Equine Symmetry - MSFC Qualified Saddle Fitter

Equine Symmetry - MSFC Qualified Saddle Fitter Master Saddle Fitting Consultant sharing tips on tack fit, horse welfare, equine fitness and management

I really want more good saddle fitters out there.How wonderful would it be if horse owners everywhere had timely, reliab...
16/08/2026

I really want more good saddle fitters out there.

How wonderful would it be if horse owners everywhere had timely, reliable access to knowledgeable, properly trained fitters who could help navigate the increasingly complicated world of saddle fit?

It’s a profession I genuinely encourage people to pursue.

But here’s the catch: it’s very easy to become a “qualified saddle fitter.”

Have some money? ✔️
Do a course? ✔️
Get a certificate? ✔️
Buy flocking needles and a suspicious amount of wool? ✔️
Congratulations, apparently you’re in business. 😂

With little standardisation or regulation, there can be surprisingly little between “I completed a course” and “I’m now making decisions that affect horses.”

But becoming a good saddle fitter? That’s another beast.

If you genuinely love horses and enter this profession to advocate for them, you’re in for one hell of a rollercoaster.

You’ll discover that anatomy, biomechanics, physics, engineering, saddle construction, rider biomechanics, behaviour and scientific research all have a seat at the table.

You’ll have to get comfortable saying “I don’t know”, and then go find out.

You’ll question what you were taught, what you thought you knew, and sometimes what you were absolutely certain about six months ago.

You’ll encounter conflicting schools of thought, limited research, marketing disguised as science, tradition disguised as fact, and plenty of people convinced their way is the only way.

And through all of it, you have to keep asking:

“What is actually best for this horse?”

Not the brand.
Not the client’s favourite saddle.
Not the trainer.
Not what everyone else does.
Not what makes the easiest sale.

The horse. 🐴

We don’t just need more saddle fitters.

We need better saddle fitters.

Becoming a saddle fitter might be easy.

Becoming the kind of fitter horses actually deserve?

That’s the lifelong apprenticeship. ❤️

Tag the saddle fitters that deserve a shout out and always advocate for your horse here!

A horse’s back isn’t static. It moves in three dimensions at once: up-and-down, side-to-side, and with a slight rotation...
07/08/2026

A horse’s back isn’t static. It moves in three dimensions at once: up-and-down, side-to-side, and with a slight rotational swing, especially through the sitting trot and canter. A rider’s hips, lower back, and ankles are meant to act like shock absorbers, moving with that motion. Your seat stats by following it, not fighting it.

If your breeches grip too hard, they essentially glue your pelvis to the saddle. Instead of your hips absorbing the horse’s motion, that motion has nowhere to go, so it either jars up through your spine, or your body compensates by tensing somewhere else (gripping knees, pinching thighs, stiffening your lower back). Either way, you’ve traded a soft, adjustable seat for a rigid one, and a rigid rider is a harder rider to carry.

This also affects your aids. A horse reads subtle shifts in your seat and weight as cues. If you’re constantly stuck in full contact rather than moving with soft, clear pressure changes, those cues get muddy. The horse can struggle to tell the difference between “just sitting there” and “this is a deliberate aid,” which over time can dull their responsiveness.

It also makes it harder to shift your weight, rise smoothly, or correct an off-balance moment instantly. Even if that moment only lasts a second or two, if it happens often, you’re a wobbly, unbalanced passenger the horse has to compensate for.

And then, there is one more thing. A very expensive drawback actually. You destroy your saddle. That friction over time, rips at the very delicate leather over your saddle and destroys the seat.

How do you feel about silicone breeches?

What does your saddle need to ensure true shoulder freedom for the horse?A little while ago I sat down with Jochen Schle...
04/08/2026

What does your saddle need to ensure true shoulder freedom for the horse?

A little while ago I sat down with Jochen Schleese form Schleese Ltd. | Saddles for Women to talk about shoulder freedom from a manufacturer’s perspective. And it was truly enlightening.

Most owners get overwhelmed by all the marketing jargon thrown at us when we shop for saddles. They all promise the world. And they all seem to promise miracles. The problem with the saddle industry, is that nothing is truly regulated.
Brands can claim whatever they want with little, to no proof to back up their claims. But with a little bit of understanding of equine biomechanics and saddle features, we can sift through the jargon and make empowered decisions about our horses.

It’s always fascinating to sit down with Jochen. We had a few lengthy sessions together covering everything from rider asymmetry, shoulder freedom, saddle design and some awesome tips anyone can use to assess their own saddle fit.

When I first became a saddle fitter, my most naïve belief was that I could help every horse.For a long time, I approache...
29/06/2026

When I first became a saddle fitter, my most naïve belief was that I could help every horse.

For a long time, I approached every fitting with a harm-reduction mindset. Not everyone can afford a new saddle, how can I make what they have work?

But I eventually realised something difficult: pain is still pain.

If I relieve one pressure point but leave others unresolved, have I really helped the horse? Sometimes compromise is appropriate, but some saddles simply cannot be made comfortable. For example, I may adjust the tree angle to reduce shoulder pressure, but if the saddle still restricts the trapezius, the horse can’t lift through the thoracic sling, engage the hindquarters properly, or move without compensation.

The biggest problem? Once a saddle has been “checked,” owners understandably feel reassured. The horse goes back into full work while the subtle signs of discomfort are often blamed on something else.

That’s why I’m much stricter today. There are saddles I won’t work on and cases I won’t take if I know I can’t make a meaningful difference. Not because I want to sell saddles, but because I no longer believe “good enough” is always good enough for the horse.

