Thank you to Sarah Donnelly for sharing Craig’s story:

Craig came from a hunting yard in Gloucestershire. She had been a hireling and only ever hunted. The comment from my vet before I bought her was, "You will never get a saddle to fit this horse, she was built to pull a cart!"

I had originally test ridden a SMART saddle at the same time as a friend who later went on to become an Approved Advisor. She sensibly bought a SMART saddle following her test ride but I decided I couldn't justify spending so much on my fat cob. It took four brand new saddles, including one made to measure and every sticky pad and expensive numnah I could buy to discover I was still hanging off and rolling around on top of poor Craig. To make matters worse, I also now had a stuffy, lame horse. I realised that she was sound if I rode her bareback - so that told me everything!

I spoke to my friend, who promptly came over and fitted her SMART saddle to Craig. 

With a few simple pads fitted, I had a sound horse and a stable saddle. I ordered my own SMART saddle straight away and it's the best money I have spent!

After our first five dressage tests we have three firsts, a second and a third! We are now looking forward to affiliating!