Equine Saddle Fit NZ

The support for the re-launch of Showfields has been immense!
To thank you all, we have set up a ‘Refer a Friend’ promo.
If you come to use the indoor, tell one of your friends about it, and when they book in, you BOTH will receive another arena session for FREE to use when you choose 🥳🐴
All you need to do is mention who your friend is that has already visited when you’re booking and you will both secure those free sessions!

Can’t wait to see more of you soon! 🙋🏼‍♀️

Great thoughts

I read somewhere recently that the average horse will have seven different homes in its lifetime.

SEVEN.

And that’s the average...

In my job, I meet horses who are four or five years old and have already had an extraordinary number of homes. And more often than not, somewhere in their history, you’ll find the word ‘naughty’.

Naughty to catch. Naughty to hack. Naughty to mount. Naughty to ride. A ‘naughty’ horse.

But are they naughty?

Or have they simply never had long enough to feel safe?

Horses thrive on familiarity and predictability. Familiar horses, people, surroundings and routines.

And when we sell a horse, we know why.

The horse doesn’t.

One minute he’s in his field with Dave, who he’s spent every waking moment attached to for the last two years. Who’s perfected the art of stealing his fly mask.

The next, some woman he’s never met has put him in a box, driven him three counties away and introduced him to Kevin.

Dave has vanished.

Dinner tastes different.

Kevin is a k**b.

And on Tuesday someone gets on him and seems disappointed that he isn’t immediately living up to the glowing description in his advert.

So perhaps he struggles.

Maybe he’s harder to catch. Anxious when left alone. Tense to ride. Doesn’t want to leave the yard.

‘Naughty.’

So he moves again.

New field. New human. New food. New Kevin.

Of course sometimes horses genuinely aren’t right for their homes, and selling can absolutely be the kindest decision. Obvs.

But sometimes perhaps what a horse needs isn’t another home, rider, bit, saddle or training method.

Perhaps he just needs time.

Time to learn that breakfast happens every morning.

That these horses aren’t disappearing.

That this human keeps coming back.

That the rules aren’t going to change tomorrow.

That he’s allowed to unpack his metaphorical little suitcase.

And maybe, before we ask:

‘What’s wrong with this horse?’

we should occasionally ask:

‘How many times has this horse had to start again?’

Thoughts?

Farrington Libero Dressage — 17.5" 3XW, Black — $4,495
Can be narrowed to 2XW
Hard to find a dressage saddle wide enough? This one goes there. A 3XW fitting on a flat to medium curve tree with medium length points, designed for the broad, wide-backed types that most dressage saddles don’t extend to that width.
• Wide channel and short panel, great for horses with wider spinal processes
• Narrower twist in the wider fittings, so you're not sitting astride a barrel
• Moveable knee blocks and adjustable point strap position
• Dual flap with a supportive seat
Suits many types including Clydesdales and Clydie crosses, stationbred and draught types, and heavier-set horses with a small to medium-plus curve.
Available on 7 day trial with full payment BuyingwithEquineSaddleFit.pdf

Farrington Libero Dressage — 17.5" 2XW, Brown — $4,250
Can be narrowed to XW or widened to 3xw
Hard to find a dressage saddle wide enough? This one goes there. A 3XW fitting on a flat to medium curve tree with medium length points, designed for the broad, wide-backed types that most dressage saddles don’t extend to that width.
• Wide channel and short panel, great for horses with wider spinal processes
• Narrower twist in the wider fittings, so you're not sitting astride a barrel
• Moveable knee blocks and adjustable point strap position
• Dual flap with a supportive seat
Suits: many types including Clydesdales and Clydie crosses, stationbred and draught types, and heavier-set horses with a small to medium-plus curve.
Available on 7 day trial with full payment BuyingwithEquineSaddleFit.pdf

