That individual fi t

DRESSAGE HORSES AND RIDERS COME IN ALL SHAPES AND SIZES, AND AN ‘OFF THE PEG’ SADDLE MAY NOT ALLOW THE COMBINATION TO FULFIL THEIR POTENTIAL. JANE CARLEY LOOKS AT HOW SADDLE MAKERS AIM TO FIND THAT PERFECT FIT.

The production line saddle is becoming a thing of the past, according to James Hitchen of the Ideal Saddle Company.

“In the last 25 years, we have moved to batch production of bespoke designs,” he explains. “The UK leads the way in this, being prominent in saddle fitting due to the wor of the Society of Master Saddlers.”

He points out that even small tweaks to the way the saddle fits can have a dramatic impact on performance, so it is perhaps not surprising that out of the 104 saddles Ideal produces each week, a large percentage are bespoke.

The basis for Ideal’s approach is its in-house saddle tree manufacturing division, which also supplies other saddle makers. e can easily adjust the tree for an improved fit on a horse with a dipped back or powerful rear end, for example,” says James.

Responding to customers’ individual requirements can mean modifying saddles in the range, he explains. he Susannah is our best seller, but if it won’t fit a particular horse, we need use a different tree frame.

He comments that dressage saddle design has had to evolve to keep up with progression in the sport, saddles needing to fit the modern warmblood with its shorter, broader and flatter bac . “However, our dressage saddles are designed on a variety of frames, from the Sophia, which offers a narrow seat for the rider and suits a more angular horse, to the livia which has a flared arch for the broader, more powerful mount. It helps that the saddle is designed from the tree up.” The popularity of adjustable saddles has seen Ideal develop its T&T range which has a synthetic tree on a designed frame with an adjustable gullet. “It won’t suit every horse, but is a really good general fit and an e cellent starting point. Unlike other adjustable gullet saddles our gullet plate is not flat, but is ergonomically shaped so that the points come back from the shoulder for an improved fit.

LEFT: DRESSAGE HORSES COME IN ALL SHAPES AND SIZES – THE SHORT BACKED, WIDE AND NO WITHERS SHAPE IS COMMON IN COBS, BUT CAN ALSO BE AN ISSUE WITH WARMBLOODS. PDS SADDLES HAS ADDRESSED THIS WITH ITS INTEGRO SADDLE.

he uest to find a saddle to suit both the horse and rider can sometimes seem a daunting one, but advances in saddle technology and adjustability ma e it possible. harlotte Dujardin got in touch with anessa Fairfa of Fairfa Saddles when she was having issues eeping saddles still on her rising star, io. t barely hh the e travagant moving, short coupled chestnut has the conformation and movement combination that causes the greatest saddle stability issues. io has certainly been a challenging saddle fit, but than s to the adjustability and various built in fitting features of our saddles, I was able to adjust the saddle on the spot to suit his shape and movement, says anessa. nd it’s not just lympians who can benefit from a bespo e fitting service we wor with a nationwide networ of ualified saddle fitters who adjust and fine tune the saddle to the horse on the day of the actual fit, so the rider can feel the difference for themselves, she e plains.

Fairfa saddles are changeable through seven widths of gullet bar, so the saddle can easily be adjusted to suit the horse’s wither profile. harlotte’s choice the orld lass onoflap has two panel options and the deeper one was best suited to io’s bac shape, providing the ideal saddle balance.

ABOVE LEFT: IDEAL’S DRESSAGE SADDLES ARE DESIGNED ON A VARIETY OF FRAMES, FROM THE SOPHIA, WHICH OFFERS A NARROW SEAT FOR THE RIDER AND SUITS A MORE ANGULAR HORSE... ABOVE RIGHT: ...TO THE OLIVIA WHICH HAS A FLARED ARCH FOR THE BROADER, MORE POWERFUL MOUNT.

“Girthing is also crucial to optimising saddle stability,” says Vanessa. “That’s why the World Class comes with three girth straps on each side, so diff erent options can be test ridden. For io, anessa selected the fi rst point) strap to stop the saddle moving forwards and the third strap to stabilise the back of saddle. This, combined with the Narrow Gauge Fairfax Performance girth which is shaped to avoid the active musculature behind the horse’s elbows, ensured optimal saddle stability on Gio’s compact frame. aving focused on getting the fi t right for the horse it’s important to ensure the rider feels at one with their horse and this is where Fairfa ’s scientifi c research into horse and rider synchronicity comes in. Charlotte was able to customise the combination of seat and fl ap si e on the Fairfax World Class Dressage which allowed her to feel in harmony with io’s fl amboyant movement. ll riders can benefi t from this research because Fairfa off ers customisable seat and fl ap options to suit their individual physique, along with two choices of twist width. oungsters are highly sensitive to saddle fi t, says David Kempsell of WOW Saddles.

