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| Carol Brett back in 1993 observing a horse moving on line (lungeing) in its own saddle to assess the saddles impact on the horse. |
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| This is the kind of saddle that Carol recognised as contributing and even causing many problems in the ridden horse. |
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| Excessive pressure under the front of any saddle inhibits movement and creates problems for the horse. This saddle had been fitted professionally and yet was causing discomfort, restriction and damage. |
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Back in the late 1980's a Freelance riding instructor and Dressage judge in England was beginning to recognise that many of the
horses that she was seeing were having their movement and comfort seriously compromised by the saddles they were wearing. These
were not just 'off the peg' saddles. These were, more often than not, expensive custom or semi custom fit saddles that had been
professionally fitted to the individual horses. She started to investigate why this should be a problem and began to recognise
specific design features in saddles as being detrimental to the movement of the horses wearing them.
The name of that instructor was Carol Brett. When Carol joined forces with Lesley Ann Taylor and Maureen Bartlett to form the
BALANCE organisation, she had their support and encouragement to continue her investigations.
Carol and Lesley got busy and as a result of spending a great deal of time studying hundreds of horses in many different saddles,
they discovered that, at that time, there were no saddles on the market that had the full combination of design features that
horses apparently needed to move in comfort. Some saddles had a few of them and many saddles had none, including many of the
imported, expensive and highly popular European saddles.
This was shocking, but they willingly shared their findings with as many saddle manufacturers as they could, in the hope that
this would stimulate some positive changes. Disappointingly, none of the manufacturers was interested in changing the way
they had been making saddles for years, despite being shown plenty of evidence that these same saddles were creating lameness,
discomfort and behavioural problems for the horses they were used on.
The other area that the BALANCE co-founders studied and made some disturbing discoveries in, was the traditional theory and
practice behind conventional saddle fitting, particularly custom fitting. It became obvious that the way that most horses
were being fitted for saddles was, in itself, creating many problems, because it took (and still takes) little or no account
of the dynamics of equine movement. What was becoming more and more obvious was, that when you combine traditional saddle
fitting, with traditional designs and widths of saddle you have a recipe for misery.
When eventually the BALANCE organisation was given the opportunity to go public with its findings in 1993 it sent shock waves
through the British Saddle Industry. No-one had dared to challenge saddle manufacturers, retailers or fitters before.
However, the response from the public was very positive. Overnight the interest in this, previously little talked about
topic, went into orbit. Horse owners were taking copies of magazine articles written by BALANCE into tack shops and looking
at saddles in a new light. As you can imagine BALANCE was as popular with most saddle retailers as a skunk in an elevator!
In fact the BALANCE organisation was ostracised by many people in the UK saddle industry and, rather sadly, even to this day,
if you want good service from the local tack store, it is best not to mention BALANCE for fear of being shown the door!
However, back in 1993, things would never be the same again.
Antony Wakeham the Secretary of the British Equestrian Trade Association in 1994 said "The standards of saddle fitting could
have been transformed thanks to BALANCE". He was not wrong and, as a result of horse owners getting interested and more
educated about how saddles influence their horses, the whole saddle industry was encouraged and, in some instances, forced
to change.
It would be nice to think that that was the end of the story and that all saddles have since been made and fitted in horse
friendly ways. Things, certainly in the UK, are better than they were then for a lot of horses. Thanks to other
individuals who have been prepared to go out on a limb with different saddling ideas, there is also more choice for horse
owners. However, the reality is that the majority of ridden horses are still being dis-abled by their saddles, because
traditional saddles, with few horse friendly features and traditional fitting practice that takes little account of the
horse's bio-mechanics, are still popular and readily available.
When the founders of the BALANCE organisation started studying the impact that saddles have on the horse they soon realised
that along with the impact that riding itself can have (see Straight-Forward-Riding page for more), the effect of a saddle
that interferes with the natural range of equine movement has alarmingly far reaching consequences. An increasing number
of Veterinarians, Physiotherapists, Chiropractors, Osteopaths etc. etc. are becoming aware of how often they get called in
to identify and treat damage that is related, directly or indirectly, to the saddle.
Some common problems that can be linked to direct, or indirect, saddle interference are:
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Lack of engagement |
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Inability to collect |
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Cold Back Syndrome |
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Bolting |
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Lumps in saddle area |
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Rearing |
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Rubs in saddle area |
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Bucking |
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White Hair in Saddle area |
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Short strides |
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Horse on Forehand |
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Croup High Posture |
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Stiffness, Lack of Bend |
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Locking Stifle joints |
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Horse above bit |
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Hock lameness |
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Tension |
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Corns |
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Bad Behaviour |
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Collapsed Heels |
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Resistance |
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Toeing In |
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Unsettled in Mouth |
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Toeing Out |
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Hanging on one side of the bit |
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Interference |
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Respiratory Problems |
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General Hoof Imbalance |
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Dragging Toes |
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Kissing Spines |
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Tripping |
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Colic |
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Stumbling |
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Tying Up/Azoturia |
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Reluctance to go or jump down hill |
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Sway back |
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'Carelessness over fences' |
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This list could be longer but hopefully this will give you an idea of how important this issue is. When you appreciate
the saddle related restriction and discomfort that many horses have to endure for years, it is amazing that they allow
humans to climb on their backs at all, let alone perform.
BALANCE would like every ridden horse to have the opportunity to experience what it feels like to have a human partner
on his back whilst free of discomfort and restriction.
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