First of all I need to apologize to my regular reading audience for the somewhat irregularly appearing blogs for the last month; October is always the absolutely busiest month for Schleese and I have been home three (!) whole days this past month (and honestly, November is not looking much better...) I am presently in Germany working on my book with my publisher and learning about an exciting new measurement tool that is truly state-of-the-art when it comes to determining the 3-dimensional…

Thermography is a diagnostic tool that is becoming more and more mainstream as an aid to determining many symptomatic issues your horse might be exhibiting – not just saddle fit, although this is one of the more dramatic applications because it results in such a colourful picture! My good friend Dr. Joanna Robson (author of Recognizing the Horse in Pain) is also a certified thermographer and uses this tool to illustrate to the client with a more visual document as to where and how the saddle…

Although of course it shouldn't be all about the medals and the winning, it absolutely thrills and validates me when one of my clients sends me a picture such as this one. (Christian Hartung riding “Watulele” from the Christiane Noelting Dressage Center in California). This is an absolutely textbook case of a beautiful horse demonstrating "Durchgelassenheit" ('throughness, suppleness, etc.') Of particular note is the fact that he has a beautifully rounded croup, the angle of the hind leg is…

Although I have in the past discussed tree points in detail especially in regard to tree point angle and tree point width, I want today to address really one additional key issue with tree points – and that is direction.



Tree points can be forward-facing, straight (more or less perpendicular to the ground) or rear-facing. Forward facing tree points have been proven to be extremely detrimental to horse health in that MRIs and fibre optic cameras have shown the chipping of cartilage…

Occasionally people will be fortunate enough to find a good used Schleese saddle on ebay or second hand or hand-me-downs from somewhere else – but the reality of it is that sometimes despite being fitted as closely as possible they may not actually be the best choice for both a specific horse and rider. Over the years we have changed our designs as our knowledge of equine anatomy and biomechanic requirements increases, so that older models may not be as ‘horse-friendly’ as the newer saddles…

I always said I was really happy to have had only girls, because I would never make a good “boy daddy”. When I grew up in Germany, I was trained in what is generally perceived to be ‘sissy stuff’ here in North America – ballroom dancing, ice dancing, and riding. I would have been lost having to take my male children to early morning hockey tournaments, baseball games, or football camp. (not to mention that I truly enjoy watching sports where every single competitor does something…

Although I have broached this subject superficially in a past blog, I would like to address the last two key points in more detail, as they are important in determining the proper saddle fit especially for women – which is 85% of Schleese’s market – and makes us the only female saddle specialist in the world!…

 This blog is in response to a question raised from one of my recent blogs concerning a comment made in my very first Saddle Fit Tip #1 on Saddle Balance. Geoffrey wanted to know more about the stress lines I mentioned right at the beginning of the video. While I can tell you what to look for, I went to my good friend Dr. Joanna Robson, DVM and author of “Recognizing the Horse in Pain and what to do about it” for the physiology behind this.

She said that “the stress line that…

I have a client who is having problems that some of you also may have experienced. She has a horse with an old injury at the withers which, with pressure from any saddle over time with repeated contact created immense pain for him, which eventually resulted in him bucking off the rider. He is now pain free, has had Mesotherapy, and has shown that he (at this moment) is not in pain but has now a learned behavior to not tolerate anything on his back, any saddle etc. He is still bucking and…

This blog is going to be a little different; I actually got this email from several people over the course of a couple of days and it really spoke to me. I’m going to share it with you – even though it doesn’t directly have anything at all to do with horses, there is a(n equine) point to this (which I will get to at the bottom!) Some of you may also already read this since it is one of those internet chain emails. At the very least, it’s food for thought. Next time I promise I will…

I have often been asked by clients why our saddles aren’t flat on the horse’s back all the way from front to back – which makes them look like they don’t actually fit and will probably rock. Many riders don’t understand that ideally the saddle needs to slightly ‘rock’ at the cantle as the horse’s back engages.

It is the duty of the saddle fitter to explain to the client that a slightly rocking saddle will never put so much pressure on the horse’s back that…

Back at WEG there was one stand that was absolutely swamped for most of the two weeks we were there – the one with Jane Savoie and a mechanical horse. For those of you who were there, you might remember waiting in long line ups to experience the amazing new product developed by the geniuses through the partnership with Jane at Equi Sense.

Equi Sense is technology developed in order to help the trainer train better, and the rider ride better. It is truly eye-opening; when you sit on…

Today’s blog is written (with some judicious editing) by my good friend Dr. James Warson MD, author of “The Rider’s Pain Free Back” and a recent addition to Barnmice as an expert.  I wanted to share with you this extraordinary man’s thoughts on his passion, what makes him so absolutely unique in this industry and the role he plays in the team of horse, rider, and saddle.

“Rider health is what I do. It’s the application of medical knowledge, combined with knowledge of…

“Should people be required to attend an equine education course and pass an assessment before being allowed to own a horse?”

To this question in the Feb. issue of Horse Journals I would reply without reservation - emphatically ‘yes’! However, I also think that people who want to have children be subjected to the same battery of courses and assessments; you need licenses to fish, to hunt, to drive – but any idiot is allowed to become a parent (which is arguably the most difficult job…