“Your four year-old deserves a decent saddle as he will be infl uenced more by saddle fi t than an established horse. Trials showed that lifting the back of the saddle just 6mm on an advanced horse shortened its trot stride length by mm, although it didn’t adversely aff ect the uality of the pace. With a youngster, stride length shortened by 300mm – some 12% – and quality was reduced.”

LEFT: CHARLOTTE DUJARDIN’S GIO HAS THE CONFORMATION AND MOVEMENT COMBINATION THAT CAUSES THE GREATEST SADDLE STABILITY ISSUES BUT THE FAIRFAX WORLD CLASS MONOFLAP HAS TWO PANEL OPTIONS AND THE DEEPER ONE WAS BEST SUITED TO GIO’S BACK SHAPE, PROVIDING THE IDEAL SADDLE BALANCE. RIGHT: BROAD PANELS ON THE PDS INTEGRO ALLOW MAXIMUM CONTACT WITH THE HORSE’S BACK.

Karen Abdulla’s usually willing mare Bella was showing tension in her walk with short and irregular steps, would rush in trot and was tight in her shoulder movement. When Karen asked for left canter, she would buck or twist and over the months became completely unpredictable. Karen, who is based near Preston and aims to start competing in affi liated classes this year, had previously invested in a custom-made saddle which had been checked numerous times. Her vet and physio examined the mare but there appeared to be no obvious reason for the dangerous behaviour.

Upon recommendation from trainer Tina Marriot, she found a new physio who requested to see the saddle on the horse and advised it just wasn’t the right shape for the horse.

Karen contacted Sally Bacon from SB Tech Saddles, who fi ts PDS Saddles. Sally recognised that the mare’s conformation was going to be tricky to fi t. “She has a barrel shape with very little wither which means that we would be faced with saddles sliding around and/or impinging on her shoulders. Bella also needed a short tree as her 18th rib was short, not giving me much of an area to fi t the saddle. This is a common issue with cobs, native types or short coupled, barrel types.”

The PDS Integro was created for this shape of horse, Sally explains.

“Carl Hester had problems with fi tting his mare Brioso so he worked with PDS on designing a saddle specifi c for this hard-to-fi t conformation. The saddle tree is less ‘shapely’ and the panels are broad allowing maximum contact with the back, the girth straps can be moved to help keep it in position while allowing freedom for the shoulders.”

The PDS interchangeable XChange gullet system also enables saddle fi tters to change to a narrower or wider gullet.

As soon as the new PDS saddle was fi tted to Bella she was a different horse: relaxed and rhythmical steps in the walk, smooth transition to trot, swinging over her back and the canter transitions were balanced. Karen felt secure and the knee blocks helped with her position without restricting leg movement.

“I still fi nd it hard to believe that before I bought this saddle, I was considering retiring Bella as her behaviour had become so dangerous and now, we are back to enjoying our rides and working towards competitions together.”

David emphasises that it is important to fit and eep refitting as the horse progresses. hanges in the horse’s shape are insidious. ften saddle fit is not addressed until it starts to have a serious impact on the horse’s performance. customers have access to a saddle gauge which uses a pendulum type action to chec if the saddle is still in balance, and thus if the horse has changed shape. Some horses can change rapidly we have seen one horse go up three headplate widths in three wee s. If you can see that the saddle needs attention, it can be refitted before it starts to affect his wor , he says. aving the saddle refitted can also lead to further changes as the horse moves more freely, so it is worth thin ing in terms of wee s, not months, before chec ing again. he horse’s shape will stabilise eventually, but saddle chec s should not be the last resort. He comments that the misconception about horses’ development is that they grow a wither’. he rib cage is suspended between the forelegs, so as the horse develops it is pulled up by the S and in doing so pops the dorsal processes up between the fore limbs, which can affect how the rider sits in the saddle. offers a solution to this with its modular’ saddles which offer three stirrup bar and flap positions. n a youngster, we would fit the flap forward and hang the stirrup from the forward bar, creating a jumping seat which allows a more defensive’ position. s training progresses and stirrups lengthen, we move the flap and the stirrup bar position bac we can also swap the flaps to suit the riding position.

ABOVE: WOW’S ‘MODULAR’ SADDLES OFFER THREE STIRRUP BAR (ALL THREE SHOWN) AND FLAP POSITIONS. WITH THE FLAP FITTED FORWARD AND THE STIRRUP HUNG FROM THE FORWARD BAR, THIS GIVES A GP/JUMPING SEAT WHICH ALLOWS A MORE ‘DEFENSIVE’ POSITION.

