ErgoX2 of Sweden in Australia

27/10/2024

Maria Hallring is the owner, designer and founder of ErgoX2 of Sweden. What she says here is so powerful.

As part of our fitting methodology, we work with customers who are prepared to invest in improving themselves, doing whatever is needed to ensure they get the best benefit of our unique fitting system.

That is why we prequalify. We need to see photos of the horse, we want to understand your own training methodology. For example, our saddles will not work for backward riding, pulling the horse into a ‘frame’, with the rider leaning back.

The rider has to be prepared to perhaps look at their own riding and trained a little differently, and understand that poor rider biomechanics due to riding in badly designed saddles, create a false awareness of where their body is in space compared to a vertical alignment.

Sometimes that means spending time going back to basics, and working on your own posture to ensure your body learns how to absorb the movement as the horse learns to push up under the saddle once the back is potentially unloaded from T17 with the rider in forward seat. Letting go of compensatory tension in gluteal muscles, lumber area, shoulders, and thighs.

Some riders will be able to adapt beautifully to being in forward balance, some need to take more time to reprogram their body awareness to being in that forward ‘sitting standing’ seat, with weight distributed evenly across the bony triangle of the seatbones and p***s, rather than continuing to revert to their backward seat, rolling on to their glutes.

I have had to go through this very same adaptive process myself, made slightly more complicated as my horse is wide and high sprung through the ribs, and having a very narrow angle to the head of my femur. I have been uncompromising in chasing that feel, until it is now automatic.

It’s a process, and we are so excited when someone approaches us who is willing to do the work on themselves, once we can provide the suitable saddle interface, to make everything better for the horse.

We don’t just sell you a saddle. We take on the journey with you.

26/10/2024

Position is Everything! Yes, it REALLY is!

Let me ask you some questions ☺️

Does your saddle put you in a chair seat?

Do you experience chaffing in sensitive areas from the pommel of your saddle?

Do you experience pain in your seat bones while riding?

Do you experience pain in your hips, lower back, knees, ankles, or mid back?

Do you get ‘left behind’ when the horse accelerates end up leaning back?

If your horse spooks or shies, are you able to stay with him/her and continue as though nothing happened, or is it a major disruption causing you to lose balance?

Do you dislike the current trend for deep seated dressage saddles with huge knee blocks?

Is your horse able to move freely through the shoulders, and lift the back easily, pushing up under the saddle?

Do you struggle with saddle fit on a ‘tricky’ horse? Maybe a short backed, wide type, or your horse has wide withers?

Does your saddle slip sideways, or run forward no matter what you do?

Has your horse deteriorated in its training, or is it struggling to find balance in transitions, and maybe getting stuck in lateral work?

If any of these questions resonate with your experience, our saddles may be able to help you find solutions.

We offer something that no other saddle company offers. We take a deep dive into the rider, and work to understand how the rider’s posture and compensatory movement patterns may be impacting their riding. Using an in-person rider assessment, we look at your posture off the horse, and some basic movement assessments to find where your areas of weakness could be causing asymmetry in the saddle.

We then do quite a detailed rider assessment on our physio-grade saddle stands, to find the rider’s point of stability where the contact points of the pelvis should interact with the saddle, and also explore how wide the rider is able to sit with their thigh by evaluating movement that indicates hip hang and ideal width under the thigh to allow the rider to drop the leg comfortably.

We then take an imprint of the bony parts of the pelvis, the seat bones and p***c symphysis. The vital ‘3 points of contact’. If the rider isn’t able to sit comfortably in the triangle made by these points, they will have dysfunction in the saddle, and cannot ride as effectively as they could. Then we discover what seat size you need, and how much support you need!

The majority of riders in deep seated saddles end up either tipping rearward off their seatbones onto their gluteal muscles, or drop anterior into the p***c bone, creating a sway back posture. Both of these situations create lower back pain, and tension throughout the body.

We specialize in saddles that support the rider correctly, and coupled with our unique tree design, with the rider in balance over their feet and placed at the horse’s COG at the base of the withers, this can be transformational for the horse and also for the rider!

It is common for horses to change posture in our saddles, as they are able to push up from behind, lifting the back and engaging the thoracic sling.

Our saddles reduce pain for the rider, and also for the horse. A balanced well supported rider is a much easier load for the horse to carry.

If you’d like to find out more, please do get in touch.

We are based in central Victoria, and currently travel to South Gippsland on a regular basis, and will also be traveling to Canberra regularly starting early next year.

We are able to offer full fitting and ongoing saddle checks. We also are able to help you find resources to improve yours balance and strength, as well as teach you how to use exercises to improve your horse’s postural stability.

