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A Short Saddle for a Short Horse: Iberosattel® Takes on the Challenge
For short breeds, Iberosattel® offers Baroque and dressage saddles with a short bearing surface. Specially for this purpose, the patented Comfort Pad was reworked once more. The result: the Comfort Compact Edition.
The long search for the short saddle...
The "short ones" are a challenge, and not a small one! Small horses and ponies, but also special breeds with a short back such as Arabians and Andalusians need a saddle with a short bearing surface so that the shoulder and kidney area remain free. Things end at the last rib; every centimetre behind it that the saddle rests on spells the end of pain-free, healthy riding. This leaves a bearing surface between shoulder blade and last rib that is simply too short for most saddles. An overall smaller saddle is often not the solution: it might fit the horse but doesn't offer enough room for the rider. For a short horse with broad, round ribs, it usually isn't enough anyway to simply choose a normal saddle in the smallest size. That may well be short enough, but it is then too narrow.
Bearing surface: a scarce resource with the "short ones"
Even a short horse still has to carry the rider's full weight after all. That makes it especially important to make optimal use of the available back area. This means: a saddle with a short bearing surface must never "hang in the air" anywhere that bearing surface would actually be available. And it must still leave all sensitive areas, and all areas that need freedom of movement, one hundred percent free.
Another important point: the bearing surface should not end "abruptly" so that no pressure points (muscle dents) occur.
The long search for the short saddle...
The "short ones" are a challenge, and not a small one! Small horses and ponies, but also special breeds with a short back such as Arabians and Andalusians need a saddle with a short bearing surface so that the shoulder and kidney area remain free. Things end at the last rib; every centimetre behind it that the saddle rests on spells the end of pain-free, healthy riding. This leaves a bearing surface between shoulder blade and last rib that is simply too short for most saddles. An overall smaller saddle is often not the solution: it might fit the horse but doesn't offer enough room for the rider. For a short horse with broad, round ribs, it usually isn't enough anyway to simply choose a normal saddle in the smallest size. That may well be short enough, but it is then too narrow.
Bearing surface: a scarce resource with the "short ones"
Even a short horse still has to carry the rider's full weight after all. That makes it especially important to make optimal use of the available back area. This means: a saddle with a short bearing surface must never "hang in the air" anywhere that bearing surface would actually be available. And it must still leave all sensitive areas, and all areas that need freedom of movement, one hundred percent free.
Another important point: the bearing surface should not end "abruptly" so that no pressure points (muscle dents) occur.
Gently tapering pressure
Riding comfort in compact form for the short dressage saddle
The Comfort Compact Edition by Iberosattel® is a variant of the proven Comfort Pad, adapted to the special requirements of short breeds.
Short saddles with the Comfort Compact Edition
- are ideal for short horses and small horses
- enable minimal saddle lengths (or actually "shortenings") of down to 44 cm
- nevertheless, seat sizes over 18 inches are also possible!
- enable a perfect distribution of the rider's weight on the horse's back while keeping the kidney area free
What our customers say:
Lisa W.
Hello dear Iberosattel® team, thank you so much for your wonderful saddle!
This year I rode our first 40 km endurance ride with your saddle and got top marks for Vilma's short back.
Surprisingly little hurt for me either, even though a dressage saddle is of course not made for endurance riding!
I have since sold my trail saddle and do pretty much everything on the Ibero Dressage with the Comfort Compact Edition, only the stirrups always get switched.
It has also had to serve for a fox hunt and jumps up to 80 cm are no problem either.
This year I rode our first 40 km endurance ride with your saddle and got top marks for Vilma's short back.
Surprisingly little hurt for me either, even though a dressage saddle is of course not made for endurance riding!
I have since sold my trail saddle and do pretty much everything on the Ibero Dressage with the Comfort Compact Edition, only the stirrups always get switched.
It has also had to serve for a fox hunt and jumps up to 80 cm are no problem either.
Alexa S.
As my mare is now already 22 years old and her back and shoulder area has changed so much that a Western saddle can no longer be made to fit, I decided to find an alternative.
It had to be a saddle that can be changed / adjusted often. My Tinker needs a large, short bearing surface and has to fit my ample backside well and be comfortable.
My saddle dealer recommended the Iberosattel® saddles to me. And what can I say? As a Western rider, I feel perfectly comfortable in my Amazona Dressage Comfort in size 18.5 with the Comfort Compact Edition and even have room to spare. I never thought I would sit in a dressage saddle again after so many years. The saddle has already been on a few orientation rides. My Tinker and I are very satisfied.
It had to be a saddle that can be changed / adjusted often. My Tinker needs a large, short bearing surface and has to fit my ample backside well and be comfortable.
My saddle dealer recommended the Iberosattel® saddles to me. And what can I say? As a Western rider, I feel perfectly comfortable in my Amazona Dressage Comfort in size 18.5 with the Comfort Compact Edition and even have room to spare. I never thought I would sit in a dressage saddle again after so many years. The saddle has already been on a few orientation rides. My Tinker and I are very satisfied.
Saddles with the Comfort Compact Edition have received multiple awards, here are a few excerpts:
Awards from the magazine "Mein Pferd"
- In the June/2008 issue, "Mein Pferd" awarded the Dressage Comfort its quality seal "Mein Pferd". The short bearing surface in particular was highly praised.
- In the July/2013 issue, "Mein Pferd" awarded the trail saddle Vaquero Breitschaft its quality seal "Mein Pferd".
- The Dressage Comfort saddle also received an award from the magazine "Araber Weltweit" in the July/2010 issue.