From New Zealand

by Saddles | Dec 1, 2015 | Saddle Testimonials and Stories

Bella from New Zealand was looking for a dressage saddle for her 7 year old, Hanoverian gelding, Lyndon. Although Bella liked her current saddle, she thought it was too narrow for Lyndon. A friend of Bella’s in Holland has a Suzannah and is very happy with it and thought that this design would suit Lyndon and Bella. How right she was! The wide twist and generous panels would help Lyndon gain and keep top line at a crucial stage of his training and development.
For Bella, her main preference for us to accommodate was that she did not like too big a knee block so the saddle was made with shorter and slimmer blocks than the standard Suzannah block. We also advised Bella that the Suzannah has a wider twist and there is “more saddle” than she has been used to. We explored other options, for example the Lynx Twin Flap but Ian didn’t think the fit would be as good for Lyndon so after conferring some more with her friend in Holland, it was decided to go for a Suzannah.
Lyndon is quite high withered but then fairly wide with quite a lot of shape in his back rather than being flat. So the saddle was made with deeper rear gussets and his shape meant that more flocking was required in the waist of the panel.

A few weeks later Bella writes….
“And Yes! This morning the saddle arrived!
So I rode on it this morning without anything under it.

When I first got on him it felt right straight away! Yay!
I think it is the same as with shoes, when you buy shoes they have to fit right from the start not that you have to get used to them for weeks…

I walked for 10 minutes and then started to ride like I always do. It felt so comfortable! I have the feeling that my position is better. My legs are much stiller and I can’t lean backwards too far.

Lyndon also made all the right noises.. he seemed pretty happy and relaxed!”
It fits perfectly so far”

And a bit later ….
“Have been riding for over a week now and still love the saddle!”

The result: this lovely photo of the two of them……

From USA

by Saddles | Nov 30, 2015 | Saddle Testimonials and Stories

Page lives in Minessota, USA and has a greatly loved Friesan/Morgan cross gelding called Luther. Her saddle fitted Luther but didn’t work for Page. So, this time Page was the fitting conundrum for us, not Luther!!!

Page wanted a dressage saddle but due to the angle of her knee joint, the length of her thigh bone and her round thighs, she has found it impossible to find a dressage saddle that fits her leg comfortably. She finds that her knee travels over the knee block as she rides and traditional dressage saddles are too straight cut for her. Other considerations for us were that Page likes a narrower twist, a medium, not super deep seat and supportive knee blocks and currently rides in a 19” seat.

Ian had a chat with Ideal and together they thought the answer was a saddle with an increased bearing area, wider gullet and a broader more generous and not too deep a seat. That saddle was a 19” Jessica Professional made with a lower cantle, slightly more forward cut flaps and shorter, higher knee blocks. Subsequently we decided to have knee blocks on Velcro, 3 pairs, which would give Page greater flexibility in this respect.

Luther has big shoulders and is wide but not over wide. He is a bit asymmetrical, as many horses are but Ian’s view is that the saddle should be flocked evenly and then the flocking takes up the shape of the horse rather than the other way around. It turned out that we had thought Luther was more “up” in front than he actually is and on this occasion we didn’t get the balance of the saddle quite right first time. I assure you reader, this does not happen often but I tell the story as evidence of our commitment and guarantee to our customers: we arranged for the saddle to be collected from USA, made the necessary adjustments and sent the saddle back out to Page all at our expense.

Luther. Isn’t he lovely!

Page has been a wonderful customer and we have had great fun corresponding. She has another horse, Anja, a Friesan cross again, just 3 years old and we are looking forward to helping Page with a saddle for her next year.

Anja

To complete this story for now, a few words from Page:
“I’ve never had a saddle fit my leg so well. Luther felt free in his shoulder and canter depart was awesome. The sweat pattern was perfect. I am very happy.”

“Things are going VERY well! This saddle is so versatile. I can hike my leathers to get in to a good two point position and my knee STILL does not go over the flap so that is perfect. I couldn’t be happier.”

“People need to know what a fantastic job you do!”

and the best one(!!!)…..
“Please keep in touch. I really like you guys!”

From Canada

by Saddles | May 20, 2015 | Saddle Testimonials and Stories

Zuzana lives in Saskatchewan County in Canada. She has several wide backed horses, Lusitano crosses and Warmbloods and rides to Grand Prix level with some. She trains with Mary Wanless and likes to “clearly feel her seat bones and ride with a fairly closed angle of her leg”.

Zuzana had recently bought a Tonishia but found it wasn’t wide enough for some of her horses and so she was on the hunt for another saddle! Although she and the horses love the Tonishia she would like her new saddle to be closer contact with a smaller block and less restricted seat.

We thought there were two options:

Option 1: we could adapt a Tonishia to greatly enhance her closeness to the horse and accommodate her leg position. We would do this by having less padding in the seat, cut the panels less full, custom flock the saddle with lambs wool which is lighter and softer than the Jacob’s wool used as standard by Ideal and reduce the bulk and depth of the block allowing her knee to pass under the block. The block could be on Velcro allowing her to ride with or without a block.

Option 2: choose a different saddle, our suggestion would be the Lynx Pro. This saddle is a fairly new addition to the Ideal range. It is a closer contact saddle with a smaller block, a less restricted seat, designed for the high level rider. It is a very forgiving fit and should be fine for the horses.

We exchanged lots of emails and Ian and Zuzana chatted on the phone and it came down to this!…….

“to summarise: a “modified Tonishia is a bit of a compromise between what is ideal for you and what we know works for the horses. But you know the saddle so it is not a leap in the dark. Alternatively, go for what I think you want, the Lynx Pro and I guess trust in us that it will work for the horses too!”

Zuzana went for the Lynx Pro and I am very happy to report dear reader that it did work! Here are a few things Zuzana wrote to us:

“I rode a few horses in the new saddle today – and love it! It feels as comfortable as my treeless – like I can forget there is a saddle there at all. The more open seat is great and the blocks are perfect!”

“Yes, the saddle’s working out great, love it. It is the best saddle I ever rode in ☺ . The horses are super comfortable in it and it stays centred with a loose girth”

“It’s been great dealing with you and you definitely have a customer for life!”

Zuzana is riding in her new saddle in the snow. It was -25 degrees!