Remedy Saddles

Officially Autumn 🍂

Please remember as the evening start to draw in earlier and the day light starts to fade much quicker, we are limited to timings in the diary for appointments.

To offer the best service possible round this time of year, I do not offer appointments in the dark.
Even if you have flood lights.... the shadowing caused at this time of year doesn't allow me to see in detail and be 100% confident and happy with the service I have provided.

Unless you have an indoor school with 1 trillion lights meaning there are no shadows created at all. All appointments will be concluded before the evening starts to draw in ✔️

With a few little changes going on behind the scenes, I will be able to start offering much earlier morning appointments from October.

So, please be organised and get those routine checks booked in, plan ahead and get those appointments booked in for new saddles, new horses or for school half terms and holidays ✔️

B x

✨️ Remedy Saddles is now a proud new stockist of Thorowgood Saddles & Prolite Performance ✨️

With saddles arriving over the next few weeks I'm super excited to get the new T9 range out in the truck to show you all!

Having ridden Bea in a T8 for many of her early ridden years with myself. They are a personal favourite due to the adjustability, comfort and price bracket 💰

Coming in at under £950.00 ✅️

Offering GP, Jump, XC mono jump, DR, Pony jump, Pony long leg, Pony GP, High wither, Low wither and Standard wither. They really are catering for all types shapes and sizes.

Please drop me a message if your interested in trying out the new T9 range 🙌🏻

B x

I dedicated a huge chunk of my life training to become a Society of Master Saddlers Qualified saddle fitter.

Blood sweat and tear went in to years of being an apprentice, learning the ropes, being hands on and getting to grips with many different brands and manufacturers out there. Finally taking the all important exams. Completing regular CPD training and keeping up to date with all things new and shiny.

Passing my saddle fitting exam in 2019 and then being upgraded to Master saddle fitter in 2024. I'm incredibly proud of where all that hard work has got me. With hopefully a business I can pass down to the boys if they don't stay tractor mad forever 🙈😅

Every horse is treated as my own along with the welfare and comfort of both horse and rider ✨️

I've seen a huge amount of post lately, people on the hunt for a saddle fitter.... My advise to you is pop over to the Society of Master Saddlers website or the Equine Directory. Select saddle fitters and put in your postcode. All of your local SMS Qualified saddle fitters will be shown.

If Remedy saddles comes up for your area, YIPPEE ✨️ (based between Silverstone & Banbury i cover Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire & Warwickshire)

If your looking for repair work to saddles, bridles, head collars, harness, dog collars, belts, boots, gun cases, full re flocks or any other leather goods work you can also search for your local saddler.

Always looks for the badge when looking for a Qualified Saddle Fitter or Saddler ✅️ the dedication we have all put in is huge.

The Society of Master Saddlers
Equine Fitters Directory

B x

Are there any lawyers and or conveyancing solicitors who are a Remedy Saddles client/friend/friend of a friend/person in the know/genius, that specialise in agricultural properties?

I would love to seek some advised from you 🙏🏻

Bx

A conversation as saddle fitters we have regularly with some clients.

Honestly I'm not trying to palm you off or spend your money with a vet! We are purely trying to find the main cause and put your horses comfort and welfare above all else 🫶🏻

The Great Saddle Slip Mystery🔍

Your saddle slips to the left.

So naturally, you buy a new girth.

It still slips.🤨

So you buy a fancy anatomical girth, a non-slip saddle pad, and perhaps a breastplate with enough straps to secure a small aircraft.

It still slips.😠

So you call a saddle fitter.

Then another saddle fitter.

Then one recommended by a friend who swears they transformed her horse's life.

It still slips.😖

At this point, many horse owners begin to suspect that they're somehow destined to spend the rest of their life searching for the mythical saddle setup that stays exactly where it should.

But before you spend another dollar on tack or lose respect for your latest saddle-fitter, let me tell you about some fascinating research by Line Greve and Sue Dyson.🤓

Because what they discovered put some very important information on the table to consider when you have a saddle slip issue.

The researchers investigated horses with persistent saddle slip and found that many of them had underlying hindlimb lameness.

Now, stay with me if you just rolled your eyes and think this isn't you case because your horse is clearly NOT lame....

The type of lameness identified was not the obvious kind where the horse is hopping around on three legs.

The subtle kind.🤔

The sort of issue that can quietly affect performance, behaviour, balance, and movement long before anyone recognises it as a soundness problem.

Why?

Because horses with discomfort or dysfunction or weakness in a hind leg often alter the way they move. They redistribute load, change how they push off the ground, and compensate through their body. Those altered forces travel through the horse's back and can gradually push the saddle off centre.

This doesn't just apply to horses with obvious injuries. It can occur in horses with mild lameness, asymmetries, weakness, developmental immaturity, or conditions affecting structures such as the stifle, sacroiliac region, suspensory apparatus, or other parts of the hind limb.

Now here's the part that many people find surprising.

The researchers found that saddle slip was actually associated with well-balanced saddles that had even contact and good flocking.😲

In other words, a saddle that slips isn't necessarily poorly fitted.

In fact, if you've had the saddle checked, adjusted, reflocked, replaced, and the problem keeps returning, there may be something else worth investigating.

The most compelling finding came when the researchers identified the source of the hindlimb pain and used diagnostic nerve blocks to remove the discomfort.

The saddle slip disappeared in 97% of cases.😱

Read that again.

Ninety-seven percent.😱

The saddle didn't change.

The girth didn't change.

The saddle pad didn't change.

The horse's movement changed.🤯

That's a pretty powerful clue.😎

One of the biggest challenges with horses is that we often focus on the symptom we can see rather than the cause we can't.

The slipping saddle becomes the problem.

The canter transition becomes the problem.

The spooky behaviour becomes the problem.

The horse drifting through the shoulder becomes the problem.

But sometimes these things are not separate problems at all.

Sometimes they are all clues pointing towards the same underlying issue.

So if your saddle consistently slips despite multiple fitting assessments and equipment changes, it may be worth considering whether your horse is trying to tell you something.

And if that saddle slip is accompanied by things like:
- Canter difficulties
- Resistance under saddle
- Reactive or spooky behaviour
- Struggles with engagement
then the possibility of an underlying soundness issue becomes even more important to investigate.⚠️

One of the most valuable lessons I've learned working with horses is that behaviour, performance, and movement are often connected in ways that aren't immediately obvious.

A slipping saddle may not always indicate a soundness issue...sometimes it can be a YOU issue, but that is for another article another day.

But if it keeps happening despite your best efforts to fix it, it might be worth looking beyond the saddle.💡

Sometimes the saddle is not the problem.

It's the clue.

References
Greve, L., & Dyson, S. J. (2013). An Investigation of the Relationship Between Hindlimb Lameness and Saddle Slip. Equine Veterinary Journal, 45(5), 570-577.
Greve, L., & Dyson, S. J. (2014). The Interrelationship of Lameness, Saddle Slip and Back Shape in the General Sports Horse Population. Equine Veterinary Journal, 46(6), 687-694.

Collectable Advice 226/365. Please SHARE or hit SAVE. Please no copy and pasting.

I'm catching up with admin & enquiries 🙌🏻

Please drop me a DM, WhatsApp or email to get a spot in the diary ✨️

🦄 07399 598 749
🐴 [email protected]

After a 2 week new born baby & toddler bubble 🩵

I will be getting through WhatsApp message & enquiries today.

So if you've contact me and don't here back from me today please give me a nudge 🙏🏻

Officially not currently at work, the diary is open for my return later this summer ☀️ so please be organised and get those appointments booked in well in advance to avoid disappointment.

B x