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……
