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12-05-2022, 08:42 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-06-2022, 01:05 AM by CaminhoDeCabras.)
Hi guys,
My partner and I are looking seriously at getting some goats for packing in the mountains in Portugal.
With our combined skills, we have been able to build a sawbuck saddle based on measurements and designs we found online.
We don't have any goats yet but were lucky enough to be able to try the saddle out on a friend's dairy goat (a Golden Guernsey mix - ours will be Alpines). While it seemed to work okay overall, there are a few things that I can see that immediately need improving, but I would really appreciate some feedback from people better informed than we.
From what I can see:
The girth, and all the straps in fact, are too long. I've taped them up in these pics. The girth definitely needs shortening quite a bit - I had to tie it to the cross buck to make it fit this goat, so ignore what is going on there.
The girth also appears to sit very far forwards, right in the poor goat's armpit. I am not sure how I would stop it sliding forwards like this, short of making it very tight. Would two girths (as I have seen in some designs) be better?
The angle of the breast and breeching straps both seem awkward. Breast strap seems very high, possibly putting pressure on the throat?
We followed the plans extremely closely, so I am not sure if this goat is just too small and bony to wear it correctly. If anyone has any tips or anything they can see that would improve the design, I am keen to hear it. We are working on a Mark II, so let me know what is working well for you in your best saddles/your favourite strap set-ups, configurations, etc. I am sure there are a million ways to improve this.
My partner and I are looking seriously at getting some goats for packing in the mountains in Portugal.
With our combined skills, we have been able to build a sawbuck saddle based on measurements and designs we found online.
We don't have any goats yet but were lucky enough to be able to try the saddle out on a friend's dairy goat (a Golden Guernsey mix - ours will be Alpines). While it seemed to work okay overall, there are a few things that I can see that immediately need improving, but I would really appreciate some feedback from people better informed than we.
From what I can see:
The girth, and all the straps in fact, are too long. I've taped them up in these pics. The girth definitely needs shortening quite a bit - I had to tie it to the cross buck to make it fit this goat, so ignore what is going on there.
The girth also appears to sit very far forwards, right in the poor goat's armpit. I am not sure how I would stop it sliding forwards like this, short of making it very tight. Would two girths (as I have seen in some designs) be better?
The angle of the breast and breeching straps both seem awkward. Breast strap seems very high, possibly putting pressure on the throat?
We followed the plans extremely closely, so I am not sure if this goat is just too small and bony to wear it correctly. If anyone has any tips or anything they can see that would improve the design, I am keen to hear it. We are working on a Mark II, so let me know what is working well for you in your best saddles/your favourite strap set-ups, configurations, etc. I am sure there are a million ways to improve this.