Horse and Rider Saddle Solutions

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Independence Day Extended Sale!Today (July 3rd) through the end of next Tuesday (July 8th) I will be offering a full sad...
07/03/2025

Independence Day Extended Sale!

Today (July 3rd) through the end of next Tuesday (July 8th) I will be offering a full saddle fit evaluation (1.5 hours of time) for $110!

Compare that cost to the price of chiropractic adjustments, vet visits, and time off from a poor fitting saddle. You do the math 🤓

*travel fee applies to addresses greater than .5 hours from Foreston, MN.

Good news my friends- you and your horse need a spa day! A lot of times when our symmetrical saddle sits on our non-symm...
06/27/2025

Good news my friends- you and your horse need a spa day! A lot of times when our symmetrical saddle sits on our non-symmetrical horse it ends up tipping into their more forward, weaker shoulder. Upwards of 80% of horses will have one weaker shoulder- same as most people are right or left handed.

When this happens, both your body and your horses body compensate to find an eqilibrium. As you can see in my picture below, my saddle canted to the side. But guess what? Thats how I rode in a saddle for years! Look at my uneven shoulders, b***y shifted to the left, and slightly bent back. I always had my left leg slightly more forward, my left middle back always had a tight spot, my balance was poor and I thought- what is wrong with my body?

Even now, as I have a saddle that im getting very close to straight on my horses back- my body immediately wants to sit in this position and drag my straight saddle sideways. We call this muscle/ postural memory. It takes time and work to create a new muscle memory after years of "training".

If you cant ride straight because of your saddle- any body work you do to yourself or your horse doesnt stand a chance at being permenant.

So check your saddle, get a massage, and carry onwards toward better helath!

For my fellow nervous riders, regardless of if its because you've had a bad fall, medical conditions, or are afraid of g...
06/14/2025

For my fellow nervous riders, regardless of if its because you've had a bad fall, medical conditions, or are afraid of getting hurt. Do yourself a favor and make sure your saddle fits YOU to keep you in the saddle when intense moments do happen (and dont be afraid to get off). Ive complied a sneak peak of a couple pro tips below but of course, I would love to come out and help you figure out how to feel safe.

1. Feeling of being unbalanced: saddle seat could be too narrow, balance point of the saddle could be too far back or forward, not enough or too much cantle support, saddle is shifting or twisting during movement.

2. Frequent falls from the saddle: wrong seat shape, balance point of the rider and horse are not aligned, balance point of the seat is too far back, sitting in chair position.

3. Rider leans forward: balance point of horse and rider are not aligned or saddle is uphill.

4. Legs are moving around during rising trot: seat balance could be too far back, saddle twist may be too big, stirrup bar may be too far forward

I strongly encorage all my clients to learn about saddle fit beyond letting the professionals handle it.At the end of th...
05/30/2025

I strongly encorage all my clients to learn about saddle fit beyond letting the professionals handle it.

At the end of the day, you know your horse. You see him every day. You are responsible for his well-being. The professionals come for an hour or two and leave.

At all of my fittings, I try to show my clients what I am looking for and why so that when I leave, the client has a good idea of what to look for when shopping.

I recently bought an amazing book that I would encourage everyone to read. It has lots of pictures and is written in a way that is very easy to understand.

I especially encorage female riders to pick this up. If you commonly get knee, ankle, hip, tailbone, back, or groin pain- now you will know why!

A little reading on a cold rainy morning. Excited to see what else I can learn from this book!
05/21/2025

A little reading on a cold rainy morning. Excited to see what else I can learn from this book!

My horses has a dry spot! There is a lot of information out there about dry spots. I challenge you to think about the sh...
05/17/2025

My horses has a dry spot! There is a lot of information out there about dry spots. I challenge you to think about the shape of said dry spot.

The horse pictured below certainly does not have a perfect saddle fit. The dry spot shows us that the saddle puts pressure too high on the withers (not clearing the trapezious), the saddle is not using all available back space (too much flare at the back), and most importantly, it does not give adequate spinal clearence on each side (he has a wide spine).

But what I did like about this dry spot is that its not a single pressure point that sits right on the wither and nowhere else (extremely common). Instead the dry spot starts lower behind the shoulder, as it should, and travels through the majority of the saddle support "box".

But what about those rub marks on the wither? These are likely from the stirrup leathers and not always an indication of poor fit.

05/17/2025

Have you ever felt confused by saddle seat size?
It might be because 17.5” ≠ 17.5”

Let me explain: Just because two saddles are both stamped 17.5” does not mean they offer the same space for the rider. Not even close.

This is one of the most common misconceptions we see when riders are saddle shopping. You rode in a 17.5”? Great. But assuming you’ll need a 17.5” in every other saddle you try is like assuming every “medium” shirt will fit the same, regardless of brand, cut, or stretch. Spoiler: it won’t.

Yes, both saddles might technically measure 17.5” from the seat nail to the middle of the cantle (the standard method). But what that number doesn’t tell you is how much actual usable space exists for you, the rider. Pommel shape, cantle height, seat curve, foaming, twist, seat width, all of these influence how much room your body really has to move.

This is why you could be riding in something that technically “measures” right but feels completely wrong. So no, not all 17.5” saddles are created equal. Not by brand, not by model, and definitely not across disciplines.

The next time you try a new saddle, remember, the number stamped under the flap means very little and real rider fit takes more than a tape measure.

My horse cant gain topline! I hear this often. While sometimes this can be due to a multitude of factors, itt can be due...
05/08/2025

My horse cant gain topline! I hear this often. While sometimes this can be due to a multitude of factors, itt can be due to muscle atrophy from a bad fitting saddle.

Below is a young horse before and after being started in an ill-fitting saddle. Notice the deep shoulder holes behind her withers. This was due to a wide saddle gullet with pressure points at the top of the bar and very little contact at the bottom of the bar.

Notice how she stands in a camped under compensatory posture in the after photos.

Notice the the slight sway in her spine (higher withers and hip bones) and the position of her hip muscles in the after photos (steeper slope, more prominent). The saddle was much too long for her short saddle supprt area.

This horse is having to take months off after being started with a poor saddle fit to repair muscle atrophy. She had been doing a lot of ground driving and ground poles. Dont set yourself back by using the wrong saddle- check fit before you start as a "pre-flight" checklist item.

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Foreston, MN
56330

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