INDEPENDENT saddle fitter who is PASSIONATE about saddle fitting and equine soundness. I am dedicated to find the perfect fit for you and your horse.
I’m very excited to announce that we now offer a remote saddle fitting service. This is ideal for people who live remotely with limited access to saddle fitters. Offering you peace of mind at an affordable price 🐎
Please inbox or WhatsApp 083 289 2086 for pricing and fitting info 🐎
After my world took a complete 360 turn a couple of months ago, I would just like to thank everyone for their kindness and patience during this extremely difficult time.
I am happy to report that I’m back at work full time, and I’m honestly so grateful to see clients (old and new) and their horses again.
I have added a few extra services, and I’ll be listing them this coming week.
Stay safe and warm 🥰
Ninon ###
Love this
“I’m teaching my horse to accept contact”
If I had a dollar for every time I heard this! Typically it is accompanied by a horse throwing their head up, diving behind the vertical, gaping at the mouth- essentially attempting to be anywhere BUT the contact.
Here is something I often say to people in my clinics.
Imagine you’re on a date. Your date grabs your hand and doesn’t let go. You squirm to get away, but he holds tighter. He says, some day you will have to hold my hand so you need to get used to it. I won’t release until you accept this contact. Maybe he’s brought up in the school of thought that your display of evasion should be countered with a strap of some kind to prevent you from moving away- a flash nose band of sorts for you.
It doesn’t matter how light or heavy he touches- it is contact that isn’t right for the moment. It’s greedy, and inappropriate.
Now imagine you’re on a date and the conversation has lead you to realize you really enjoy his company. Your relationship is developing, he brushes your hand, you reach out and hold it.
Those are two very different feelings, and they come from two very different places.
When the conditions are there, the contact is taken by the horse. Not the other way around.
Contact has meaning. It is not meaningless pressure on the horses mouth, it is a holding of hands while you dance- it is a connection between your body and the horse’s hind legs. It is the display of everything you believe and who you are- manifested through your hand and into the horse- and the horse’s response is a direct representation of their preparation and feelings about your body and hands.
FAURESMITH 2022
SOUND Saddle Fitting will be available for saddle fittings at Fauresmith from 2-4 July.
Make sure that your saddle fits perfectly and your horse is able to finish the ride comfortably! An ill fitting saddle can cause havoc over an extended period of time.
See you all there 🤩🤩🤩
Ninon: 083 289 2086
This course is a MUST for every horse owner!
This 3 day course is aimed at those wishing to learn the techniques and anatomy to offer a horse a good wellness routine. it will enable an owner or trainer to see the signs where other members of the wellness team need to be involved. It covers more than a lot of other schools provide for a "certification" course!
Some food for thought
Creating a functional horse
Equine Biomechanics
The horse's back muscles' work is very complex, further exposing the stretching theories' naivety and inaccuracy. The complexity also underlines the importance of the horse's mental processing. The subtle orchestration of the back muscles is created in the horse's brain, and the first aim of academic equitation is training the horse brain to think in terms of body coordination instead of gesture.
Albert Einstein wrote, "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." The thought applies to both the horse and the rider. Instead of supporting the horse's gift with advanced knowledge and innovative techniques, we submit the horse's talent to a system. Instead of supporting the rider's skill, equestrian education downgrades the rider's intuition to the studious application of "correct aids." Einstein also wrote, "Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think." When the riding technique's purpose became the application of correct aids, the education annihilates the rider's intuition. Factual documentation allows the researcher to think further. So are correct aids. They are not the finality of ridding but instead a teaching tool aiming at subtle coordination of the rider's body. When such precise coordination is achieved, the rider's body becomes the language through subtle muscle tone nuances. There are no longer "aids." The phenomenon is not exclusive to riding. In 1992, the founder of Aikido wrote, "Ultimately, you must forget about technique. The further you progress, the fewer teaching there are. The great path is really no path." ( Morihei Ueshiba)
In a previous installment (IHTC), we talked about "vibrating at the horse's frequency." The concept is, in fact, a key component of efficiency. Each of our movements, increase or decrease of our muscles' tone, needs to be tuned to the horse's frequency. The three fundamental words of classical wisdom are "Forward, Calm and Straight." Calmness does have a rhythm, which is the horse's natural cadence, and without this rhythm, there is no calmness, no forwardness, and no straightness. The difficulty of becoming a good rider, teacher, and trainer is that we have to evolve from an education structuring our dialogue with the horse into formulas, aids, principles to a more artistic approach combining intuition, emotion, sensitivity, creativity, empathy, and rhythm. Empathy needs to be deep in our hearts. If we think that the horse should do it because we apply the proper aids, we will not succeed. We must assume the horse errors at the deepest level of your mind and body. Not that we are necessarily responsible for the horse error, but because we are the only ones who can analyze the error and therefore find the root cause. We kindly take responsibility for the horse error finding a way to provide adequate insights.
