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.