ABOVE: PRESTIGE ITALIA’ S X-D2 K SADDLE WAS THE SOLUTION FOR AN EXTRAVAGANT MOVING HORSE AND TALL RIDER.

Prestige Italia stockist Ellie Norrie faced an unusual challenge with rider and trainer Jayne Lancashire’s horse Fitzgerald.

‘Gerald’, is 17.3hh, 10 years old and a modern sports horse with big shoulders, short back, wide spine and an extravagant mover. “I observed that Gerald had a high wither with a dip behind his shoulder blade and when watching him move he hit the ground heavily; he is treated weekly by a physio as he has always been tight in his sternum, ribs and chest, and was reluctant to be girthed up,” explains Ellie.

Jayne has an inside leg measurement of 36in and suffers with dysplasia of her left hip so it is essential that she is comfortable in the saddle and that it has a narrow twist.

“We fitted Gerald and Jayne out in a Prestige X-D2 K 18in medium width with an extra-long flap and a Prestige RP girth. The D2 offers ‘shoulder free’ technology at the front of the panel allowing the shoulders to be able to rotate back into the saddle without compromising the movement,” comments Ellie.

“The RP girth has an innovative round panel in the centre which allows pressure to be distributed over a larger surface area and creates an air cushion to further reduce the pressure. The main part of the girth sits behind the round panel away from the horse’s sternum, and the girth is able to move slightly in all directions with the horse’s natural movement.”

Jayne instantly felt a difference in Gerald, he was softer in his neck, worked in a lower outline and lifted in his back, and after a few months the improvement has been significant, Ellie explains.

“Gerald has completely changed shape and is now two fittings wider. His back muscles have developed and built up, he no longer has such a big dip behind his shoulder and is happy to be girthed up. Gerald’s physio has also seen an enormous difference as he is no longer tight in his sternum, back or neck.” Whilst Gerald was being shod Jayne’s farrier asked what has been changed. Gerald had been suffering with a quarter crack in his hoof from how he had been landing each stride on the ground. Jayne says now you don’t hear him thumping on the ground and the crack in his hoof is healing. Although the saddle tree is 30% wider than traditional dressage saddles and the panels are wider offering the horse more support, Jayne feels the saddle is comfortable and supportive, Ellie points out. “The seat is able to be wider for the horse but narrow for the rider due to how it is built; the X Technology tree with an elastic material injected into it allows the rider’s seat bones to sit closer to the horse without hindering his movement.”

Jayne comments on the difference in Gerald’s way of going: “Dressage isn’t just about making a horse have a big trot, unless they are truly working over the back and lifting through the sternum they cannot shorten correctly and I have seen a huge improvement in our work.”

THE AMERIGO HC DRESSAGE SADDLE has been specifi cally designed for horses with high croups that tend to tip the saddle forward when in movement. The Amerigo HC Dressage saddle also has an extra wide gullet to accommodate horses that are wider through the withers.

THE PDS DELICATO DRESSAGE SADDLE is built on a carbon fi bre tree for close contact and clear communication. The patented AMS® panels and siliconised synthetic wool fl ocking are softer and kinder to the horse’s back, combined with the wider channel, encouraging the horse to lift and use its back more effectively.

THE WOW ULTRA COMPETITOR has a unique Y-shaped tree, which maximises freedom of movement at the shoulder to allow the back to elevate and swing. Including an ultra-ergonomic seat. Its reduced bulk gives a very close contact and superb feel. It is fully customiseable with fl ap shapes, panel lengths, colours and stitching.

IDEAL SADDLES T&T DRESSAGE SADDLE is perfectly designed to fi t the needs of the aspiring dressage rider. It has a medium soft dressage seat, interchangeable Velcro rolls for perfect leg positioning and different girthing options for your horse. As with all Ideal saddles the panel design optimises horse comfort and performance.

THE ADELAIDE was designed for riders looking to improve their performance through sensation, closeness of contact and precision for the rider’s leg. The narrow twist ensures it is comfortable for even the longest sessions, whilst the 'cut back' tree ensures it is easy to adjust and gives incredible freedom of movement.

THE PRESTIGE ITALIA XD2 SADDLE has a new and updated appearance! The saddle has a ‘unisex’ tree, the fi rst one that makes it very comfortable for both male and female riders. It is now offered with a new stitching pattern and patent leather inserts, that visually enhance the special features of this model.

FAIRFAX WORLD CLASS

The knee block and seat confi guration helps the rider's pelvis remain in neutral for longer, with a more evenly distributed seat pressure. There are seven combinations of fl ap length and seat size options to suit the individual rider's anatomy, plus standard and wide twist options for a variety of hip shapes.