Jochen Schleese's Blog (23)

Saddle Fitting and The World Cup (not Saddle Fitting AT the World Cup!)

I had the immense good fortune to be in South Africa with two friends for much of the world cup soccer finals – a week in Johannesburg and a week in Capetown. I’m glad I had the sense to wear earplugs, because otherwise I would have been deaf by now from the combined noise of the vuvuzelas and the crowds!

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Added by Jochen Schleese on July 30, 2010 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Saddle Fit Tip #7 - Saddle Straightness

One of the things I see often – even in professional pictures in various magazines – is that the rider is not sitting straight on the horse. (this is especially obvious when you see the rider from behind!) Do you often have to step into one stirrup while riding to center your saddle on your horse’s back? This could mean that your saddle does not sit straight on your horse’s back, for whatever reason. Once you have determined that your saddle has a gullet/ channel that is the appropriate width… Continue

Added by Jochen Schleese on July 15, 2010 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Saddle Fit and Training Aids

Saddle Fit and Draw Reins

Training Equipment Gone Bad...

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Added by Jochen Schleese on June 30, 2010 at 1:30pm — 3 Comments

Saddle Fit and the Female Saddle - Part 2

Although I have broached this subject superficially in a past blog, I would like to address some key points in more detail, as they are important in determining the proper saddle fit especially for women – which is 85% of Schleese’s market – and makes us the only female saddle specialist in the world! Our saddle fitters all have a comprehensive understanding of equine biomechanics and how saddles need to fit to prevent longterm back damage in the horse, but we also have a good understanding of h… Continue

Added by Jochen Schleese on June 15, 2010 at 1:00pm — No Comments

A Happy Anniversary

A couple of months ago I mentioned that I was in California being filmed for an educational spot on the Bay Area Equestrian Network’s website. Well, the spots have now been completed, so check them out – this is part of the press r

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Added by Jochen Schleese on May 31, 2010 at 7:00pm — 1 Comment

Saddle Fit Tip # 5 - Saddle Fit and Billet Alignment

Does your saddle slide forward no matter what kind of girth or saddle pad

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Added by Jochen Schleese on May 15, 2010 at 7:00pm — 3 Comments

Saddle Fit and the Western Saddle

I have been asked now several times to address the subject of fitting western saddles. As you may know, my specialty is English saddles – and mainly dressage – but for what it’s worth, here are my thoughts on western saddles.

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Added by Jochen Schleese on April 30, 2010 at 7:30am — 5 Comments

Saddle Fit Tip #4 - Understanding the Importance of Full Panel Contact

There are still a lot of ‘opinions’ on what constitutes a properly fitting saddle, but I think a large part of proper saddle fit is simple common sense!

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Added by Jochen Schleese on April 15, 2010 at 7:30am — No Comments

Saddle Fit and the Female Saddle

Hello from Florida, where I have been travelling the last couple weeks and tried to get in a couple of days holiday at Ft. Myers Beach with my family. What happened to the weather? It seems to finally be getting warmer, but of course it’s now that I’m leaving for California! We’re doing our third clinic together with Heike Kemmer at the end of the

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Added by Jochen Schleese on March 31, 2010 at 12:00pm — 4 Comments

Saddle Fit and Gullet/Channel Width - Tip #3

I have had many clients with saddles that at first glance look like they’re fitting really well, but when I turn them over, I see that the gullet width is awfully narrow. I’m talking maybe 1-2 fingers here! A saddle with a channel or gull

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Added by Jochen Schleese on March 15, 2010 at 12:00pm — 7 Comments

Saddle Fit and Skiing

Last week after Family Day I had the chance to go skiing in Collingwood on one of my quick two days home between trips. The analogy of the day’s experience and how it paralleled what I sometimes come across in saddle fitting was

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Added by Jochen Schleese on February 28, 2010 at 10:00am — No Comments

Saddle Fit Tip #2 - Saddle Fit and Wither Clearance

I have to revisit this topic again because the last time I posted on this back in the early fall, we got so many questions that it became clear that a lot was still unclear! So – take II! (and this time with a video, which will hopefully enlighten a bit more). Wither clearance is an often misunderstood concept. All of us are concerned that our saddles have adequate wither clearance and do not pinch our horse’s withers. But few of us truly understand exactly what “wi… Continue

