Saddles and Equipment

Heather is an official Agent for Barefoot Treeless saddles

Try a treeless!

There is a lot of – often ill informed – discussion in the media about treeless saddles, and models which are very expensive right down to cheap and nasty copies which should clearly be avoided! But how can you find out how a treeless saddle can help your horse? What would it actually feel like to sit in, and would it improve your horse’s movement? Find out by exploding the myths!

Heather will bring some Barefoot saddles and demonstrate how to ensure they really DO fit your horse – it’s not quite as simple as “one size fits all”. Then you can have a short ride in one ON YOUR OWN HORSE and feel the freedom…

There is absolutely no obligation to buy anything (but be warned you will probably want to!), and plenty of opportunity to ask questions. You can then form an educated opinion on whether it’s the saddle for you, but Heather can guarantee she’s NEVER met a horse that doesn’t like them. Suddenly there are no pressure points or restrictions in their way. Lifting their backs and extending their shoulders suddenly becomes an achievable reality instead of a distant goal.

One small caution – people are occasionally shocked to discover that their own positions are not as secure as they thought. Quality treeless saddles will place you in a good classical posture – and then you must do the rest!! They wont do the riding for you! When you ride in harmony with your horse he will relax and move well giving you a feeling of comfort and security – when you block his way you will know immediately…. Are you up to the challenge?

Heather offers this service purely because she wholeheartedly believes in the concept, having used treeless saddles personally for a number of years. Trying one really is the only way to truly understand the differences to traditional models. Heather can honestly say she’ll never use a treed saddle again! How can a completely rigid item  – even if made bespoke for that horse – be said to truly fit them on any day other than the one on which it was fitted?? Treeless saddles flex to fit your horse no-matter how his musculature or waistline changes. As Torsion say… would you go running in clogs??

So – why not contact Heather to arrange a demonstration session at your home or yard today? If you don’t try one you can’t have a truly informed opinion…..

Horsemanship Equipment

Heather chooses equipment carefully as it is, of course, one of the links between human and my horse.

To start groundwork (where ALL problems are solved) you will need the basic kit -

• Rope Halter
• 12 ft line with brass swivel clip
• Carrot  Stick
• Savvy String

Please ensure you do not buy a pressure halter of any sort as that is simply force by another name. A plain horseman’s halter is the only type she will use. Sometimes choosing the size can be tricky as they differ on various websites – and very cheap ones don’t fit anything! If in doubt always go a size bigger as you can make a large rope smaller but not a small one bigger. For riding you may choose to move to a natural hackamore (not the traditional ones with metal on!)  rather than a bit/bridle and on the ground you will soon find a 22ft line very useful.

WARNING: There are many cheaper copies around but they really don’t do the job and so end up being a false economy… and no, you can’t use a lunge line or lunge whip instead… they are totally different items!

So – where to order from?

Having researched a large number if items available via the internet (genuine equipment is unfortunately not available via tack shops at present) Heather would recommend the following :

www.parelli.com

(all equipment – the best!)

www.totalhorsemanship.co.uk

www.horseandharmony.co.uk

(N.B. Heather recommends the NE Professional range from there)

Look out for “starter kits” on these websites as they can offer better value.