The Western Saddler Ltd.

06/02/2025

Never gonna happen… 😂😂😂😂

30/01/2025

Saddle spotlight

Continuing our light saddle inspo, look at this gorgeous chestnut saddle, it has the following customisations:
🤠 Lightweight leather
🤠 Black nubuck Seat
🤠Standard tooling with 4 custom feathers
🤠Custom length fenders for the rider
🤠Most importantly it is a tree that has been custom fitted for a horse that had experienced a lot of discomfort in his previous western saddle.
🤠Lastly we have a lovely Mattes pad underneath it all!

🤠 Equiflex Pro Reiner 135:
https://western-saddler.co.uk/collections/equiflex-saddles/products/equiflex-short-classic-nrha-pro-reiner-135sh

27/01/2025

Next in our sponsorship roster we have Pencils and pony treats: a spangle saga with Charlie and Spangle the western gypsy cob.

Charlie is a saddle fitter in her own right, and has been promoting us for a long time.

They love to take part in horse back archery in his western saddle (iconic we know) and they compete in various competitions! We cannot wait to see what they get up to this year.

Thank you Charlie and Spangle for your support!

You can follow them on these platforms:

Facebook: Pencils and pony treats: a spangle saga
Instagram: A_spangle_saga
TikTok: spangle_chip

26/01/2025

That is some truck!!!

23/01/2025

Just some light colour western saddle inspo for you all, how gorgeous are these combinations! The great thing about light oil is it is slightly lighter and ages beautifully! We have a wide range of Equiflex and TWS custom saddles here in various colours showing off everyone’s impeccable taste

17/01/2025

17/01/2025

This post has now been updated with two proposed dates. Thank you for your patience! 😊

**New proposed dates**

Thank you so much for your patience whilst we have been unwell. I have never had such a severe case of flu, it wiped me out for nearly a month! I am still not fully recovered but am definitely getting better.😅

Next trip is in the planning stages. Currently looking to be between either the 24th February to 9th March OR the 19th to 29th March 2025.

I will be in touch with all who have registered an interest over the coming week. I will update here to let you know when emails have been sent. Our emails sometimes go in spam too.

I am heading all over for this trip. If you would like a visit for an existing saddle check or a new saddle, wherever you live, please do get in touch. 😊

https://western-saddler.co.uk/blogs/news/upcoming-trip-all-over-the-uk-either-24th-february-to-9th-march-or-19th-to-29th-march-2025-spaces-available

12/01/2025

A huge thank you for your patience while we get back to all your inquiries.

In the meantime we have some exciting news, we have taken on three new sponsors for the first time ever!

We are going to start introducing them over the following weeks starting with Wesley's Ramblings

Emma and Wesley, what a wonderful pair. Welsey is an Irish Draught and Emma is his lovely owner. They have been great advocates for our brand, tagging us in numerous posts and comments even before the sponsorship. They are kind, ethical, funny and a brilliant pair to watch. We can't wait to see your journey together, thank you for putting your trust in us.

04/01/2025

A massive (belated) HAPPY NEW YEAR to all our dear colleagues, followers, clients and friends. Thank you so much for your support over the years and we look forward to seeing you all in the New Year!

We will be replying to emails as of Monday when we reopen after our Christmas break, thank you so much for your patience!

23/12/2024

We would like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year 🎄 🐴🐎🫏 🎄

We are closed now and will reopen on 6th January. Orders will continue to be dispatched in this time.

Due to illness the trip in early January will be delayed by a few weeks. We will be in touch with you all soon to update.

Happy festive season and hope you enjoy this little video Ronnie and Julian have prepared for you all. 🎄💙🫏💙🎄

19/12/2024

Huge thank you for your patience in waiting for replies, Maria is very ill with flu and currently bed bound (great timing I know!) so we are doing our best but appreciate your patience and we will be in touch shortly. In the meantime have a look at these stunning products, handmade in the US!

04/12/2024

STIRRUP FORCES DURING EXERCISE

Seeing as there was quite a lot of interest in the post on girth tension, I thought I would follow up with an example of the changes in total stirrup force (sum of left and right stirrup force) over the course of a stride in fast canter when the rider is in a 2-point/jumping position.

The riders mass is fixed. It's always the same. So under gravity (1g) the riders mass is 70kg. But weight is mass x gravity. So if the rider accelerates down onto the horse at 2g, the riders weight becomes 2 x 70kg = 140kg.

As you can see the effective weight of the rider varies with the acceleration of the horse and the rider, from as little as 30kg when the rider is still going up and or the horse is going down/not changing height, to as much as 130kg when the rider is coming down and or the horse is going up/not changing height.

So the effective weight on the horses back changes by a factor of over 4x during the course of a fast canter. No wonder horses have so many back problems!

04/12/2024

This is why I have a real interest in learning about behaviour and assessing for pain, and I have been teaching this to the students too. I have found many horses to be in pain and have therefore been referred to a vet rather than have a saddle. A number were also found to have kissing spines and other issues.

Bless Wiggle and the many, many horses like him. 🤎

26/11/2024

**New proposed dates**

Thank you so much for your patience whilst we have been unwell. I have never had such a severe case of flu, it wiped me out for nearly a month! I am still not fully recovered but am definitely getting better.😅

Next trip is in the planning stages. Currently looking to be between either the 24th February to 9th March OR the 19th to 29th March 2025.

I will be in touch with all who have registered an interest over the coming week. I will update here to let you know when emails have been sent. Our emails sometimes go in spam too.

I am heading all over for this trip. If you would like a visit for an existing saddle check or a new saddle, wherever you live, please do get in touch. 😊

https://western-saddler.co.uk/blogs/news/upcoming-trip-all-over-the-uk-either-24th-february-to-9th-march-or-19th-to-29th-march-2025-spaces-available

22/11/2024

A few weeks ago Sue Palmer (equine physiotherapist) and I had a very interesting phone call together. I really look forward to working collaboratively with Sue in the future.

https://www.facebook.com/thehorsephysio

Please do check out her YouTube charnel where she shares so much of her incredible knowledge for free - for the good of the horse.

https://youtu.be/X6im7-sUmp0?si=KjVLM4W2343Y3lp7

15/11/2024

Horses, as social animals, are naturally wired to engage in allogrooming (grooming between horses).

This behaviour establishes and maintains social bonds, with horses selecting specific partners. Allogrooming also strengthens pair bonds and enhances herd cohesion.

Research indicates that allogrooming in the region of the neck and withers, compared to any other region, causes a significant lowering of heart rate, suggesting a calming effect and potential anxiety alleviation.

This lowering of heart rate is also seen when humans groom horses in those regions.

This natural stress-reduction mechanism is accompanied by increased oxytocin, the pleasure molecule, reinforcing the behaviour and its positive social and emotional effects.

Allogrooming frequency among horses tends to increase after herd conflicts, implying a role in conflict resolution and social harmony maintenance.

After a disagreement, it helps to reduce tension and reaffirm social bonds.

Horses that are kept singly often show insecure behaviour that many riders and trainers do not recognise as a consequence of separation.

Fulfilling horses' need for touch and social interaction is not just about preventing problem behaviours; it is also about addressing their fundamental psychological and emotional needs.

By providing environments that allow for these natural behaviours, we can significantly improve horse welfare and reduce stress-related issues.

Thoughts?