Independent saddle fitting, especially in the second-hand market, means balancing tight budgets with what the horse truly needs. Sometimes the kindest thing I can do isn’t make a saddle fit, it’s be honest that it can’t. And I know more than anyone that a saddle is a huge investment. Not one everyone can immediately afford. But remember, there is always one other option. We can always NOT RIDE our horse in it. There are very very few scenarios (I actually can’t think of a single scenario), where pushing a horse through pain is necessary. I am not saying you HAVE to buy a new saddle. I am just saying stop riding in it if it is harming your horse.

It’s ok to take a break from riding. It is ok to wait it out until the circumstances change. I have never truly gone into a situation where compromising the horses welfare was ‘worth it’. Especially when for most of us our horses are not life or death scenarios. They are a hobby. A friend. A family member. And we can always choose to put them first.

One of my biggest saddle fitting pet peeves is opening a client’s saddle and finding the panels filled with a mix of dif...
17/06/2026

One of my biggest saddle fitting pet peeves is opening a client’s saddle and finding the panels filled with a mix of different wool types and insertion techniques.

The wool inside your panels plays a critical role in distributing pressure, maintaining panel shape, and allowing the saddle to adapt to your horse’s back and letting the muscles move freely. It is not just “filler.”

One of the biggest misconceptions in our industry is that “wool is wool.” In reality, different saddle manufacturers design their panels around very specific wool types, fibre lengths, densities, and compression behaviour.

This is exactly why the type of wool used during an adjustment or reflock MATTERS.

Unfortunately, many fitters only stock a generic synthetic flocking because it’s cheap, easy to source, and convenient to work with. While it may seem harmless, I’ve seen countless saddle, often premium brands, have their panel performance compromised because the original flocking was replaced with an unsuitable material.

Even worse is mixing different wool types in the same panel. Different fibres compress, settle, and rebound at different rates, creating uneven density, inconsistent support, and unpredictable pressure distribution over time. This can quickly lead to discomfort for the horse.

And then there is overflocking - a major issue in itself. Overstuffed panels don’t just risk pressure points, they can actually restrict natural panel movement and interfere with the horse’s back musculature, limiting expansion, flexion, and range of motion. A saddle that is too full becomes rigid, and instead of supporting movement, it starts resisting it.

A good saddle fitter should always understand:
✓ What flocking is currently in the saddle
✓ What the manufacturer originally intended
✓ Whether new wool is compatible with what’s already there
✓ When a full reflock is more appropriate than simply adding more wool

The right wool helps a saddle perform as designed. The wrong wool can compromise even the highest-quality saddle.

Sometimes what you can’t see inside the panel makes all the difference.

Invest in quality where it actually counts 👇 some tack certainly is worth investing in. 1. A well-fitting girth: prevent...
25/04/2026

Invest in quality where it actually counts 👇 some tack certainly is worth investing in.

1. A well-fitting girth: prevents rubbing, pinching, and restriction through the shoulders. Also making sure you have the right size. So having a few sizes of quality girths is always good.

2. A safe, high-quality helmet: non-negotiable for protecting your brain (no shortcuts here). I would be careful getting this second hand too.

3. A browband that fits and avoids pressure behind the ears and stops subtle tension and resistance. Most bridles come with browbands too small for the horses they are on. So most people end up having to size up.

4. A good ba****ck pad, improves grip, distributes pressure, and protects your horse’s back. It’s all about make sure there is still decent spinal clearance and ideally breathable materials: Absolutely no stirrups should be allowed on a ba****ck pad. But this is one of those items you didn’t know you really wanted until you had one! Having a good pad is also less about ‘protecting’ the horse from the rider’s bum, and more about helping the ride feel a bit more confident and secure on their ba****ck journeys. When the rider feels a bit more balanced, the horse has an easier time carrying you.

These aren’t extras, they directly affect comfort, performance, and safety. Buy once, buy right.

Tell me your horse had an ill-fitting saddle without telling me your horse had an ill-fitting saddle…I’ll start with a f...
19/04/2026

Tell me your horse had an ill-fitting saddle without telling me your horse had an ill-fitting saddle…

I’ll start with a few:

☠️ You brace yourself every time you tighten the girth like it’s a survival drill

🛍️ You have a tower of gel pads, half pads, sheepskins, memory foam, homemade shims, and anything else you felt could make things ‘more comfortable’ for your horse

🙏🏼Your mounting routine includes a deep breath, a pep talk, and a backup plan (and usually another person or a bag carrots)

🙅‍♀️You avoid transitions like they personally offend you

⚖️You’re constantly adjusting your position trying to “fix” a feeling you can’t quite explain. At this point you are sure one leg is longer than the other!

🪦Getting on without lunging beforehand feels like it may shorten your lifespan

💔 You low-key dread riding… but feel guilty admitting it

🚷 Your horse feels like they’ll move any direction except forward. Sideways, absolutely! Backwards, definetly! Foreward? Not without a few threats and arguments.

⏱️You say “he’s fine once you get going” (spoiler: he is not fine)

We see these behaviours so often, they start to feel normal.
We ride through them. We manage them. We try train them out.

Or we know, deep down, something isn’t right…
but we hope it’s “not that bad.”

So we add a gel pad.
Tighten things here, loosen things there.
Tell ourselves it should be better now.

But discomfort doesn’t get trained away.
It gets tolerated… until it can’t be anymore.

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