How to Select the Correct Dressage Saddle

A dressage saddle should have a deep seat, a longer flap for the leg, long stirrups and knee rolls if they are preferred by the rider. Find out why every dressage saddle is specific to each rider with helpful advice in this video on horse training and dressage.

So the reason I picked this dressage saddle specifically, of course, every saddle varies in every discipline. Definitely a dressage saddle, what we look for in a dressage saddle is a deeper seat and a longer flap that comes down for the long leg. Which we use in dressage, we have longer stirrups, versus the Hunter, Jumpers, Eventers, they like to ride in a shorter stirrup. And the saddles have a shorter flap with a flatter seat, to allow them to come out of the saddle more. Where as in dressage, we want to be able to sit in the saddle, a little bit more to influence the horse from our seat. So I specifically like this saddle by Schleese Saddlery which is a Derby model. It's a seventeen inch, that means the seat is a seventeen inch made for someone of my size. Of course, if you're a little bit smaller, you would go for a smaller seat size. If you're a little bit larger, you want to have the saddle seat be roomy enough for you to be comfortable in a saddle. You definitely don't want a saddle that's too small and you don't also want to be drowning yourself in a saddle, that's too big for you. So seventeen inch is my size. I like this saddle because it does have a deeper seat. You can see that the back of the saddle comes up quite high and it allows me into the center of the saddle more, to get a better feeling for the horse. Also, I prefer to have, you can have knee rolls on the outside of your saddle and you can also Velcro them in, on this model, on the inside of the saddle. I chose to have a little bit of a knee roll here, because I do like to have a little bit support for my leg. Some riders prefer a bigger knee roll, some riders prefer no knee roll, at all, that the saddle is completely flat. It's very specific to each rider and it's very much the riders' choice because every one is so individual. So you can't really say which saddle you recommend, it has to be, that every rider picks their own saddle. And also our stirrups, we, like I said earlier, we ride with a longer stirrup. Definitely, these stirrup irons are nice and big. You want to make sure that your foot's not going to get caught in the stirrup. And this specific model actually, will turn as well. Which allows your foot to be in, become in a proper position. Which is, that your foot is parallel to the horse at all times and that your toe isn't sticking out or sticking in. And this helps you stay comfortably in that position. And that is basically, what I would say, saddle to me is. And like I said earlier, every, every saddle is very specific to each rider. And you can really get a sense for them by trying a couple, sitting in them in a Tack shop, going in, seeing what you like. And then second of all, getting it adjusted and fitted for your horse. Because each horse is different and each rider is different.