Innovative gear allowing your horse to move as nature intended
Services
Limitations
Services
- English, treeless, endurance, Aussie saddles, Western
- Evaluate the fit of your current saddle. If the tree is a proper match to your horse, I can recommend and remedy a number of fit and balancing issues (if needed). I will complete my training in adjusting flocking by early 2024, but cannot offer that service yet.
- If your tree is not a proper fit to your horse, I can educate you on the types of trees that would fit your horse - and why.
- I can provide you with accurate tracings and photos of your horse to send to your saddler of choice, so they can get the right saddle for your horse.
- The more saddles you can get your hands on for this fitting session, the better I can illustrate what will and will not work!
- If you are wanting to purchase an English or endurance saddle, and don't know where to start, I can recommend brands and styles in your price-range that will be likely candidates for you and your horse. I am less familiar with specific treed Western saddle makers, and am limited in the recommendations I can make for Western brands - I CAN let you now the gullet-width you need and the bar angle, and whether you are looking for SQHB, QHB, FQHB, Arabian tree, draft tree, haflinger tree, gaited tree, etc.
Fees
Limitations
Services
- $80/hr, billed in 15-minute increments. $40 minimum. Please have your horse ready. Billing is for fitting-time and my wait-time only. If we decide to chat aimlessly somewhere in there, it will be on my time.
- Mileage charges apply. $1.50/mile (one-way mileage only)
- Any materials used (shims, virgin wool, etc) will be billed at list price.
Limitations
Limitations
Limitations
- I cannot re-flock or adjust flocking in English saddles. I can recommend qualified saddlers to do this if it is needed. I am in the process of learning to adjust flocking, and hope to offer that service by early-2024
- I cannot make a tree that is not the correct shape for your horse work for your horse by padding up in any way, shape or form.
Method
Background
Limitations
- I rely on measurements, touch, feel, experience, watching your horse move under saddle to evaluate the fit
- Once you are mounted and riding, I can watch your horse's movement and your position, but I cannot feel what is going on under your saddle. I have an electronic Pressure-sensor pad to help evaluate that final fine-tuning of the fit under saddle. I have an EStride Harmony sensor-pad to help confirm proper fit and help diagnose difficult fit issues. It is one more tool in the toolbox, and the result needs to be interpreted as part of the whole saddle-fit evaluation.
Background
Background
Background
I grew up in Norway. When the Norwegian cavalry was dismantled, many of the Rittmester officers (Captains responsible for training the horses and soldiers) became instructors at the riding schools. Our close family friend was a Rittmester and taught my family equitation and saddle-fit. As a teen attending a local riding school, our instructor was a Rittmester as well. They trained their students the same way they trained their soldiers, and saddle-fit was a very important part of that training.
As an adult, I often helped friends with obvious saddle-fit issues, and with my background in engineering, I found the interplay of physiology, biomechanics, and physics that are involved in a saddle being the interface between a sentient being moving on 4 legs and an often-unbalanced biped on the other side to be challenging and fascinating.
Do I have certifications from institutes and societies? I do not. I learned the basics of saddle-fit from the “Old Masters” who taught the people who teach at the institutes and societies that issue the certifications. I have since learned more from highly respected saddle-fitters who were willing to teach me.
Philosophy
Background
Background
The lines between treed and treeless have become blurred. Treed saddles are now designed to flex and be adjustable, treeless are designed with enough structure to distribute weight as well as any treed saddle. Some horses prefer one or the other. Some horses prefer a BBP.
Both a treed and treeless saddle will hurt the horse when not properly fitted. Both can be a perfect solution when properly fitted. Each horse/rider is a unique partnership with unique physical components. I evaluate the horse and rider and the work they will be doing together to find the best solution – that may be treed, treeless, flextree, or BBP. Do I like all saddles? NO!!!! There is a huge difference between a well-designed quality saddle and a poorly-made saddle that will likely hurt your horse no matter how it seems to fit.
I am so glad to be doing this work in a time when we have so many quality options to be able to find a good solution for everyone.