Sammie from The Isle of Man was looking for a saddle for her 14.1 Section “D”, 9 year old mare Maggie. Sammie rides the pony and so does Ella, Sammie’s 9 year old daughter. Very green for her years, Maggie has a big, arching jump and so security for Sammie and Ella was a key consideration. They also hope to do some dressage. Sammie loves the look of the Nyala: they want to be able to “put their knees into” the saddle. The Nyala is a great jump/gp hybrid with a neat, secure seat.
Given that Sammie and Ella are very different size and weight, the saddle would have flexible blocks on Velcro so that they could adjust them for who was riding. Seat size was also a question but it was decided to size the saddle to Sammie and the pony as Sammie was the main rider now and would be for a while. Even if she squeezed in to a smaller seat it would still be too big for Ella and if the seat was too small for Sammie she would tend to sit on the back of the saddle causing discomfort and problems for the pony.
In this story, the needs of the two riders has been the key issue, Maggie being quite straightforward to fit. How the saddle looks was also very important. Sammie loves the look of the Impala Pro Dressage saddle…….”the two tone and contrast stitching and piping is just gorgeous”. So, her Nyala is going to be made up with dark havanna seat and knee pads, black skirt and flaps and white stitching and piping as per the Impala. She is having a matching two tone girth with white stitching and a set of dressage leathers in black.
The saddle is due any day now. When it arrives we will post an image to show you how great it looks!