Saddle

The interface between you and the horse, helping your dialogue, your aids, yours and your horse’s comfort. We know it’s about spreading weight but it’s so much more.

GHOST

CLEVER saddles made in Italy. These treeless saddles have carbon fibre bases benefit both horse and rider in terms of shape and stability. For the rider the seats are forward balanced in the main, adaptable and not a fixed shape, this really helps me stabilise the rider’s pelvis, there is a huge choice of seat/flap combos, and new options such as the C range introduced in late 2024. They even make the incredibly stable “Just Balanced” saddle, a leather tree added to the base, as well as riding boots and shoes.

Then, you customise, and boy can you customise with a vast number of permutations and combinations of leathers, suedes synthetics, trims, embroidery and a vast range of saddle inserts and accessories including their own treeless saddle pads.

Price range – around £600 for bareback pads up to around £1500 for a C saddle. Some customisations will be extra but many are not.

KNIGHTS

A new British brand these are traditional but very attractive looking saddles made from English hides in the West Midlands. The difference? They’ve been designed with all the lessons learned about how best to fit the rider to help the horse. A more forward balance point than most British saddles and a construction that helps the knee to drop and not run forward I’m looking forward to doing more with this exciting brand as it develops, and there’s possibly a sister brand, with more customisations available for the rider, to come.

Price range - £1799 as of July 2025 for GP saddles, mid to high £2k for dressage and jump.

If these are beyond your budget I offer an advice service for used saddles, unless I happen to have one or two to hand that might suit you (rare), please read my article the used saddle conundrum (though brands will have changed since I wrote it!). I sometimes have ex demos available.

If a horse isn’t yet ready for a saddle to be fitted (lameness, asymmetry, “topline syndrome” and other causes) then once a rehab programme is started we can look at “remedial” saddles, usually a second hand saddle or a bareback pad or similar, to allow some ridden work while the horse changes shape. If you’re getting it right they WILL change shape – would you rather that happens before you purchase a new saddle, or after?!

A maintenance schedule will be discussed, and you’ll also be given pointers, usually on our second and third meetings, to help you check the basics of your saddle fit yourself to know best when to seek help.