Spring specials on NSC Second hand saddles
Available on 7 day trial with full payment

www.equinesaddlefit.co.nz

NSC Second hand saddles For Sale
Dressage
NSC Aotearoa 1650, 17.5" W, Black — $2,750 Now $2495
NSC 1350 dressage, 17.5" W, Black — $2,750 Now $2495
NSC 1350 dressage, 17.5" W, Black — $2,495
NSC Elite Mono, 17W, Black Deep rear gusset — was $4,995 / Now $3,995
NSC SR Vanessa, 18", Black, XW — $4,995
Farrington Libero, 17.5 3XW, Black — $4,495
Farrington Libero, 17.5 2XW, Brown — $4,250
GP / Jump
Farrington Una Pony, 15" — $2,995 ON TRIAL
NSC Bascule 25, 17.5 MW, Brown Mellow — $4,995 NEAR NEW
NSC Devo, 17" W, Black — $2,250
NSC Mono Event Brown Mellow, 1 year old 17", XW — $4,995 now $4495
NSC Elite Competitor, 17.5W, Brown - $3,495 ON TRIAL
NSC Bascule, 17.5 W, Black, 6224 — $3,995 NEW RE FLOCK

Very important to regularly weigh your feed

Do You Actually Know What's In That Scoop?

Here's a question that trips up even seasoned horse owners: how much does your horse's feed actually weigh?

If you're measuring by the scoop, the honest answer is usually “no idea” — and that's a problem. A scoop measures volume, not weight. Two feeds that fill the same scoop can weigh completely differently depending on how dense they are, how they're packed, and how moist they are. So the “one scoop” you think you're feeding could be well under, or well over, what your horse actually needs.

Why weighing matters:
Your horse's diet is built on numbers — energy, protein, and most importantly, fibre. Get the weights wrong and the whole ration is off. Underfeed and you risk a horse that drops condition and misses out on the forage its gut is designed to run on. Overfeed and you're wasting feed (and money) and potentially tipping the balance toward digestive upset.
Weighing takes the guesswork out. Suddenly you know exactly what your horse is getting.

How much fibre does your horse need?
Horses are trickle-feeders — their digestive systems are built to have fibre moving through, all day, every day. As a rule of thumb, a horse needs a minimum of 1.5% of its bodyweight in forage/fibre daily, and ideally forage should make up at least half of total daily intake.

For a 500kg horse, that's at least 7.5kg of forage a day — and many need more. That's a lot of ground to make up if your scoop is quietly short-changing them.

The easy fix:
Grab a set of scales. Weigh a scoop of each feed once, write it on the bin, and you'll never have to guess again. With Fiber Fresh, a good starting point is roughly 0.5kg per 100kg of bodyweight — but always feed by weight, not volume.
Your scales might be the cheapest piece of gear in the feed room. They're also one of the most important.

Great advice from my fellow saddle fitter Sylvie

What are you doing with your horse to prepare for the start of the season?

If you don't have anywhere to ride at home over winter, you can still start to condition your horse for the season ahead by doing inhand exercises. And if you are able to ride, exercises are a great addition to your ridden program.

Exercises improve suppleness, flexibility and reduce the risk of injury, and gives you some quality time with your horse when we are all having withdrawals! 🐎☀️

I love doing raised poles and stretches, I have attached a link below to Horses Inside Out website which shows you how to do some awesome stretches (go through the blog posts for more).

https://www.horsesinsideout.com/post/pilates-for-horses-part-1-carrot-exercises?srsltid=AfmBOoqZG3EiMlr-CvmbE2PGQdtFclCNZpyXRKw1K3LvRGAXrHGzoK8d

Spring Special $10 off all prepaid bookings till 15th September 2026
In addition to regular fittings, we will be running venue bookings to beat the weather and enable us to fit you all in.

Saddle fits and Test rides (New & Second hand

Cambridge, Morrinsville, Matamata, Hamilton twice a week
Outer Hamilton, Tirau, Te Awamutu etc every 2-3 weeks
Taupo later this month
Tauranga twice a month including Katikati
South Auckland & Rotorua every 6-8 weeks (if enough)