Currently we have four dressage saddles available as demos, and currently have a jumping saddle arriving soon, along with another dressage saddle that will be of particular interest for those competing in Pony Dressage!

25/10/2024

Excited to soon be having a jumping demo landed!

This model is our Confidence B1 jump saddle. Features soft calfskin seat, skirt and knee pad, and has velcro blocks. The flap is grained oiled leather for excellent grip. This is the starter jump saddle in our range.

And I have also got another dressage demo coming, this particular flap configuration on the Ergoflap monoflap has been quite popular recently, with some riders needing a more forward cut regular length flap, with a short knee block, that allows the thigh to drop unrestricted from the hip. This saddle will be brilliant for those wanting to fit broad, short dressage ponies without compromising on fit, and need a saddle that will support the rider correctly over the centre of gravity and balance correctly over the foot.

It is equally at home on a 16+h warmblood or a 13h pony, due to our unique tree and panel design.

From the website:
“A dressage saddle with tree no 1 that fits short, wide horses with big shoulders and horses that are changing. The saddle has a narrow waist. Ergo Flap singleflap is a saddle for riders that needs to sit very narrow.
Our unique Ergo Flap has soft calfskin leather without extra padding which makes it extra close contact under your thighs.”

22/10/2024

This is something that is intrinsic in my work with horses, has been for over a decade now, but is especially appropriate when it comes to assessing saddles and fit, rider and horse interaction both on the ground and under saddle, and observing every single sign the horse is giving us, right down to a widening of the nostril.

No matter how ‘obedient’ and obliging the horse is, there are always signs, even in a shut down horse.

20 Ways Horses Talk Without Saying a Word

1. They talk through their behaviour when asked to do something, e.g. how they perform a canter transition.

2. They talk through their reactions to situations, e.g. when you go out to try and catch them.

3. They talk through their gestures, e.g. when they tighten their mouths and swish their tails.

4. They talk through their posture, e.g. when they hollow their backs and how they stand.

5. They talk through their movement, e.g. when their movement is rushed, tense, or discombobulated.

6. They talk through how they brace to protect themselves, e.g. how they react when you pick up the rein.

7. They talk through how their muscles have developed or become wasted away, e.g. stand your horse square and examine the symmetry of their muscling from one side to the other.

8. They talk through their conformation, e.g. what does their conformation tell you they will excel at or struggle with?

9. They talk through inspecting their mouths and teeth, e.g. bits can cause damage, and once you know how to see it, you can never un-see it.

10. They talk through their hooves, e.g. from stress rings to hoof wear, flaring, and balance.

11. They talk through the health and quality of their coat, e.g. is their coat shiny or dull?

12. They talk through their weight, e.g. are they underweight or overweight?

13. They talk through the way they are bloated, distended, or have no core.

14. They talk through their breath, its smell, rhythm, and depth.

15. They talk to you in their heart beat and other vital signs.

16. They talk through their footfalls, the timing and heaviness as they hit the ground.

17. They talk through the contraptions people attach to them or use to control them, e.g. nosebands, bits, chains, whips, spurs, or food, etc.—all tell a story.

18. They talk through their curiosity, preferences and what they wish to avoid.

19. They talk through their owner’s frustrations and the names they are called.

20. They even talk to you in their manure and how often they pooh!

Horses will always tell you what they know, how they feel, and provide an in-depth history of their lives. Important things. In fact, horses have a lot to say if you watch and observe.

I welcome you to add to this list ❤

12/10/2024

On of the things we assess when looking at the overall posture of any horse that we will be assessing for suitability for an ErgoX2 fitting and test ride, is hoof angles.

This can be a challenge for many owners, as their current hoof care professional may (and usually does!) argue that the angles are fine. Especially in relation to hind feet.

One way to educate yourself to learn more about what to look for in hoof angles to present to your hoof care professional, is the HoofmAp ap which you can upload your photos into, and it will automatically plot the angles and give you the data. It is scientifically formulated, and the Ap has been designed to educate people to be able to recognise correct angles.

Why is this so important? As the article states, the angles of the hind hooves have a direct correlation to the posture as well as the function.

As a qualified and experienced hoof care professional myself, I have the education behind me to recognise poor angles, and I am also able to measure and map those angles without the ap.

I hear stories of people mentioning the negative Palmer angles to their vet recommended farrier, that the angles need to be addressed, only to have the farrier use his toe angle gauge to measure to hoof and say, no, this is fine.

I’m sorry, but it’s not fine. The hoof angle gauge is an outdated tool, and does not give a true indication of the overall balance of the hoof capsule.

Hind feet should never have low heels and long toes without some sort of remedial correction.

Body issues in horses can be complex with multiple sources, but here's a pattern I see over and over.

