Performance Saddlefits North Tasmania

10/03/2025

Brought this saddle back to life for a client to use for a few more rides. 💖 It had old CAIR panels (found one was flat) replaced with wool flock, had worn stitching on a girth point now repaired, and a bit of leather care. Happy trails!

07/03/2025

OMG another one! 😳 - can you imagine how much damage this would do to your horse!
The solution is learning how to do a Saddle Health Check!
We teach you how to do this in our upcoming Saddlefit Workshop - it’ll keep you and your horse safe and save you $$$

You bring your own saddle/s along and learn how to;
🔹 check your tree soundness and straightness
🔹check your flocking/Cair/foam/air panels
🔹check for panel symmetry
🔹check for stitching, leather, manufacturing faults or dangerous wear and tear.
🔹check your girth points wear, stretching and alignment

Oh and you will learn a bazillion more things about how your saddle should fit your horse and signs to look for!

You can dive into more learning for you and your horse at our upcoming Nth Tassie workshop!

https://www.horseprohub.com/saddlefit-and-biomechanics-workshop-15-mar-tas

Another example of why it is so important to have your saddles checked.
This saddle was recently purchased second-hand and luckily, I was called out to fit it and found a broken tree before it caused damage to the horse, or a serious accident.
This was the second one in two days! Please have your saddles fitted and checked regularly and be so careful when investing in second-hand saddles.

Learning how to do a saddle health check is an essential skill that will save you dollars, and damage to you and your horses. It's one of many topics we cover in our upcoming seminar in Hamilton Victoria.

Here's the link if you'd like to register -

https://www.horseprohub.com/saddlefit-and-biomechanics-workshop-29-march-hamilton

06/03/2025

Who has the Duty of Care when ….

04/03/2025

We absolutely LOVE inspiring people. And we are incredibly passionate about sharing knowledge that help our horses!

If you are not sure what you might get out of coming to one of our Saddlefit and Biomechanics Workshops, don’t take it from us that it will be the best thing you will do for you and your horse in 2025 – hear it from others about how you are going to benefit…

We want to give you the same ‘aha’ moments at our upcoming Workshop 😊
We are here for you in Tassie, next weekend - Sat 15th in Longford, and you can even book in for a private Saddlefit Assessment Sun 16th with us.

Here’s the link and we will see you there!
https://www.horseprohub.com/saddlefit-and-biomechanics-workshop-15-mar-tas

03/03/2025

Did you know – Studies have shown (Fruehwirth et al. 2004)
that the force impact coming down through your saddle to your horse’s back equals approx:

😯 2 x the Rider’s weight in trot
😯 2 ½ x the Rider’s weight in canter.

Just let that sink in. (no pun intended!)

Pressure is a measurement of force over an area.
So if you have a 70kg rider on a well-fitting 17” saddle, you will have a certain amount of pressure through your panels on your horse’s back.

But what if you have a 70kg rider on a well-fitting 16” saddle 🤔 (less surface area now on the horse’s back because it’s a smaller saddle) – the pressure you have on your horse’s back is HIGHER!
You have less space to spread the weight of the rider. So higher pressure.

Did you notice we have been saying ‘well-fitting’?
What if we take a saddle with a tree that is a bit too curvy for the horse’s back?
What if we have one that is too ‘A-frame’ for a flatter shaped back?

What happens then?

What happens to the pressure distribution of the 2 x the rider’s weight (70kg in this case) over the surface area of the saddle if it isn’t the right shape for the horse?

Well, it’s not spread as evenly as we can get it. (By the way it never is ‘even’ as the horse and rider is moving all the time and changing balance etc)
What we get instead, is higher peak pressures in certain areas under the saddle.

What’s the implications for the horse?

Long term, sustained high pressure causes tissue damage (you are squishing muscle fibres, blood vessels, nerve endings, ligaments, tendons etc)

Not a nice thought, right? (not here to make you feel bad, we are here to make you think!) 🤔

It’s bigger than that though, horses MOVE AWAY FROM PRESSURE.
So uncomfortable high pressures, are going to make them try and move away from it. Whether that is:

🔹 dropping their back a little
🔹‘falling out’ over a shoulder,
🔹swinging out more with a hindleg,
🔹struggling to be on the bit consistently
🔹not being able to lift and rotate their shoulder back properly over a jump…

High pressure changes the way their muscles can work to move their joints, so makes them change their posture, their movement and their ability to do their job effectively.

The key to making saddles work for horses to distribute rider pressure more evenly?

➡️Understand their unique back shape, including any asymmetries
➡️Understand what that means in terms of saddle tree design
➡️Get the balance right with the right shape, depth, and shock absorbency of panels
➡️Get the saddle fit right for the rider

And learn as much as you can on their behalf; they deserve it ♥️

Tassie - here is your PERFECT opportunity to learn! Next Weekend, 15/16th March, we are hosting a Saddlefit and Biomechanics workshop with SMS Fitter and passionate educatory - Paula Jeffery
Follow the link below to book your space

https://www.horseprohub.com/saddlefit-and-biomechanics-workshop-15-mar-tas

28/02/2025

Only 2 Weeks to go Tasmania - Grab your tickets now!
Here's your chance to learn more about your horse and how to best help them in this full day workshop.