Creating a functional horse and, therefore, an athlete performing soundly and at its utmost potential is about orchestrating the whole physique, starting with the vertebral column, which is the basis of all body movement. In 1980 Leo Jeffcott wrote, "The biomechanics of the vertebral column, although very complex, is of vital importance because they form the basis of all body movements." Nobody understood the importance of Jeffcott's statement, not the equestrian world and not the veterinary world. Direction, intensity, and frequency of the forces acting on the hind and front limbs and, therefore, proper or abnormal kinematics originate primarily from the work of the thoracolumbar column's muscles. The concept is a decisive step forward and away from classical inspiration, which still regards the limbs' action as the main source of equine athletic performances and veterinary treatment that still regards hock problems as the root cause of vertebral column dysfunction. Jean Luc Cornille
Always, always, always strive to know better
Evenings are for making saddles functional again 💙
A little diagram to highlight the importance of monitoring gluteal muscle mass. The gluteal muscles are truly a window, providing a view in of the quality of exercise and the bodies response to training. Atrophy or weakness can have an unzipping effect, causing other areas of the musculoskeletal system to be compromised and at risk of injury.
It should also be noted that this solely considers muscle mass, and not tonicity; where a muscle should be well developed, this shouldn’t compromise on the quality of the muscle.
Would you believe me if I told you that this is the same saddle?
First pic: Grossly over flocked panels, the panels were also asymmetrical.
Second pic: Completely re-flocked with pure wool which has resulted in soft but supportive and symmetrical panels and a much wider channel.
Third pic: A kilogram of old, lumpy flocking and newer flocking that was stuffed in on top of the old flocking.
After taking a two year sabbatical, I have made the decision to return to saddle fitting as well as to offer my skills as an equine therapist.
I’ve spent the last two years studying equine Myofascial Release - this incredible modality has been a massive asset to my skill set, and combined with saddle fitting, I’ve had incredible results with equine back health/ rehabilitation.
Unlike in the past, I won’t be spreading myself too thinly. I will only be available from Mondays - Thursdays, and I will also only cover certain areas. These areas are:
• Darling
• Malmesbury
• Yzerfontein
• Langebaan
• Vredenburg
• Melkbosstrand
• Morning Star
• Wellington
• Agter Paarl
• Klapmuts
• Klipheuwel
PRICING (Includes travel):
• Saddle Fitting: R650
• Saddle Fitting/ MFR combo: R850
• Myofascial Release Therapy: R450 (minimum of two horses per area)
• Saddle Flocking: Please enquire
A few of my qualifications:
Internationally Qualified Saddle Fitter. I trained extensively in saddle fitting and traveled abroad for most of my studies.
• Master Saddle Fitting Consultant (Dip. MSFC)
• Equine Ergonomist Course (Saddlefit4life)
• Flocking & saddle repairs (SMS trained)
• Saddle Fitting & saddle adjusting (Australia)
Internationally Qualified Equine Myofascial Release Practitioner & Equine Bodyworker. I have been so privileged to be able to learn from the best in the industry. A few of the qualifications/ courses I’ve done:
Certified Equine Myofascial Release Therapist (Equinology)
Certified Equine Fascia & Trauma Release Therapist
Certified Equinology Equine Bodyworker
Equine Rehab Therapist
Masterson Method weekend seminar
Equine Kinesiology Taping
Equine Craniosacral Therapy
I use a common sense approach towards saddle fitting, more problem solving than conventional fitting. I assess the horse, rider and environment as a whole. This does not work for everyone, but I try my best to help the horse and the rider with what I’ve been given.
My therapy sessions range from 1-1.5 hours (depends on horse to horse). I use a combination of Myofascial Release and Bodywork. I also use Red Light Therapy and Kinesio Taping where needed (taping is extra). I am registered with the SAVC.
In a nutshell, I’m back 😊
If you would like to chat/ book an appointment, please pop me a WhatsApp on 083 289 2086
🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄
Yeeeeeeeeees 👌👌👌 HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE 🤩
💜
❤️ FASCIA. As with much in life if you look for patterns you will find them. This is certainly true of anatomical imbalances and their transitional effects through the system be it muscular or fascial.
As you can see from this fantastic diagram, what looks like a spiderweb (taken from Practical steps in rehabilitating your horse by Sara Wyche) is actually a depiction of fascia, on the left healthy balanced with no restriction and on the right quite obviously compromised.
The pinch points where you can see the web gathering unevenly are indignant of areas of fascial tightness but just as importantly look at the secondary effects as the distal areas of the web become involved exasperating the initial primary issue (this may cause something other than just fascial issues such as muscular atrophy/injury/weakness etc but in this scenario I am focusing on fascia).