Hoof and body problems have a circular effect, both worsening or improving. Inappropriate loading from above helps to flatten the heels, while underruning heels stresses tissue by misaligning all the joints above...

Our aim is, of course, to create a positive spiral of improvement by helping everywhere we can. One thing is sure though: those hooves need to be helped back into balance first and achieving that requires a lot of skills from the hoofcare practitioner.

Thanks for reading!

Jane

09/10/2024

From my colleague Steph Bloom Specialist Saddle Fitter in the UK who is also an ErgoX2 fitter, as well as having 15+ years fitting AH saddles.

09/10/2024

The opportunity has just come up to purchase a pre owned saddle that was purchased from me earlier this year with very little use.

Due to a very sad situation with the horse having an injury which has just been diagnosed as ending his ridden life, this practically new Trude basic saddle is available to purchase. This is a double flap saddle with Velcro knee blocks.

It is a 17” in our B1 Wide tree, and I will have it available from tomorrow for assessment and test rides. I am selling on behalf of the owner.

The owner is asking $4,800 for the saddle including a pair of matching Webber stirrup leathers Webbers, and 2 pairs of velcro knee blocks.

The saddle has been ridden in 6 times so is virtually as new. Retail on this model is $5,400 with a wait time of approx 8-10 weeks if ordered from the factory.

I will have some more photos of the saddle tomorrow, but it has been meticulously cared for so I expect it to look as it is in this photo.

Any adjustments which may be needed to assist with fit will be included.

08/10/2024

We received a much awaited shipment from Sweden last week, with some very excited ladies in Gippsland looking forward to their delivery this weekend!

Along with this shipment, I also received a new demo Ergoflap single flap, and an extra saddle for stock. Someone is going to be very lucky to be able to purchase this saddle if it fits the flap configuration they need after their rider assessment!

I am looking to add a jumping saddle to the demo range in the new year, and another dressage saddle option which will be a game changer for pony dressage riders!

If you’d like to find out more about our rider and horse assessments, or learn more about our saddles and our fitting methodology, please do get in touch!

07/10/2024

I do love saddle delivery day!!! 😍

This lovely young 6yo warmblood mare is a petite 15.2, and has been lightly and tactfully ridden since she was started. She has a very short area for a saddle, and is quite wide through the withers and base of the withers.

When doing her owner’s rider optimising assessment a couple of months ago, we discovered she has what we are finding to be a common pelvis shape, being wide through the seatbones and short to the p***c symphysis, with a low angle. Meaning that she needed more width under her p***c bone for correct support, but a less deep seat to allow for her lower p***c angle. Her ideal seat measurement for her pelvic size is 16.5”.

Also something that we see as common in this pelvic shape, is that she cannot sit wide due to her head of femur, and to have her balanced over the horse’s COG and also over her feet, meant that she needed a more forward cut flap, and a short thigh block. Our Ergoflap single flap model allows less bulk under her thigh, so it can drop without pushing her leg out (which causes a lot of issues with lower back pain for many riders).

The test ride showed that the mare was happy to push up from behind and was taking her weight on the hindleg rather than the forehand, and despite our lovely rider having sprained her ankle only the day before (!!!), she was stable enough in the saddle that she was able to keep balanced and centred over her horse so she didn’t overload the forehand or block her in the lumbers.

As this lovely combination develop in their work and the mare lifts in the front and develops muscle as she moves to self carriage, we will keep close contact with them to ensure we make changes as soon as possible to keep everything moving forward with no hiccups!

This flap design is absolutely perfect for pony dressage riders, and I’m extremely keen on it. The flap length is our standard flap length but appears shorter due to the forward cut. Our panels are very adaptable, and slightly upswept to allow unloading of the last rib to enable more freedom in the back for the horse.

It is also beautifully suited for this combination to be able to tackle some small jumps without needing to move to a jumping saddle.

I will be adding this configuration to my demo range in the coming months. 

05/10/2024

Our ErgoX2 founder, Maria Hallring, has been collaborating with Alogo Analysis to develop more accurate test recording for the work we do with horses and riders with our rider optimising and test rides, and saddle fitting.

These are the results produced by Alogo Analysis.

Stay tuned as I am planning to obtain an Alogo system for recording test rides in the future!

04/10/2024

I am heading back to Canberra for the weekend of 19-20th of October to conduct rider optimising assessments and saddle testing.

Limited spaces are available on Sunday at Bywong.

To register your interest, please send me an inbox.

A full rider assessment and saddle test ride session is very detailed and takes approximately 2.5 hours.

Cost for assessments is $220 for both rider assessment and test ride.

If a rider assessment only, cost is $120 and takes approximately an hour.

