In my experience with about 15 saddle fitters in Ireland, I found only 1 guy in Cork who could accurately fit a saddle (Phil Richardson).

A saddle that doens’t fit the horse will cause you a lot of issues. Sadly many horses just suffer in silence and you may be unaware of the issue.

A saddle that doesn’t fit you, or puts you in a chair position, will make it very difficult for you to sit in balance on the horse, rather than behind the movement. If you would like to work on nice lateral work and soft feel and lightness, a saddle that actually helps you is a great asset.

For horses that are short back, (or smaller), round (like a cob, draft, sports horse etc), I have had tremendous successful with the adjustable width German saddles called Deuber.

A number of our Irish dressage team now ride in them. They are designed really well for shorter / normal back and round type horses. Everyone who sits in one loves it. One rider has described them at the ‘Jimmy Choo’ of saddles. Learn more here. You can see a couple at our clinics in action.

Here are 9 really good short youtube videos on saddle fit by Schleese. These are 100% worth watching. I would recommend watching these (max 15-20 mins in total) before you get any saddle fitter to come and visit your horse.