Wintec saddle with CAIR
~ ~ "after" photo ~ ~
CAIR bladders removed and wool flocking inserted
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Panels removed from saddle
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Pulling up the staples holding the panels together
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Panel top separated
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Panel open, you can see the CAIR bladders and foam inside
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CAIR panel removed; see the (white) flocking that was stuffed in with the CAIR
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Closeup of flocking at rear of panel
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Flocking also in the knee roll.
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CAIR panel removed
See how it is 2 air bladders. Each bladder is very thin at the center. When pressure is applied, air
moves
away from the pressure. Both bladders
flatten out at the center, leaving almost no pressure. Effectively, the saddle bridges.
Air doesn't
just flatten out and provide even pressure; what it does do is move away from pressure until the air
meets the least pressure. This is not the same as "conforming to the horse's back."
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A balloon can only be the shape it is; a long skinny balloon will never be an oval balloon. It is the
same with the CAIR air bladders, except that they have an even thicker "skin" and are less able to
deform than a balloon. They won't fit a horse if the horse's back is different enough from the shape
of the bladders.
Many horses also do not have backs that are suited to the Wintec tree, and the CAIR
panels can't accommodate that.
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CAIR panels side-on; see the overlapping bladders.
CAIR panels can't be adjusted. If one was under-inflated or has a slow leak, then it ends up
under-pressure while the other side retains its pressure. There's no way to make absolutely sure that
an air bladder can't leak.
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CAIR panels are backed by stiff foam.
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Inside the CAIR bladder is foam. The foam further prevents the CAIR from deforming to meet a horse's
back precisely.
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CAIR isn't even immune to pressure points, as is claimed. This one was stuffed in badly and caused to
wrinkle at the front. That wrinkle would have created a nasty pressure point for the horse's shoulder
as he moved.
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