Added by Jochen Schleese on February 14, 2010 at 8:00am — 2 Comments

Saddle Fit and Rider Position

Here is a question from one of my saddle fitting colleagues that represents a problem some of you may have experienced: She wrote: When I have the saddle on the horse, the tree fits, the panels are leveled (flair), the rider is sitting on both his seat bones, the rider is sitting in balance, so statically everything looks ok. And then the horse start moving. The saddle does what is has to do, it stays in place and at this moment I am satisfied what I see, how the saddle is working for the horse.… Continue

Added by Jochen Schleese on February 1, 2010 at 11:01am — 1 Comment

Saddle Fit Tip # 1 - Saddle Balance

"Many clients approach me with various saddle balance problems. Balance issues are usually very easy to diagnose and fairly simple to remedy." SADDLE FIT TIP #1 - BALANCE (in a series of 9 short videos) Have you ever experienced any of these problems which may indicate saddle balance problems? Are you struggling w… Continue

Added by Jochen Schleese on January 23, 2010 at 12:30pm — 5 Comments

Saddle Fit and Blisters

I have had a client who questioned the appearance of blisters after riding, which then disappear again after about 20 minutes. I suggest the following might be happening. The spinal vertebrae have three processes. Between the spinal processes, you will find the spinal dorsal ligament system . There should never be any pressure on the spinal vertebral processes, however, if you have a saddle which has a too narrow chamber and has been lying on the spine itself, probably at least one of the 7 laye… Continue

Added by Jochen Schleese on December 30, 2009 at 11:30am — 2 Comments

Saddle fitting at the pommel

This blog is in response to Valerie’s question from a few weeks ago: If the question is relating to the pommel area specifically, I have pretty much already addressed this in a previous blog about withers clearance. There are exceptions to this rule for mutton-withered horses and extremely high withered horses (many saddles have lots of clearance on top of the withers, but not on the side of the withers). On a high withered horse you are lucky if achieve 1-2 fingers clearance all the way around… Continue

Added by Jochen Schleese on December 15, 2009 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Saddle Fit - Going Back to Nature?

The current trend in riding, as in most other things, seems to be “going back to nature”. Riders everywhere are interested in current discussions about whether or not to shoe, whether or not to ride bareback, whether or not to “chemically” supplement your horse’s diet. According to documented statistics, the following life expectancies show the opposite to be true: • Life expectancy of the wild horse (for example Mustang) is 5-7 years. • Life expectancy of a horse ridden by an inexperienced rid… Continue

Added by Jochen Schleese on December 2, 2009 at 10:29am — No Comments

Saddle Fit and the Circle of Influence

In recent years, people are becoming much more concerned that the saddle actually fits, and to this end "master" saddle fitters are cropping up left, right, and centre to do consultations on-site. When I was invited to Canada in 1986 from Germany to be the Official Saddler for the World Dressage Championships (held for the first time outside of Europe), we did an informal market survey which revealed that at that time saddles were treated as commodity items - used, abused, broken, and thrown awa… Continue

Added by Jochen Schleese on November 15, 2009 at 1:30pm — 6 Comments

Saddle Fit and the Sway-backed Horse

This blog is in response to a member request to address saddlefitting as regards her sway-backed Arab. She is presently able to use only a western saddle on her horse, which she states is the only one that apparently doesn’t bridge. As in my other blogs, I am going to retain my level of honesty (and hopefully simplicity!) in addressing some of these issues, so please take what I say in the manner with which I present it – I want to honestly help as many riders and horses as possible achieve max… Continue

Added by Jochen Schleese on November 2, 2009 at 9:45am — 1 Comment

The Truth about Withers Clearance

One of the biggest misconceptions in saddle fitting is that two-three fingers withers clearance means that the saddle fits. When I check saddle fit there are actually 36 points to consider, and withers clearance is only one of them. The withers are a very sensitive area of the horse with different interacting muscles and bones. Obviously you do not want the pommel of the saddle pushing down on the wither bone of our horse which would cause sores. This is the area that veterinarians sometimes r… Continue

Added by Jochen Schleese on October 15, 2009 at 9:00am — 6 Comments

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