Get valuable feedback on your own body and how you interface with the saddle!

30/09/2024

Education, rider balance and coordination, a saddle that correctly balances and supports the rider, and also fits the horse.

Then we have to educate the rider to ensure they understand how to change their bio mechanical compensations, and physically do the work needed to become straighter, and an easier load for the horse to carry!

29/09/2024

Is the saddle the magic answer to everything?

While it’s a huge piece of the whole, it’s not the magic pill.

However, as a trained fitter and rider optimising assessor for ErgoX2 of Sweden, we understand that it’s vital to consider all the input into the correct biomechanical function of the horse.

Our most successful clients around the world, are the ones who are prepared to do the basic work to improve the self carriage, starting with the slow walk in hand. It’s also important that the rider takes responsibility for their own compensatory patterns, and works towards balancing their own crookedness and rotations, to help the horse rather than get in the way.

Sometimes it takes a while for the rider to reprogram their proprioception to be able to move in a more balanced way, and it can take months to change the automatic responses of the body into the new movement patterns.

We continue to support our clients during this process, not just with checking their saddle, but helping them navigate these changes in their own bodies and provide tools to help in this journey!

Why do biomechanics matter?

No one uttered this term to me, in all my years of riding and lesson-taking, until I was well into my 20's. I heard lots of other words: contact, responsiveness, connection, rhythm, impulsion, suppleness. All of them felt like these ethereal concepts that had multiple meanings depending on who you talked to. They also had varying degrees of importance or ranking in terms of what you need first before the horse can offer the next thing, depending on who you talked to. I still see this all the time, and hear about how frustrating it is from other horsepeople trying to do the best they can.

Biomechanics are the physical relationships and structural laws that govern how living things move. Biomechanics are the HOW in all of those aforementioned ethereal terms. They are vital in understanding how to correctly develop a horse for riding. This is the first reason why biomechanics matter.

The second reason is because horses weren't designed to be ridden. I cannot overstate how important this is to understand if you want to ride horses and ride them well: horses were NEVER designed to be sat on. The horse is born with a specific set of biomechanical tools available to him, and they serve him very well...when they are needed.

The thing is, those tools were designed for maximum efficiency if the horse's life is in danger: used for brief moments, blips in between long stretches of calm. Those exact tools can cause injury, unsoundness, and degeneration if used every day, day in and day out, for years.
. . . . . . . .

I want you to look at these two photos.

The top horse is using what nature gave him (and what work with humans helped him turn into long-standing patterns in movement). The bottom horse has been given new tools and taught how to use them to move in ways that preserve soundness, not encourage degeneration.

The top horse is moving in a way that directly ties into the same sympathetic nervous system responses that kick in when a horse is in danger. The bottom horse is demonstrating all of the power potential the nervous system makes available when the horse is in danger, but accessing it through relaxation and completely different biomechanics.

The top horse is using the ground to support his weight in movement, putting a lot of pressure on his joints. The bottom horse is doing a lot of that supporting himself by virtue of his posture, putting significantly less strain on his joints.

You may have already figured out this is the same horse. These photos were taken approximately two years apart.

I guess what I'm getting at is this: the way to develop the bottom horse isn't to simply take the top horse and add contact, impulsion, responsiveness, ride circle after circle, do pole and hill work, etc. Whatever you apply to the ridden horse will only reinforce what is already in him.

You must teach him, literally from the ground up, a new way of moving, a different biomechanical perspective. Some horses will come by this easier than others, but not a one is born knowing how to put all of these things together on their own when the human asks it. Not a one.

We have to show them how.

PC: Mandy Helwege. Thank you for permitting me to share your lovely boy.

29/09/2024

Two year old post from our UK page, still 100% relevant.

Now new to Australia, currently based in central Victoria.

If you’re curious about what we offer and how we may be able to help you with your own saddle fitting questions for yourself, or your horse, or, most usually, for you both, please get in touch.

We’ve all had moments where we can’t ride one side of a horse, but do you truly struggle to get one leg on properly? Do you almost search for the horse’s side under one leg but the other's much easier?

There are so many factors in involved in allowing the rider’s legs to drape correctly; first we must centre the rider, with a supported "neutral" pelvis, then we can then look to fully facilitate aiding with the leg. ErgoX2 saddles are not only designed around the actual shape(s) of the human pelvis, but they have a ton of options for flaps to get you sitting in the very best position on your particular shape of horse, both facilitating you to be more even over your horse, and be able to get both legs on.

If you’d like to try this fabulous new-to-the UK brand get in touch, we currently have our first fitter on the road, covering from East Anglia to Northern Ireland (!) but we are also starting to take the odd booking for the south east of England too, please enquire.