of this, the saddle was quite comfy and did it's job,

Ryder Lux, seems to be just short enough for his short back.
Note the red arrow and tape mark I made to compare it to my Bates Caprilli.

Bates Caprilli, more than an inch longer than the Ryder.

As for the fit, it seems to fit him very well. Much better than my Bates Caprilli. It certainly fits my bum and legs just fine. I will know more on Thursday when the saddle fitter will be out and I can get her opinion. I will also plan to ride Gentry on the nice snow packed road that day, not in 1' of paddock snow. I will be sore tomorrow. Talk about a sitting trot ab workout!