History, Theory, and Tack
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The Easiest Way to Test for Saddle Balance
How your saddle sits on your horse influences how you sit in your saddle. Once you become aware of this relatively simple fact, you’ll never not notice it again. But I see people riding in improperly balanced saddles all the time, and they are usually struggling to maintain their own position and balance, which of course makes it very hard for them to ride their horse effectively… it’s basically a downward spiral. So what can you do easily, daily even, to double check your balance? Post the trot stand-stand-sit-stand-stand-sit and see if you can get into a rhythm. As an exercise, it’s challenging enough on its own, but it’s the…
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What dressage is, and 5 things it’s not
There are so many ideas about what dressage is, and so many people doing things with horses claiming it’s “dressage”, so how do we know if they/we are really doing it? If you’re new to the sport, it can be really hard to tell! To make it easier, we can start with 5 things dressage is not. Dressage is NOT: 1) Training in a way that breaks down the horse. Good dressage training should increase a horse’s balance, coordination, and carriage. The gaits should improve. The horse’s ridability should improve. The horse should have pride and find joy in his work. Good work builds the horse up slowly over time,…
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CAIR Panels – Not What I Expected
I’m the curious sort. I love to take things apart and see how they work. I love my Wintec and Bates Isabell saddles. They are so adjustable, and I can open them up and change the gullet plates and add shims to fit my horse, and change it as often as I need to. I also love the placement of the stirrup bar on the Isabell, when the saddle is sitting on the horse correctly it makes it very easy for the rider to find the correct position and ride in balance. The leather on the Bates version is soft and yet very durable, and mine is holding up beautifully. The…