For every action there is a reaction and so more often than not fascial restriction isn’t isolated to the primary area of interest as it can follow chains and encompass full body transitional effects.
Fascia’s job is to prevent friction of not only the surrounding muscular skeletal tissue but for example also the internal organs as it surrounds and encompasses everything on both a deep and superficial level.
Imagine you have oil on your hands and think how smoothly and seemlessly you could wring your hands together in any variation of direction. Now imagine you have a piece of cling film on both hands and try to produce the same movement... it will be greatly restricted and start to bunch and become adhered, this is a similar scenario of healthy and compromised fascia.
When we treat your horse (or yourself) we work on both muscular and fascial release as one isn’t the same outcome without the other.
I had the amazing opportunity to not only meet but learn from Jim Masterson himself. It was an incredible experience, what a fantastic, humble person. I’ve fallen in love with Jim’s work & the Masterson Method. What a very, very special modality. It was such a humbling experience just being able to work on and watch the horses process and release on a totally different level. Huge thanks to every single person who made this course possible 🙏💜 It was incredible!
Want to find out more? Or hear directly from this incredible woman? Sharon May-Davis is coming to South Africa NEXT YEAR 🤩🤩🤩
Fab post!
If only it was that easy..... 🤪
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
***** SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD*****
STUNNING DRESSAGE SADDLE FOR SALE
StrideFree Elite for sale
•17.5”
• Black with gorgeous silver stitching
• Ex-demo
• Wool flocked
• Adjustable gullet
The saddle has had very little use and is in excellent condition. Short panels, works very well on short backed horses. Shape of the saddle works on a lot of horses. Extremely comfortable for both horse and rider. Lovely, lovely saddle.
R50 000
***** SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD *****
🤣🤣🤣
***SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD***
JUMPING SADDLE FOR SALE:
The StrideFree® Melbourne has been refined for close contact, with the stirrup bar alignment supporting the mobility and forever changing gravity of the rider to suit his or her position.
The SF saddle tree has been developed with the horse’s ultimate comfort in mind.
Working with equine professionals worldwide to understand more about the biomechanics of the horse.
Made on Peter’s revolutionary design stride free tree has been developed with a new concept of having longer and broad based tree points.
Instead of having tree points which dig into the horse’s scapula/trapezius muscle, the SF tree features a curved edge, allowing absolute complete freedom for the shoulder to rotate allowing the horse to tuck its legs up.
The tree has an adjustable steel gullet which can be adjusted to the shape of the horse for as many times as needed.
• Fully adjustable tree from extra wide to narrow
• Comfortable soft seat
• Wide channel for spinal clearance
• Wool flocked panels that can be easily repacked on site
• Generous channel width for spinal clearance
• Shoulder relief panel
• Boot rub
Built on the StrideFree® tree for complete freedom in horse shoulder movement.
17” Brown. Excellent condition. Will work exceptionally well on a wide, flat backed horse with large shoulders. R45k
😉😉😉 Love this!
When you’re asking for photographer recommendations, plumber recommendations, painters, landscaping, bakers, designers, makeup artists... Ok really, any and all trades that provide services, please remove “reasonable” and “that don’t cost an arm and a leg” from your vocabulary.
1. I can’t pay my mortgage with limbs so I’ve never accepted them as payment.
2. By “reasonable”, you actually mean “within my budget”, so say what your budget is instead. Someone’s rate isn’t unreasonable because you aren’t willing OR able to pay it.
3. Consider the ability, professionalism, and experience of vendors whose costs are higher. Are they insured? Do they pay taxes? Are they very good at what they do? Their fee will be higher and it should be. That doesn’t mean you have to use their services if it’s outside of your budget, but that also doesn’t mean they are “unreasonable”.
4. Tiffany sells $1500 paper clips. I won’t apologize for my pricing ever again 😉. And if you’re like me and have built a business with your blood, sweat, and tears - don’t apologize for yours either.
The main reason you DON’T adjust a saddle with a wooden tree. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. This is why I will NEVER adjust a saddle with a wooden tree, I don’t care if your fitter does it. Every single time you adjust it, you weaken the integrity of the tree. This saddle was adjusted, the rivets popped and the gullet plate snapped. They didn’t realize it at the time though, they only noticed it when the broken gullet started poking through the leather. 😔
17.5” SF Kitzbuhel Dressage. Chestnut brown. Bought a year ago. The saddle has had very little use.
“The StrideFree® Kitzbuhel, inspired by the beautiful town itself in Austria, is built on the StrideFree® dressage tree. Ideal for it's unique design and its shaped dressage flap.
