by Saddles | May 25, 2014 | Saddle Blog
K**** from Nottinghamshire rang us on her way back from a show. Her coloured horse is “all shoulder” and very flat backed and her new saddle which had been fitted and made for her (not by us) had slipped back so badly and rolled about so much that she fell off. She was amazed her horse hadn’t bronked. Someone at the show suggested she call us (thank you, whoever it was!).
With big shoulders and a flat back, the fit of the saddle needs to be precise. Not only must the front arch of the saddle be the right width, it must be the right shape. Once that is established, the saddle must be the right shape underneath so the gullet is wide and the panels are flocked to the shape of the horse. Given the type and shape of horse, the panels will need to be flat and soft. Many saddles are too rounded and thus will move about. Stability will be further helped with point and balance straps.
Poor K**** was now faced with buying a second saddle and with this in mind, Ian suggested she consider one of his own made to order Minster GP saddles which are unbeatable value at £695. I am about to add this saddle to our web site too! Do take a look under GP saddles!
by Saddles | May 24, 2014 | Saddle Blog
Lauren from Worcestershire is thinking about an Ideal Gazelle for her six year old, 16.1 hh Warmblood. The saddle is purely for show jumping. They compete atm at around 1.05 but are hoping to move up through the classes over the summer. She needs bigger knee/thigh blocks than on her current saddle for a more secure seat as her horse is very spooky. Her other problem is the saddle sliding forward.
The Gazelle is an excellent choice for rider security when a horse is “enjoying” himself! It has big blocks and the stitching on the knee pads goes around the blocks allowing the knee pads to fold. Ideal describe this as “it has ghost pad lines to enable fold in the soft knee pads to ensure comfort and security”. It is pretty forward cut and quite a generous saddle. Lauren didn’t want to loose the close contact she currently has and though neither the Gazelle nor Lauren’s current saddle are strictly close contact, Ian thought Lauren would feel closer in a Gazelle.
For the “going forward” problem, we suggest incorporating a point strap in the girthing and combine this with a softer consistency in the flocking. This should solve the problem.
by Saddles | May 24, 2014 | Saddle Testimonials and Stories
Let me introduce you to Glima!
Elisabeth lives in Norway and wanted a saddle for her new mare, Glima who had arrived from Iceland a few months ago. After much discussion, thought and fun for everyone, she decided upon a saddle in Sala coloured leather with Ranch coloured piping along the seat, based on the Ideal Icelandic but with Ideal Jessica style flaps, calf skin seat and knee pads, both with extra cushioning, large short knee rolls and dressage style girth straps. Ian’s comments included “the saddle will be a very similar width (to Elisabeth’s current saddle), just narrower by a nudge, have a shallower gusset at the back and a softer, flatter flock”. He suggested point and balance straps (v girth) to help stability given that the horse is a young Icelandic, round and flat. He commented that the larger, shorter knee rolls are more versatile and practical than dressage blocks (Elisabeth’s first thought) as your knee can pass underneath, allowing more freedom of movement. He went on to say that the Jessica flaps with these blocks are a good combination of being off the horse’s shoulder but allowing your knee forward.
When fitting the saddle, Ian had to allow for the fact that this young horse was not yet ridden away and was going to have a foal before being backed.
Elisabeth wrote “I love, love, love my new saddle”
The following year, Elisabeth bought a 10 year old black stallion. His saddle was similar but subtly different to Glima’s saddle. It is an Icelandic with a medium depth seat and short, large knee rolls with “formed “saddle flaps.
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Elizabeth riding Glima in her new saddle in an event
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Glima’s new saddle
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The black stallion!
by Saddles | May 21, 2014 | Saddle Blog
Our topic for today is inspired by an enquiry from Mandy from Lancashire, England who is “desperately searching” for the right dressage saddle for her very wide Irish Draught Mare. “Everything seems to shoot up her neck or lift at the back”. She was thinking of an Ideal Jessica on a hooped tree, given that the vsd she has at the moment on Ideal’s hooped tree is the best saddle she has so far tried on her mare. She asked if this can be done.
Yes, it certainly can and we suggested the only other thing she might like to consider is having a Suzannah on that tree. The Suzannah flaps and blocks give you a bit more saddle. Ian had just done a saddle for a similarly very wide Irish Draft cross. That saddle was a Suzannah on a Jessica tree!
Katherine from Australia enquired about saddles for sturdy Welsh Section C ponies and Connemara types, plenty of substance, very broad and sturdy, about 13-14 hh. However, being quite small, short in the leg and medium to heavy build, Katherine prefers a narrower twist as she needs to get as much of her leg down the side of the ponies as possible.
We initially confined our response to dressage and general purpose saddles as a GP saddle might suit her for jumping too, although we would need to explore this further.
We suggested a Suzannah dressage saddle but on a Jessica tree, (see above) which works well on the wider types being a bit flatter. It also has a slightly narrower twist than the Suzannah and a bit more room in the seat. There is also a GP version. We said we would be a bit concerned recommending a saddle with a narrower twist than this eg the Roella, given the type of pony it is to be used on. Point and balance strap type girthing arrangement is standard on the dressage version and can be incorporated in to the GP version. This will help the stability of the saddle, often a problem on sturdy, broader types of pony. In this respect we suggested she might like to consider GP style (ie short) girth straps on the dressage saddle so that she can use a GP girth and get more purchase than you would with a dressage style girth. She could also then adjust the girth herself while mounted!
The latest on this is that we have all gone back to the drawing board! Katherine feels that the bigger, chunkier saddles are too much saddle on these ponies and she herself prefers a more discreet type of saddle. We suggested she take a look at the Stuttgart Junior and the Rebecca (in the Ideal range but not illustrated on our web site) , both of which are neater, smaller saddles with flatter seats, less block and a narrower twist. The saddle can be “Designed to Order” to fit her as needed: a deeper/flatter seat, shorter flaps and the tree can be adjusted to narrow the twist, although this will be a compromise between what is comfortable for her and what will work for the ponies. We would work with Ideal and Katherine to achieve this balance.
We will soon be starting a series of articles on saddle fitting, to include one on the problems, solutions and principles of fitting the very wide. Please send us a message if you would like to receive a copy.
by Saddles | May 18, 2014 | Saddle Testimonials and Stories
Sammie from The Isle of Man was looking for a saddle for her 14.1 Section “D”, 9 year old mare Maggie. Sammie rides the pony and so does Ella, Sammie’s 9 year old daughter. Very green for her years, Maggie has a big, arching jump and so security for Sammie and Ella was a key consideration. They also hope to do some dressage. Sammie loves the look of the Nyala: they want to be able to “put their knees into” the saddle. The Nyala is a great jump/gp hybrid with a neat, secure seat.
Given that Sammie and Ella are very different size and weight, the saddle would have flexible blocks on Velcro so that they could adjust them for who was riding. Seat size was also a question but it was decided to size the saddle to Sammie and the pony as Sammie was the main rider now and would be for a while. Even if she squeezed in to a smaller seat it would still be too big for Ella and if the seat was too small for Sammie she would tend to sit on the back of the saddle causing discomfort and problems for the pony.
In this story, the needs of the two riders has been the key issue, Maggie being quite straightforward to fit. How the saddle looks was also very important. Sammie loves the look of the Impala Pro Dressage saddle…….”the two tone and contrast stitching and piping is just gorgeous”. So, her Nyala is going to be made up with dark havanna seat and knee pads, black skirt and flaps and white stitching and piping as per the Impala. She is having a matching two tone girth with white stitching and a set of dressage leathers in black.
The saddle is due any day now. When it arrives we will post an image to show you how great it looks!
