EI Saddleseat

SADDLESEAT SADDLES
When we were first introduced to the Saddlebred
horse, ridden in a cutback saddle, it was because of
a referral by a concerned Veterinarian who knew
we made humane saddles with air panels. That
particular horse, was being ridden in the worst illfitting saddle that we had ever seen. Fortunately,
we was able to make some alterations to that saddle, which included air panels, that made that horse
make a remarkable recovery.
The Cutback saddle was designed for
the American Saddlebred and other
gaited horses, to give the rider a position to allow their horse maximum use
of their fore-quarters. Unfortunately, it
is this same position of the rider that
also creates back soreness in their
horses, that can not only lead to lameness, but end a show career early in
life.
We have been asked by concerned
trainers and veterinarians to develop a
saddle that will allow a rider that same
position, yet distribute their weight
more evenly over the entire back of the
horse, for better weight distribution,
and a position that will allow maximum
comfort to horse and rider.
For the next 4 years, we attended shows and training sessions, to see what we could do to further aid
these horses, and riders, to make a saddle more
comfortable for the horse, yet give the rider the
ability to sit in an effective seat.
It was from constructive feed-back from trainers,
riders, Veterinarians, and observations, that we
designed a saddle to allow the Saddlebred and
other gaited horses, to move with the maximum
amount of freedom of their shoulders and fore,
encourage the horse to use their abdominal
muscles, and allow their mounts to lift into the
saddle, instead of bracing against their frame.
Our saddles are designed to distribute
the weight of the rider evenly across the
horse’s back, minimizing the risk of
injury. This is accomplished by using
gusseted panels that are filled with wool,
or by using the optional Flair system (air
panels). Either can be adjusted to
compensate for any asymmetries of the
horse’s back. Durable soft French leather
not only looks very luxurious, it’s
softness allows “grip” to stabilize a
rider’s position.
This arrow indicates the width of
the panel that makes contact with the horse’s
back. We have added an additional 2 cm’s to
the width of each panel to distribute the
weight of the rider over a larger area of the
horse’s back.
This arrow indicates the width of
the channel (distance between the panels of
the saddle). This distance has to be wide
enough to not sit on the skeletal processes,
and allow full motion of the supraspineous
ligaments.
Every saddle comes with an
adjustable stirrup-bar system, to
allow the rider to easily change
that position for the correct leg
position.
Only the finest materials are used to
make this incredible saddle. I have
the best saddlers in the world build
these saddles to my patterns— they
truly are craftsman.
For an absolute perfect replica of your
horse’s back, we use a product like the
‘Equiform’ pad. Simply heat the pad
with hot water, tray provided, place on
horse’s back when it cools slightly, and
let it mold to your horses’ back. When
the pad cools, it stiffens up. Mark the
location of shoulders, place in provided
box with enclosed shipping label, and
we will arrange for next day pick-up.
The fitting process begins by getting an exact replica of a horse’s back. The device
shown in the above photo is shipped to you with easy to follow directions, that even
a cave man could follow. When we receive your horse’s back form, and the
completed ’fitting form’ and photos are studied. We can take those measurements
and make a very accurate saddle that will not only allow your horse maximum
comfort under saddle, but also take into any asymmetries that your horse may
have.
If this saddle is for a particular rider, those measurement provided by the ‘fitting’ form;
length of femur, disparity of upper to lower leg, width of pelvis, and any other measurements that not only will determine the size of the saddle, but also
address issues that a rider may have such as lordosis, scoliosis, lower back pain,
including sciatica. We have learned from experience that once a saddle is fitted to the
horse correctly, the horse will be able to move with much more freedom. With freedom
comes positive muscular and skeletal development. For that reason, we had to develop a
saddle that can be adjusted for these positive changes.
In some cases where a horse may be excessively middle hollow, or have deep should holes
that prevent a horse from using their shoulders correctly (which
usually shows up in the canter), we install self-inflating air panels.
In the diagram to the left, you are
looking at the rear of the saddle. In the
case of the Flair air panel system, the
panels are installed with 2 or 4 durable
bladders, that can be filled with a soccer
ball pump. This allows the saddle to
make full panel contact, adjust to the
horse’s asymmetry, and can easily be
inflated to float on top of the horse.