Haven Horsemanship

Sweet Pea and I are excited to share about her saddle this week.

I initially fit Sweet Pea for a saddle around 2020 when I was first working with her. Her owner primarily rode ba****ck, but liked the idea of having a saddle for security as she was getting older. At that point in time, Sweet Pea was one of the most "table topped" and mutton withered horses I'd fit. The usual challenges for a wide horse were present...
- close contact on a wide horse meant a wide waist/twist
- saddle stability would likely have been a challenge if her owner had goals for more intensive riding, but because she was primarily walking on flat and/or gentle hills, I found a solution

In 2024, Sweet Pea came to live at HH with us. I fell even more in love with her. However, living with her, the other side of Sweet Pea became more apparent... 🤣

In training environments, I largely found her tremendously willing, though I was aware of her known history of challenging behavior (bolting, "stubborness", etc). In every day handling, more of her "other" side was apparent because every day handling wasn't as carefully structured as our training time.

We have come to refer to her as SP, "because you never know which S you're gonna get, sweet or spicy" 😉

When considering a saddle to be named after Sweet Pea, I was primarily looking for something more structured. Something comfy for the sweet times, and secure for the spicy times, if you catch my drift! I hoped the additional structure would also lend itself to maintaining a narrower feeling of a waist/twist even on wider horses, while keeping as close contact of a feel as possible.

We're very happy with the saddle that has come to bear Sweet Pea's name, we hope you'll all like it too 💚🧡

Sneak peek of the SP tomorrow!

Uno is excited to give you a first peek at his saddle!

He is my sage and guru 🤣 he is the reason for our ranch, the reason for natural horse care, the reason for barefoot trimming, the reason for positive reinforcement focused education, the reason for bitless bridles, the reason for treeless saddles, and now the reason for Haven Horsemanship Saddles.

Uno would like to share his saddle fitting story...

Uno was born into the jumping world where we put treed saddles on his back and metal bits in his mouth at 4 years old to train and compete. Within two years, he went from an amenable, happy young horse to being labeled as "grumpy", "lazy", and "having a poor work ethic". I spent more than I'd like to admit on "custom" treed jumping saddles, all of which hurt him, causing soreness, white hairs and dangerous behaviors within months. We tried more bits than I can count and he still threw his head, gaped his mouth and avoided the bit. He stepped his hinds off of the right lead consistently without very careful management of every stride.

When I bought my first little horse property in 2013 and brought him home, it was an opportunity to reset. He lived in turn out, never stalled, pulled his shoes, rode in halters and ba****ck pads. This was the beginning of our testing.

Uno is not an easy horse to fit. He is 17 hands and LONG. He has a long, sloping shoulder creating beautiful movement, but also creating a wither that extends into his back, a forward girth groove and a very small weight bearing area for his size. He also moves very differently than how he stands, so he gave me tremendous education in the need for fitting to movement for horse and rider, not to standing.

Treeless saddles were a huge improvement for him, however, it wasn't until we tried a leather tree adjustable panel saddle that some missing pieces fell into place for both of us.

1. Leather trees provide resistance and structure, while also being able to flex and adapt.
2. When paired with adjustable panels of the correct shape and length for his conformation, we could give his wither the clearance it needed, set the panels back off of his scapular rotation while not placing me too far behind his center of gravity, and the spinal channel width could be adjusted to his spinal width because he is wider than a traditional spinal channel accommodates.
3. This significantly decreases the amount of padding needed and the amount of shimming needed.
Discovering leather tree, adjustable panel saddles FINALLY gave Uno the comfort he had always deserved in choosing to participate in riding and I am forever in debt to him for how long it took me to find it. It also gave me a beautiful gift. Uno was no longer having to compensate so, for the first time, I was able to ask myself, what do I need in a saddle?

And that's our story for tomorrow... 😉

We have been... up to something at Haven Horsemanship.

As many of you know, Uno and I have been partners in crime for years. We've been testing treeless saddles and bitless bridles for over 12 years together and we have learned so much.

An opportunity fell into our lives earlier this year that we were not seeking and did not anticipate. In honor of Uno and the many horses who have educated me about treeless saddle fit and bitless bridles, I took the opportunity.

I am elated and terrified to announce Haven Horsemanship's very own line of saddles and tack. I will be announcing the models and accessories over the coming weeks. Each item is named in honor of a horse who has guided me on this odyssey. They're excited to share their teachings with you through their models.

We will, of course, begin with the horse who started it all, the horse who has likely provided more data for treeless saddle fitting than any other, Uno. Stay tuned. 💚🧡

A day at Haven Horsemanship 💚🧡 trailer loading, hoof handling, first sits, riding, foundational behavior work, touch acceptance, treeless saddle testing, oh my!

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It is always bittersweet coming to the end of a Whole Horse-Whole Human session.

We learn together, we grow together, we support each other and the horses in overcoming challenges and provide a safe space for everyone to try new things and achieve their dreams 💚🧡

Then participants go back to their spheres of influence to help horses and humans to heal. It's sad to part ways, and also so profound and powerful.

Every group is special to me. This one gave me so much love, support and grace around balancing being a mom and our work. They were so loving toward the horses, toward each other, toward me and toward my little guy. I will forever be grateful for them and our time together.

Till the next Whole Horse-Whole Human session, my friends!