At the risk of offending any our readers, this is a topic which does need to be addressed, in all honesty. I am not trying to insult anyone here, since the issue of proper saddle fit is not by any means limited to heavier riders – all riders and all horses can and will benefit […]

I thought this was a really interesting topic so I thought I would add my two cents worth in a blog. Jochen has deferred to me for this week and allowed me a presence, especially because one of the stories is actually about him and it is better told in the third person. I find […]

I want to preface this blog by saying that trainers are often the biggest assets in this industry. In my opinion there are two types of trainers: one type works very hard to enhance their education and is dedicated to the well-being and successes of their students and horses; while this may also be part […]

I recently came across a client who had an issue that seems not uncommon. Rider balance is a hot topic nowadays, and often when you look at pictures of riders from behind, they are not sitting quite straight (not even top riders!) When I had the saddle on the horse, the tree fit, the panels […]

Find out how to prevent girth itch and girth galls in horses caused by ill-fitting saddles, with tips from master saddler Jochen Schleese.

Anatomy in general is a crucial factor in saddle fit, as is gender. Men generally have it much easier when trying to find a saddle that fits, because saddles have been traditionally built by men, for men. While women may have an inherent conformational disadvantage, with exercises and muscular development (and a saddle which takes […]

Over 50 million years of equine evolution have seen the stallion biting its opponents in the wither area to determine dominance and literally bring rivals ‘to their knees’. Stallions will also bite mares in the exact same area in preparation for mating – to stop them from moving forward and to be able to mount […]

It has been my experience that horses do not consciously ‘misbehave’ (an anthropomorphism that is often incorrectly attributed to horses who are simply reacting to outside stimuli resulting in unwanted conduct). As such, the following situation could be clearly attributed to a fairly straightforward cause-and-effect situation that became very obvious very quickly. At the height […]

Hello from sunny Florida, where I am presently enroute with my last session of saddle fitting clinics for the winter. The last three days have been absolutely amazing. I have enough pictures and stories to fill this blog for weeks! I truly love the before and after results of helping horses. This is a feeling […]

Our forefathers depended on the soundness of the horse in order to be able to continue to do their jobs, or even survive. Horses at the turn of the century (and up to the mid-1900s) were still used primarily as working animals in agriculture or in the military. Their owners and riders were true horsemen, […]