Tamar Saddles

22/01/2025

I don’t often take videos or moving photos because so often I am completely focused on watching your horse that I forget to take action shots for the page 📸

Pictured is Hodor owned by Deb Criddle MBE Dressage and ridden beautifully by Rachel Shire, we have high hopes for this very special boy! Saddle fitting wise he has thrown us a few challenges and he’s on his 3rd saddle at 8 years old. With a lot of hard work from a fantastic team he has straightened out and is strengthening up. We are hopeful that he has finally stopped changing shape now 🤞🏻 Did you know that the skeleton doesn’t finish developing until 6 years of age, some slower growing breeds or larger horses can take much longer.

Standing at 18hh, there is a lot of horse and that comes with a lot of movement. He has been fitted with a The Ideal Saddle Company Jessica dressage saddle, the shallower panels have helped provide stability and a closer contact feel for the rider.

15/01/2025

Think I might have left my flex ons and leathers somewhere, if I’ve left them at an appointment please send me a message ☺️🤞🏻

03/01/2025

I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas and I would like to wish all of my clients and followers a happy new year 🥳 There will be a few changes for 2025 which I will be posting about soon.

After taking a bit of quiet time over Christmas I am going to be back fully fitting towards the end of next week, I will get back to all messages over the weekend.

I met Luna before Christmas, her previous saddle was poorly balanced and didn’t give her shoulders enough room so I sent her owners off to source a Kent & Masters Cob GP. Luna has a little bit of weight to lose so a changeable gullet was top priority for us and this one fit the bill perfectly. Really pleased with the outcome, it gives her shoulders plenty of room and the upswept panel suits suits her profile.

Fancy a challenge?… Guess what size gullet bar she takes 👀

23/12/2024

Steve and Hattie set up in their new secondhand Jeffries Saddlery Liberty GP ready for the hunt field, how smart do they look! 🔥

Big thank you to Sara and Steve for the wine and venison, the amount of love I have received from my clients in the run up to Christmas has been so heartwarming 🥰 Thank you all for being amazing! Feeling very lucky 🫶🏻

17/12/2024

This lovely boy presented us with a little bit of a headache over the past 6 weeks 🤯

Meet Archie, he’s a 16hh TB and new to his owners, they have done a wonderful job of bulking him up since he’s arrived. The biggest challenge he presented is that he only has a 16 inch back, you can see how much space there is from the last rib to the wing of his pelvis in the second picture, luckily his rider is a very petite teenager. The second challenge is that he has an incredibly high wither which you can’t really appreciate from these photos, so getting lift and clearance hasn’t been easy.

I had to really put my thinking cap on to find something which would work for his short back/ high wither combo and his teenage rider wanting to do Pony Club. It also needed to be something which would accommodate his changing shape as we are expecting him to continue to develop muscle and topline. We set him up in an older style Wintec temporarily and I warned his owner it could be a lengthy process finding the right saddle.

With an unbelievable stroke of luck the exact saddle which I had in mind (like hens teeth) appeared and here are the results. A beautiful WRSC Devo by The Ideal Saddle Company balanced with a gorgeous Mattes corrective sheepskin half pad. The Devo boasts a drop style panel which helps achieve lift and a flatter seat which lends itself to all activities. Hoping to get a demo sorted in the new year 🤞🏻

Smiles all round getting this set up before Christmas 🎄🥰

29/11/2024

Black Friday December offer 👀

10% off any new saddles ordered
20% off any new ex-demo stock (not secondhand)

29/11/2024

This gorgeous little saddle was well worth the wait 😍

How cute is this 16.5 inch GP/Jump?! Shorter numnah pending 🙈

A great option for the well developed yet compact types. This beauty is upgraded with patent facings 🖤

11/11/2024

As an equine professional, I believe it is so important to always be learning new skills and to open ourselves to other ways of thinking. I constantly find myself thinking ‘how can I best help this horse?’.

To me, it’s not just a saddle fitting, it’s an opportunity to fully assess the horse statically and dynamically. I’m checking for any asymmetries, compensatory movement patterns, sensitivities etc. These then get referred back to the relevant equine professionals.

Sometimes I feel disappointed because I can only do my job of checking the saddle, when actually the horse would most benefit from treatment. Knowledge is so powerful when we are doing good with it, especially given horses cannot communicate directly with us. In a bid to expand my knowledge and advocate for horses as best as I possibly can, I decided earlier in the summer to study equine osteopathy with The London College of Animal Osteopathy.

Today my ArcEquine microcurrent device arrived, I will be using it to rehab my horses DDFT injury. This is a very exciting step in a new direction. Panic not - I have absolutely no intention of stepping away from saddle fitting. It is my hope that in a few years time I will be able to fit your saddles and offer treatment as I truly believe both professions compliment one another fabulously.

06/11/2024

First check for Michael and Helen yesterday 💕

Seeing how much progress these two have made in such a short period of time has filled me with joy and pride!

Fiona Cork Saddles

31/10/2024

Look what goodies arrived this morning, some lovely sheepskin pads from Premier Equine International Ltd 💖 These will be going straight on the van!

30/10/2024

We love a bit of matchy matchy here 💚

Want a saddle to match your favourite colours? No problemo, we’ve got you ✅

Anything is possible when you go custom!

Feeling green with envy? Why not book in for a demo ride 🏇

29/10/2024

Halloween came early 💀

Can anyone spot the problem here? 👀

29/10/2024

Delivering smiles today despite the rather soggy weather 🤩

Can’t wait to see what these two get up to in their snazzy new dressage saddle ✨

28/10/2024

So very excited to be dropping this absolutely stunning custom Ozelle off to its new owner tomorrow.

Loving the Smokey look 🌚 Matte style Kilger Country leather, stardust feature cantle, slate grey welt and double keeper loops. This is one seriously stylish saddle from The Ideal Saddle Company 🔥

18/10/2024

A day of top ups and checks in Falmouth today, very thankful for having an indoor arena today for the ridden part of the assessment 🌧️

First up, Jasper in his new Farrington's International Event , owner Izzy has noticed a huge difference since he’s been in his new saddle 🙌🏻 Jasper has a very high wither so we needed a saddle with plenty of panel to achieve lift ⬆️

Next up, Coco in her secondhand Optimum Performance GP. Wish I had taken a before photo when we fitted the saddle, owner Meg has done a tremendous job of developing this mare, looking fab 🥰

15/10/2024

I’m back from holiday and slowly getting through messages ✈️

Whilst I was away this beauty has been delivered… An Ideal Saddle Company T&T monoflap jump demo, in kilger military brown with a teal double cantle and front/rear facing, not forgetting the forest green patent welt. The T&T models are changeable gullet which allows for easy adjustment. This is a great addition to my ever growing demo selection, looking forward to getting it out on some of your lovely horses 🤎🩵