Shameless Saddle Love...

Quite a few people have found my blog by searching for my saddle, the Albion Platinum SLK Ultima. I thought I'd post a little more about it, since everyone's finding my buying the saddle entry, but nothing about owning the saddle. Plus, I took some pictures of my new saddle (testing my camera eye, so sorry if the pics are fuzzy!) and wanted to share them. The Platinum refers to the fact that the saddle has a Genesis tree. The front half of the tree is removable, and can be replaced with any shape/width of tree, so basically this saddle will fit *any* horse I buy in the future, if I have the front part of the tree changed out. It does not simply widen or narrow like most adjustable tree saddles though. It is physically removed and replaced.

Something I was surprised by in my saddle search is that basically *everything* on an Albion can be customized. The flap length, seat size, blocks, tree shape, twist, etc, etc. If customized is the only way to go for you, definitely look into Albions, they are just as customizable as Custom Saddlery or whatever else is out there, especially if you aren't comfortable doing the measurements yourself. I have a Custom Saddlery saddle and while I love it, I just wasn't willing to spend that much money on a saddle that I had to fit to my horse myself, and there was an Albion rep in my area a few times every week. I also received a girth and leathers as a part of my purchase.

So, on to the pictures...don't forget, if you click on the picture it opens up full size! This is a full side view.

Front view...

Closer up view of the front, you can see how wide and flat miss Sophie is by checking out the tree.

They aren't kidding when they say Platinum, even the keepers for the excess stirrup leathers are padded!!!

The back, the detailing on the saddle is absolutely lovely.

Saddle info, in case I ever forget how big my butt is!

More detailing, the silver "button" is what distinguishes a "regular" Albion (which has a red button) from a Platinum.

Stirrup bar and stuff, fortunately the stirrups were very easy to put on!

The free girth! It's padded and super too.

Close up of the buckles, and the red logo.

Logo patch on the girth.

This is the side of the girth that goes on the horse, you can see how soft it is!


If anyone has any questions about the saddle, just ask! I'll do my best to answer them. I don't think it's been around for too long, and I have trouble even finding info about the Genesis tree on the Albion website!

Now, on to my day. It was another day of sleeping until noon and putting drops in my eyes. My mom and I went to my favorite Mexican restaurant and then to the barn. Sophie actually nickered at me when she saw me, I'm not sure if it's because she was happy to see me, or if she was hoping I was going to feed her since it was 2 hours until feeding time!

I took Sophie's lavender salt block holder and her mineral salt block and hung it in her stall for her. It occurred to me that while Sophie has a communal salt block in her pasture, she'd probably like to have one of her own, in her stall. And it turned out I was right, she *loved* it!!! Licking on it and biting on it as soon as I slid it into place. I also brushed her, fly sprayed her, and brushed out her mane/tail. She loved her mane being brushed, her head was drooping and her eyes half closed. But of course, when I went to brush her she walked away. I'll never understand how *I* ended up with a horse that doesn't like to be brushed.

So, that was my day. I really want to ride, but can't go for very long without putting drops in my eyes. Though the 20 minutes I spent at the barn (wearing my chemistry goggles) went ok. Maybe tomorrow, but we'll see. I kind of doubt it, though today I went longer without drops on average, and the vision in my right eye was improved over yesterday! I was a little worried at the doctor's yesterday because they said to call them if my vision got worse. But fortunately it hasn't.

And sorry, once again, if the pictures are blurry, they look clear to *me*, which isn't saying much at this point!