The specially designed StrideFree® tree eliminates the pressure from tree points and therefore encourages freedom in the shoulder area”
• Fully adjustable from extra wide to narrow
• Soft seat providing extra comfort in the pommel area for the female rider
•Adjustable knee blocks
•Generous channel width for spinal clearance
•Short panels available for the horse with the short back
•Lifetime warranty on the tree
•The panels are flocked with wool and can be easily repacked on site
•Shoulder relief panel
R45000
Based in Cape Town
❄️ SAVE SAVE SAVE ❄️
Warm up your winter (and aches and pains) with a Photizo unit of your own!
It is a MUST HAVE item for every rider, horse owner, pet owner, livery yard, sports athlete... anyone really!
Photizo® Vetcare relieves pain, stimulates cells to repair and heal, reduce swelling and inflammation, and stimulates the immune system in acute traumatic conditions. Photizo® Vetcare is effective in treating chronic pain and inflammatory conditions associated with arthritic conditions and overuse injuries. Photizo® Vetcare stimulates healing, relieves pain, swelling and inflammation, reduces muscle spasms, and increases the blood and lymph vessel diameter, to ensure clearing of waste products and inflow of oxygen, nutrients and medication concentrations in the areas treated.
Get your “magic wand” today! @ R2750 INCLUDES Postnet delivery
☎️ 083 289 2086
📩 [email protected]
Or inbox for more info ❄️ *Special valid until end of July
😉😉😉
Fantastic post
❄️ SAVE SAVE SAVE ❄️
Warm up your winter (and aches and pains) with a Photizo unit of your own!
It is a MUST HAVE item for every rider, horse owner, pet owner, livery yard, sports athlete... anyone really!
Photizo® Vetcare relieves pain, stimulates cells to repair and heal, reduce swelling and inflammation, and stimulates the immune system in acute traumatic conditions. Photizo® Vetcare is effective in treating chronic pain and inflammatory conditions associated with arthritic conditions and overuse injuries. Photizo® Vetcare stimulates healing, relieves pain, swelling and inflammation, reduces muscle spasms, and increases the blood and lymph vessel diameter, to ensure clearing of waste products and inflow of oxygen, nutrients and medication concentrations in the areas treated.
Get your “magic wand” today! @ R2750 INCLUDES Postnet delivery
☎️ 083 289 2086
📩 [email protected]
Or inbox for more info ❄️
STUNNING DRESSAGE SADDLE FOR SALE
Peter Horobin StrideFree Elite for sale
•17.5”
• Black with gorgeous silver stitching
• Ex-demo
• Wool flocked
• Adjustable gullet
The saddle has had very little use and is in excellent condition. Short panels, works very well on short backed horses. Shape of the saddle works on a lot of horses. Extremely comfortable for both horse and rider. Lovely, lovely saddle. Ex demo saddle, has had very little use.
R50 000
A MUST read- Amazing research that’s been done by Sharon May-Davis
What if you learned that your TB or TB-derived breed horse had an inherited skeletal problem that could directly lead to arthritis, instability, stumbles and falls?
Who would be interested in a full horse dissection with SHARON MAY-DAVIS herself? This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity!
Date: March 2020
Area: Western Cape/ Cape Town
Cost: R15 000 per person (for 3 days)
“Sharon May-Davis is known worldwide for her knowledge of the horses body and biomechanics. Sharon's many dissections around the world has enabled her to research many different breeds, her work as a researcher and therapist has truly driven her passion and enabled her to see the true story - what is really going on underneath.
During this three day dissection we will look at the whole horse, Sharon & the team will take you on a journey like no other... the inside of the horse tells us about the horses life!
This course is a must for all therapists, saddle fitters, hoof carers, trainers and passionate horse lovers who want to understand and experience what’s beneath the skin of the horse.”
VERY limited spaces will be available! I need to see if there will be enough interest before I can book Sharon/ before we can start planning. To express your interest, please inbox me or comment with your e-mail address. For any questions, please WhatsApp me: 083 289 2086
🙈🙈🤣🤣
NOTICE
I am away for two weeks, I will be back on the 12th of June. I’ll have very limited signal so won’t be able to answer calls/ respond to messages. So if you don’t get hold of me, I haven’t disappeared, I’ll just be busy learning marvelous new things 😉
Cheers for now xx
One way to remember it 😊
So excited!!! Some pics of the Photizo Vetcare Professional Unit. This unit is aimed at equine professionals like Bodyworkers, Physio’s, Chiro’s. There are a few things that I’ll be testing with the Professional Unit, I’ll be posting about my findings and case studies. Watch this space...
Cape Town
| Monday | 09:00 - 18:00 |
| Tuesday | 09:00 - 18:00 |
| Wednesday | 09:00 - 18:00 |
| Thursday | 09:00 - 18:00 |
| Friday | 09:00 - 18:00 |
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when SOUND Saddle Fitting posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Send a message to SOUND Saddle Fitting:
Positively Pawsome dog training
Southern Suburbs
