by Saddles | Jul 6, 2018 | Saddle Blog
Well, I have to admit to having been a bit remiss in my posts so far this year! Having told myself off, let me bring you up to date!
The UK has been our biggest source of customers so far this year, although “the rest of the world” has still accounted for over 50% of our buisness. Australia was a key country, Ramsay show saddles being in demand. Japan was in the list again, as was Sweden. New countries for us were Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. Returning customers were a notable and to us, very rewarding feature. The range of type of horse, as ever, is wide…….from ponies to an 18hh Irish Draft, taking in warmbloods, TBs, cobs and some interesting (Percheron x Spanish) crosses along the way.
As ever, the Suzannah dressage saddle, including the Monoflap, is high on the popularity list, as is the Roella but overall this has been more of jumping and GP time! Top of the pops is the wonderful Gazelle, one being made for the aforementioned 18h ID but the Nyala, Impala, Grandee and X-ceed featured also. For the very wide, the new FWB came in to its own although the H&C range held its place as a regular answer for the wide. Another feature this year have been requests for saddles to be made with extra short panels. More about this soon!
by Saddles | Feb 23, 2018 | Saddle Testimonials and Stories
Renee from Australia ordered a Ramsay show saddle for her daughter’s pony, Daisy at the end of last year. She wanted the deepest seat version with an integrated pencil block.
As you can see, Daisy is gorgeous and Renee’s daughter rides beautifully. They make a very elegant pair! Renee sent us these photos and wrote:
“Over the last two weekends we have attended two major shows here. Daisy’s saddle fits her perfectly and looks amazing on her and she is so free in her movement.
We won smartest on parade in the leading rein and she was Runner Up Small Open Pony so she is off to represent NSW at the Nationals. Thanks so so much once again for your amazing service.”
Success so well deserved. Lets wish them all luck at The Nationals!
ENSW Elizabeth Farm Horse of the Year Show 2018
Pacific Coast Championships 2018
Photos by kind permission of Lorelle Mercer
by Saddles | Jan 26, 2018 | Saddle Blog
I’ve just posted two new saddles on our “Offers” page. One, a Walsall Riding Monkey Jump pony jump GP saddle (15 1/2″) and the other a show cut FWB for the very wide (17″). Both available now!….and can either be fitted or sent to you as they are.
A great pony jump GP saddle
Show cut on FWB tree
by Saddles | Jan 25, 2018 | Saddle Blog
If you are and do, for jumping and cross country then you might be interested to see this saddle. It was made for a young man in Ireland who is tall, very long in the leg and who likes to ride very short across country. This is a Walsall Riding Integra Monoflap made extra forward cut and with a bigger knee roll.
Integra Monoflap, extra forward cut
by Saddles | Dec 1, 2017 | Saddle Testimonials and Stories
Well, it’s been quite a year! The UK, our home country has topped our list of countries this year, followed closely by Australia, New Zealand and USA. Closer to home, we have had orders from Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Denmark. Norway, France and Ireland. So, we continue to live up to our name!
Reflecting this diversity is the range of types of horses: Warmblood, TB, Hafflinger, Andalusian, Gypsy Cob , Pure Bred Spanish, Connemara, Highland, Welsh Cob, Irish Sport Horse, Stationbred and even Friesan X Apaloosa!
The Suzannah and the Suzannah Monoflap top the list for choice of model. Popular jump saddles were the Impala, the Gazelle and the jump GP, Nyala. Very notable this year was the need for wide fitting saddles. The new Ozelle came in to its own for this as did saddles built on the new FWB hooped tree although in some cases the answer lay in old favourites, the H&C and the Jessica tree.
As ever, some saddles were made to a very individual specification, not only in terms of creating the perfect fit but also appearance. Some saddles were quite exotic!…as described in earlier posts.
Here are a few stories of this year’s happy customers. Forgive me if I begin with Page from the USA and Cheryl from New Zealand. Both have described our service as “AWESOME” which as you can imagine made us very happy too! Page is a returning customer, this time needing a saddle for her youngster, Anja, seen here in the photo below. She decided upon a 1550 GP with 3 sets of knee blocks on Velcro, thigh blocks on Velcro, no rear pad on the flaps, show bar ie stirrup bar in the dressage position & dressage length billets. Cheryl’s saddle for George was also a 1550 but built on a FWB tree.
Page….” As I have said before – you guys provide the BEST customer service”!
Cheryl…”Thank you again for all your help. You are awesome”!
Next is Kaitlyn, from USA, riding in her Impala, made with slightly longer flaps than standard and with Buffaloe skirt & flaps and Grippy Hide seat & pads.. We weren’t asked to fit this saddle to a specific horse and here is what Kaitlyn had to say……
“just wanted to update you and aside from the saddle being beautiful, it is breaking in super well! Fits such a variety of horses, more than I anticipated! And with the grippy leather and thigh blocks has saved me from some falls off some frisky horses! I just wanted to thank you again!”
Feeling secure on frisky horses!
Lets now go to France! Jane has three PRE Spanish horses and needed a saddle for Lunar. The new Ozelle was the answer, made for Lunar in Buffaloe with Suede seat & pads & white stitching. Jane sent us a lovely message:
“Hello Jane.
Please can you tell Ian that he made a great job of the saddle for Lunar. It doesn’t slip to the left and is about as close to perfect as I think I could get.
A huge long distance success!”
This is the lovely Lunar
The new Ozelle was the answer for Lunar
Now we’re off to Norway! Jenny had had a long and fruitless search for a dressage saddle to fit her Danish Warmblood, Attack . The issue was his big shoulders and tall, wide, long withers compounded by his short, straight back. As a result Attack had been out of work for some time and was loosing muscle. Jenny was despairing. The solution was to put our heads together with Ideal. We often ask for their input when faced with a particularly difficult fitting. The result was a Suzannah, probably the only tree that will accommodate his shape, with the panels cut and shaped to conform to Attack’s conformation. We were delighted to hear that:
“the saddle fit him good, he works good in it and I think he has a little bit more muscle on his back”
and
“I have to say that the saddle is just amazing to ride in and people on the stable think it looks so nice and good to sit in”
Here is a now happy Attack!
A Suzannah with panels specially cut and shaped was the solution to his fitting problems.
Well, dear reader, I could go on and on and on but if you have got this far, thank you for your perseverance!
Roll on 2018. We look forward to “meeting” lots more great people and their lovely horses here in the UK and around the world!
Happy 2018 to all!
