Davkalee Saddlery. Equine Saddle Fitter

08/05/2025

When you finish a long day of fittings with puppies at a clients yard😄. If all the long days could end like this id be very happy 😁😁🥰😍
(Ps: they dont live in this stable😊)

08/05/2025

Back checking Oscar's saddle today and the big lad fell asleep with the bit in his mouth whilst he waited for his owner to sort his bridle 😅. Safe to say he was pretty chilled for the ridden part 😆....Such a sweet boy 🤎

04/03/2025

03/03/2025

Back home after another fab day with Bates for some training with one of their lead saddle fitters. More tips and methods added to my toolbox regarding the HART technology. And i got to catchup with some wonderful saddler fitter friends....today was a GOOD day!🤗😁

24/01/2025

Hope you're all staying safe in this not so delightful weather. I am so ready for spring to kick in now and not come home covered in mud every day 😅. One of my lovely clients sent me these fab pics of her beach trip a couple of months ago (im rubbish at posting on fb🙈) so i thought id post them to hopefully brighten your day and remind you that better weather is on its way...hopefully🙏🏻.
If you're bringing your horse back into work after a winter break it may be time to get their saddle checked. Horses change shape all the time and being out of regular work/change in grass or diet can alter the fit of the saddle.

21/12/2024

Saddles Direct...not just here to help with saddles.....Sarah knows how to put a smile on your face too😂😂😂🤩🤩

20/07/2024

This 🙌🏻👏🏻

Your saddle is not a miracle worker. If your horse is a barrel, and there is a bit of wonkiness somewhere (you or the horse) and your saddle slips to the side… your saddle isn’t necessarily to blame. Instead, get it checked and if it’s ok, work on making the horse less of a barrel shape… and straightening them (and yourself!) up so there is less unevenness.

If your horse has big wide ribs and an itty bitty shoulder… or a girth groove that’s inches in front of the girth line… maybe your saddle slips forward. That’s physics. Your girth will always pull into the narrowest place. Sometimes changing your girth or the girthing on the saddle can help.

If your horse has massive shoulders, and hoiks them up into the air when they jump… those massive shoulders can push the saddle back. That’s physics. Again sometimes girths and girthing can help. But saddles can’t defy the laws of physics.

If you or your horse is uneven then yes we can pad/flock/shim saddles to help. But… working on evening them up is much more beneficial.

Sometimes, in an attempt to hold a saddle still, to fight against the laws of physics (and often to keep the rider happy), we can end up clamping a saddle too much. Personally I would rather see a saddle shunt forward/to the side/backwards a little bit if the alternative is to clamp it too much the other way.
What do you think?

16/07/2024

🐴😍🐴 PAINTER 🐴😍🐴

A few weeks ago i went to do a fitting and fell in love with the CUTEST little dude called Painter🥰.

He was a dream to template and try multiple saddles on, both statically and ridden and now has a brand new saddle 😁.

Such a handsome chap with the sweetest personality.....and guess what....he's for sale (damn i should've had kids sooner🤔😅).

He will make the best family member and will be a real confidence giver. 🤎

Drop me a message if you are interested and i will pop you in touch with his wonderful owner😊.

12/07/2024

Finished the day off visiting the lovely Splash and Katy this evening for a recheck on her new Wintec saddle. When i first visited Splash 3 months ago he was suffering with some muscular back pain due to his previous saddle recently being adjusted by someone else and not being suitable for him - we tried multiple saddles and found he went the best (free and comfortable in his movement) in the Wintec 500 wide. Coming back tonight and finding NO muscle spasm or soreness in his back at all was amazing 🥰.
Splash is now back living his best life winning show classes and back out jumping after 2years of not even being able to walk over a pole, bolting and riding in a tense, uncomfortable manner.

Had a little jumping sesh this eve which Splash thoroughly enjoyed...even with the crazy spectators getting in the way🤣🦆🦆🦆🦆

Katy has worked so hard to get this handsome chap going so well again😍.
Teamwork really does make the dream work! 🤩🤩

Ps: excuse the rubbish photo quality 😅

23/04/2024

A great bit of info and illustration from the fab team at Saddles Direct 🤗

18/04/2024

Yesterday was a day of learning...lots🤓.
I spent the day with Zebra Products looking at their vast range of Amerigo and Equipe saddles, fitting them to different horses with varying conformations. A really insightful day picking up some neat little tips and tricks along the way.

And what better than to do it with some of my wonderful colleagues at Saddles Direct 🥰.

Also got a look at the snazzy Mattes accessories 😍....and Finesse bridles that have a unique headpiece designed to distribute and reduce pressure on the poll.

A great day, thank you Sally at Zebra and thank you for arranging Saddles Direct.💛

28/03/2024

Before the rain came😎😅.

Lovely start to the day this morning at my first fitting...couldnt resist getting a quick snap of the some of the saddles in the (very short lived) sunshine😁🌞