This back-cast is made out of quick-dry 6 inch wide casting wrap, and ends up being about the size of a western blanket. It's easily shipped with a saddle (in a standard U-Haul box) and goes to places that horses normally don't, like inside tack stores.

Because it's a "static" mold, you have an impression of the shape of the horses back without the subtle shifts that horses make when having a saddle placed on their back.

The cast takes 4+ rolls of 6 inch quick drying casting (available at medical supply houses), a bucket of tepid water, a carpenters level, a felt-tip pen, sponge, two humans and a horse. It's a good idea to *practice* the casting technique with a polo or leg wrap before using the casting material, as the casting needs to proceed quickly; the materials stiffen in a minute or two. The warmer the water, the faster the cast will set. Use barely warm (almost cool) water or you'll run out of time!

Stand the horse square (feet aligned) on a flat, level surface. With the sponge, wipe the horses back in the area that would be covered by a small western blanket. Make sure that the hair is really wet, not just damp on the surface. This is necessary or the cast may stick to the hair.

With one person on either side of the horse, open the foil wrap on all of the rolls, place one roll in the bucket, let the water seep into the roll for a few seconds, raise the roll out of the bucket and squeeze out any extra water.

The cast will cover a saddle-blanket area of the back. The material is unrolled to the approx width of a blanket, and starting at the shoulders, placed over the horses back. The two partners should align this first length over the withers, smoothing it down with damp hands, and then the person holding the roll should unroll another length and hand the roll across the back to the other person. The first edge should be two thicknesses, and then the roll gets moved approx. 30% of it's width, so that the next overlap is only about 4 inches (the roll was moved down the back approx. 2 inches). This doesn't need to be real precise, just wrinkle-free and consistent. Successive "wraps" should be smoothed down to eliminate any wrinkles. Continue quickly until the cast covers the horse from the whithers to the loin, doubling up the thickness on the end edge.

As soon as this step is complete, I have my partner raise the horses back _slightly_ (NOT much!) by placing their hand in the navel area and pressing up, while I gently smooth the cast to accommodate this slightly rounded topline. If your horse always travels with a flat or hollow back, you may not want to do this! Ideally, we all want at least a little "round", but "cast the back you will be riding, not the back of your dreams", is a personal philosophy! I have a different "cast" for a dressage saddle than for a distance trail saddle. That may be overkill, ineffective, absurd... but it amuses me ;^). For distance, I want the saddle to be most comfortable when there is a slight lift to the back, but don't want the back so round that the saddle will bridge between the whithers and the loin when the back relaxes down.

Once the cast is firm (not necessarily dry), take the marker and mark the midline (at the spine) back at the whithers and loin.

Then, using the level, mark a leveled line parallel to the ground on each side of the cast. Rotate the level and draw another line at the withers (in front of the "saddle") perpendicular to the ground. I also mark the ideal girth area. Lift the form and let it dry throughly. These laines are important so that the saddle can be bought or made to sit the rider at the natural lowest point of the saddle.

This is **Wonderful** to take into tack stores! I also take a 24 inch length of string with me. When the cast is placed on a saddle stand, it can be "leveled" to your horses back by holding the string by an end and aligning the perpendicular mark on the cast to the string. Use blankets or paper to keep the cast level while saddles are placed on it. This way, you can see if the saddle will sit you level on the horse, or if your weight will get shifted and what adjustments would be required to attain the proper center.

Dr. Kerry Ridgway has taught me so much about saddle fitting that I can't begin to cover it here - and I only know a _little_ bit of what he knows. This cast concept allows you to truly analyze the way the saddle fits a horse. And any saddle fitter could use it to re-fit or customize a saddle. A little common sense goes a LONG way!

Using a Cast, one is able to try an unlimited number of saddles on "your horse" over a long (90 minute) lunch... . If the horse has a strange back, this will insure her/him a good fit!

The cast can also be used to evaluate the wonderful changes that occur in the back as correct muscle is developed (or lost)!! I make casts even when I'm not saddle shopping. It "shows you" the horses back.

Happy Casting!