“In August 2016 I had a fall from my gelding, breaking
my arm badly in the process. I was out of the saddle for almost 7 months,
and when I did start to ride again my confidence was at rock bottom. My
gelding, Charlie, is not an easy horse to ride and his sharpness and tendency
to spook worried me. I quickly began to feel that my saddle just wasn't
helping me to sit as securely and safely as I needed it to. A friend
suggested I try a SMART™ saddle, as she loved hers, so I got in touch with
Solution Saddles and arranged for an Approved Advisor to visit me for a test
ride.
I have to admit that I didn't have an immediate
"yes I need this" reaction, though I did find the saddle to be very
comfortable for me, and it was very stable on Charlie, who is very wide and
flat backed. I noted that he was stretching forward and down more easily
than was usual, but he otherwise seemed fairly similar to usual to ride.
I arranged to have a rental saddle on trial to test it out for a bit longer. When
the rental saddle arrived I was very pleased with how the saddle looked. The
brown leather was very smart and it is also light to handle.
I rode at least 4 times per week during my initial
trial, which I extended to almost 4 weeks as I wanted to be as sure as possible
that the SMART™ NATIVE VSD saddle was right for us. From the start
Charlie was happy to be tacked up and seemed very relaxed. I have found
that he is much less spooky than he was previously; I think this is due to a
combination of him being very comfortable, and me being able to sit more quietly
and securely. When he has spooked he comes back to me quickly and the
saddle has yet to move even a little, not even when he has done a fast spin and
run (usually at killer pigeons)! In the school he is moving more freely too,
his gaits are more flowing and he is carrying himself really nicely. I
had my usual physio check him over at the end of my trial and she was very
pleased with how he looked and felt to her, she advised me to buy the saddle as
it was clearly working well for Charlie.
It is really nice to have a treeless saddle that
has a narrow twist and allows me to feel like I am close to Charlie's
back. The adjustable knee rolls are great, I can move them or change them
depending on what I want to do that day. I can read Charlie's body
language through my seat, which allows me to ride more proactively and
sensitively, which I love. All of my post-fall nervousness has
disappeared since I got the SMART Native VSD and I am riding more often and
getting better results than I have ever done. This is a huge thing for
me, as at one point I seriously considered giving up as I was so nervous when
riding.
It is difficult to capture in words how happy I am
with the saddle. It has absolutely 100% changed my riding for the
better.”
Amanda Fidler
September 2017
