Where the Fit Really Matters Featuring an adjustable tree for every discipline. Our revolutionary design provides optimal freedom of movement, ensuring maximum comfort and peak performance for horse and rider. Built by hand in Canada.
Amy Contact s e t up a today to ting t saddle fi nt! me appoint
Amy C. Barton DK Saddle Fitter . Sales Representative 978-621-2633 . amycbarton@gmail.com . DKSaddlery.com good first indicator of credibility. Amy Barton met Danny Kroetch, of DK Saddlery, which is in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, at Equine Affaire in 2006, when she was deep into her search for saddles to properly fit her Dales Ponies. Their particular build — a short, wide back and massive shoulders — made for a tall order, and she wasn’t having much success. “I spoke with six or seven saddle companies, had my ponies measured and assessed, and test-rode some beautiful saddles with excellent craftsmanship, but I found 12
December/January 2016
myself disappointed,” Amy remembers. “For close to six thousand dollars, I thought I should be feeling a big difference. They were all nice saddles, but I still felt as though my position should be better. I should feel centered over the middle of my horse, leg underneath me, horse moving freely and relaxed. I wasn’t getting that, but I put down a deposit on the saddle that came closest.” Feeling unsure, Amy met one more saddle fitter by chance; despite his cowboy hat, he had a lot of insight on dressage and jumping saddles Amy hadn’t
heard before. “I was blown away by Danny’s passion and knowledge about saddle fitting, and his very scientific approach,” she says. “He explained biomechanical movement and the way his saddles were designed for the natural asymmetry of the horse. He had me try one and just twenty strides into the ride, I immediately felt the centered, balanced, relaxed ride I’d been looking for. I went back to the saddler who was holding my deposit and told him I’d changed my mind.” Danny is a Master Saddle Fitter and designer. His designs feature an adjustable fit that works with the natural asymmetry of a horse’s back, and are supported by significant research. Inspired by Danny’s passionate approach to saddle fitting and thrilled by her own experience with the saddles, Amy became a saddle fitter for the DK Saddlery line. “The ultimate goal is always to make the best decision for the long-term health of the horse,” she says. “He should be happy and comfortable, never in pain, when we’re riding him.” DK Saddlery’s adjustable-fit technology addresses the horse’s asymmetries, something a rigid wooden tree can’t do. One problem the saddlers address in particular is the tendency of traditional saddles to apply the same amount of pressure on each side of the horse and to apply that pressure too high up. Amy explains how DK Saddlery offers the flexibility that horses need: “Danny’s tree creates the correct length and angle of the tree point, which enables the shoulder hole of the horse to remain open, which enables the scapula to fully rotate under the tree point. The gullet plate on a DK English saddle has fifty centimeters of adjustability and can be adjusted to fit any horse’s asymmetrical shape.” As for western saddles, the same principle of adjustability provides a good fit. “Western riders tend to put their favorite saddle on every horse they’re riding, then pad it up to make it fit,” she says, cringing. “If you’re trying to get a shoe that’s not your size onto your foot, will putting on a different sock make it fit better?” Amy asks. “Probably not. Shims are also not necessarily the best fix — they don’t allow weight to be distributed evenly along the length of the bars. DK western saddles are engineered with adjustable bars that maintain consistent and equal pressure from the front of the bars to the back.” The use of Flair air technology in all DK saddles also makes for an