Page lives in Minessota, USA and has a greatly loved Friesan/Morgan cross gelding called Luther. Her saddle fitted Luther but didn’t work for Page. So, this time Page was the fitting conundrum for us, not Luther!!!
Page wanted a dressage saddle but due to the angle of her knee joint, the length of her thigh bone and her round thighs, she has found it impossible to find a dressage saddle that fits her leg comfortably. She finds that her knee travels over the knee block as she rides and traditional dressage saddles are too straight cut for her. Other considerations for us were that Page likes a narrower twist, a medium, not super deep seat and supportive knee blocks and currently rides in a 19” seat.
Ian had a chat with Ideal and together they thought the answer was a saddle with an increased bearing area, wider gullet and a broader more generous and not too deep a seat. That saddle was a 19” Jessica Professional made with a lower cantle, slightly more forward cut flaps and shorter, higher knee blocks. Subsequently we decided to have knee blocks on Velcro, 3 pairs, which would give Page greater flexibility in this respect.
Luther has big shoulders and is wide but not over wide. He is a bit asymmetrical, as many horses are but Ian’s view is that the saddle should be flocked evenly and then the flocking takes up the shape of the horse rather than the other way around. It turned out that we had thought Luther was more “up” in front than he actually is and on this occasion we didn’t get the balance of the saddle quite right first time. I assure you reader, this does not happen often but I tell the story as evidence of our commitment and guarantee to our customers: we arranged for the saddle to be collected from USA, made the necessary adjustments and sent the saddle back out to Page all at our expense.
Luther. Isn’t he lovely!
Page has been a wonderful customer and we have had great fun corresponding. She has another horse, Anja, a Friesan cross again, just 3 years old and we are looking forward to helping Page with a saddle for her next year.
Anja
To complete this story for now, a few words from Page:
“I’ve never had a saddle fit my leg so well. Luther felt free in his shoulder and canter depart was awesome. The sweat pattern was perfect. I am very happy.”
“Things are going VERY well! This saddle is so versatile. I can hike my leathers to get in to a good two point position and my knee STILL does not go over the flap so that is perfect. I couldn’t be happier.”
“People need to know what a fantastic job you do!”
and the best one(!!!)…..
“Please keep in touch. I really like you guys!”