The Right Saddle for an English Thoroughbred

A pedigree that goes back to the age of Goethe, a truly regal appearance, phenomenal performance and a highly strung, passionate temperament: the English Thoroughbred is a true connoisseur's horse. Top specimens sell for millions at auction, but the breed also has a reputation for being highly strung, and is often not recommended for purely hobby and leisure use.
 
But of course there are also many leisure riders who dream the dream of a Thoroughbred, and many who are inseparable from their English Thoroughbred (often an ex-racehorse). We've been told that these horses too, without any auction hammer, winner's wreath or crowds, can simply be very happy family members...

There is one thing that contributes decisively to the happiness of an English Thoroughbred (and thus also its owner), and that is a well-fitting saddle. Less high-spirited breeds sometimes put up with a saddle that pinches or presses a little, without any obvious complaint. With this "high-voltage horse", you generally have no chance of getting away with saddle fit flaws. Don't see that as a problem: be glad that your horse doesn't suffer in silence, but clearly lets you know that something is wrong!
 
Breed characteristics that make buying a saddle challenging for an English Thoroughbred are the high wither and the strongly curved, but relatively short, back.

Due to the build and particular characteristics of the breed, you should pay special attention to the following when buying a saddle for an English Thoroughbred:

• Even with a rider in the saddle, it must still offer sufficient wither freedom. Constant pressure on the wither is disastrous, and even occasional impacts between the wither and the head plate are extremely painful for the horse. 

• The saddle must follow the curve of the back perfectly and lie evenly across the entire back muscle, without bridging or pressure points. You should avoid saddles with wedge-shaped panels, since these panels additionally lift the back of the saddle. 

• The saddle should be as long as possible to distribute the rider's weight well across the back, but in any case as short as necessary to avoid pressure in the lumbar region. For short saddles, padding with a broader bearing surface can reduce saddle pressure. 

• Ex-racehorses first need to develop the back musculature required to carry a rider. So they absolutely need a saddle that can adapt to changes in the back contour as muscle builds up: adjustable gullet width and easy re-padding are a must! 

Even though narrow-built horses aren't really the typical Iberosattel® customer, since we primarily specialise in saddles for Baroque horses, an Ibero can be very well suited to English Thoroughbreds too. That's because the design of our saddles addresses some of the problems that can occur when saddling these sensitive superstars exceptionally well.

• First of all, there's wither freedom: we can adjust the width and angle of the head plate so that the necessary clearance remains between saddle and wither, without the saddle in turn restricting the shoulder. 

• Later readjustments to the fit are always possible: all our saddle models are adjustable in gullet width. 

• We can also offer our customers our patented EWF saddle tree. EWF stands for "Extra Wither Freedom" and specifically means that we've integrated the head plate into the saddle tree in such a way that the wither never comes into direct contact with metal, even during occasional, unavoidable impacts between saddle and head plate. 

• For the padding of our saddles, instead of wedge-shaped panels, we use the thin, multi-layered Comfort Pad, also an in-house development. The Comfort Pad maximises the bearing surface without lifting the back of the saddle. For horses with a curved back like the English Thoroughbred, this type of padding is considerably better suited. 

• We specialise in fitting saddles even for short horse backs that make optimal use of the available bearing surface: our Comfort Pad can be shortened down to 44 centimetres (see Comfort Compact Pad). It is also matched to your horse in width, curve and spinal channel dimensions. 

• The Comfort Pad is freely suspended under the saddle. This makes re-stuffing and re-padding considerably less complicated than with conventional saddle panels.

Of course, riders also have individual requirements for a saddle. Our dressage and Baroque saddles offer various ways to adapt to the rider's needs:

• Seat sizes from 16.5 to 19 
• Flat, semi-flat or deep seat 
• Many different knee roll shapes and positions 
• Saddle flap length to your preference 
• Amazona solution against saddle sores

• The broad padding distributes the rider's weight nicely and evenly across the entire saddle position: the reduced saddle pressure relieves sensitive horse backs, especially on longer rides. 

• At the same time, the Comfort Pad improves contact with the horse. Subtle weight aids are transmitted with pinpoint precision, and reduced padding in the leg area also means your leg aids arrive precisely.