Find out:
🔹 How to assess your horse's unique Back Profile - and what that means for saddle choice
🔹 How to palpate your horse's back and body - and recognise warning signs BEFORE they become bigger problems
🔹 How to spot asymmetries in your horse - and what corrections will be needed for his saddle to be comfortable
🔹 How to know what YOU will need in a saddle - and how it affects you as a rider
🔹 How to do a saddle health check (bring your own to check it out) - SAVE $$ on buying the wrong or damaged saddles!

You will come away from this hands-on workshop with your head buzzing and filled with essential new skills that you can apply to help your horse immediately.

And if you are a coach, bodyworker, vet, physio - the more you can recognise these signs in horses, the more you can help your clients ♥️

Sunday 16th we have limited availability to do Saddlefit Assessments with one of the best fitters/Saddlefitter trainers/educators in the industry - Paula Jeffery.
DM to book your spot.

Click the link below - we don't get these opportunities in Tasmania often, so don't miss out on your chance to develop valuable new skills.
➡️

Join us on Saturday 15th March 2025 for our Saddlefit and Biomechanics Workshop in Longford, Tas as part of our 2025 regional educational Workshop Tour!

26/02/2025

Have you ever had a good look at the balance of your saddle panels?🧐

Q - How has it been stored?

Q - When was it last re-flocked? Are the gussets the same?

Q - Are they asymmetric because of your horse? Have you addressed this with your body worker or a vet?

Q - Are they asymmetric because of the way you ride? A good question to ask your riding coach.

👩‍🏫 Come to our saddle fitting seminar with Master Saddlefitters Paula Jeffery, and learn heaps more about saddlefitting and all the benefits for your horse.

ENTER HERE⤵️
https://www.horseprohub.com/saddlefit-and-biomechanics-workshop-15-mar-tas

20/02/2025

“ And the horse was square too!”

Do you see it?
Do you know where it’s coming from?
Do you know what the consequences for the horse will be?

The fair majority of us are asymmetrical in our bodies in some way. It’s natural. It’s just that some asymmetries are more extreme than others, and they have bigger consequences for the horse.

Take a look at this horses shoulders. Take a look at this horse’s hips.
Can you see the effect on the saddle?

What do you think happens when the rider gets on?
How straight do you think rider can sit?

Where do you think the horse is going to get higher areas of pressure from the rider’s weight coming down into the saddle?

Horses have to compensate when they carry a rider’s weight anyway, but when that weight is distributed in a crooked way, they have to:

🔹hold muscles tighter on one side than another
🔹 change the way they move - they can’t travel straight
🔹 they might load one shoulder heavier than another (fall in or out)
🔹 they might cross one hind leg under their bodies more to balance that weight
🔹 they move their rib cage more to one side away from high saddle pressure against their spine
🔹they hold their neck and head more to one side, so bending evenly in both directions will be really difficult.

Can you imagine the compensatory muscle buildup on one side because of this?
Can you imagine the compensatory soreness or injuries?

And we can tell you, you as a rider are not going to be able to sit straight either, and are going to get pretty asymmetrically sore yourself!

Being able to see your horse, your saddle, and you as a rider with fresh eyes and new knowledge is the only way to find the source of these issues - and some new solutions.

That might be for you, or it might be for horse and rider a combination that you know if you are a coach, vet or bodyworker.

Our horses deserve it. ❤️

Here’s your last call to join us on a super cool learning journey - WE ARE GETTING STARTED TODAY 😊

➡️ https://www.horseprohub.com/hsrc-course-20th-Feb ⬅️

17/02/2025

17/02/2025

12/02/2025

Thoughts from the amazing Paula Jeffery!

06/02/2025

Have you recently purchased a used saddle? Did you get a saddle health check? Sometimes you never know what has been done to the saddle before you got it, and it can cause discomfort and damage to your horse, and unbalance the rider.

This saddle had flat cair panels, shims AND wool flock in the panels. 🧐 Not good!

04/02/2025

I'm available to do saddle repairs as well. 😆 Even if it's in a carpark somewhere, I'm always happy to add a stitch or two if needed. 🪡🧵

Get your entries in for the upcoming saddlefitting seminar with master saddlefitter Paula Jeffery, and myself, at Longford Arena on 15 March. I will be taking bookings for saddlefitting on Sunday 16 March at the arena as well. Message me if you have any questions. 🏇☺️
Enter here👇
https://www.horseprohub.com/saddlefit-and-biomechanics-workshop-15-mar-tas

30/01/2025

How do your girth points look? Are they even? What is it doing to the elastic in your girth? This is often overlooked, and easily repaired. Message me if you need a saddle heath check. 🧐✅

27/01/2025

Would you choose plain leather on your dream saddle, or perhaps have go for something with more texture? The opportunities are endless with Black Country Saddles, without quality or comfort being compromised!

www.blackcountrysaddles.com

27/01/2025

22/12/2024

Erreplus have dedicated their time to researching how to make the best relationship between horse and rider. Providing comfort for horsErreplusAND rider without sacrificing the horses back health or integrity is crucial for a long ridden career.

Be sure to choose Erreplus as your next saddle!