"I’ve owned Lenny, a 14hh, 10 year old cob, for 7 years. He everything I’ve ever wanted in a horse.
We never seemed to have any problems up until I clipped his winter coat to discover white hairs where his saddle would have sat. I was obviously devastated and annoyed at myself that I hadn’t noticed beforehand, but he had never shown any signs of pain or discomfort. I got a physio out to treat his back and had booked an appointment with my saddler - then lockdown hit. This resulted in my appointment being cancelled and being unable to see Lenny for over 3 months (apart from the odd short visit every couple of weeks).
When things started to get back to the "new normal", I rearranged the appointment. The saddler came out and we tried every saddle he carried with him but unfortunately couldn’t find one to fit both myself and Lenny. Lenny has a very short back and the maximum length saddle with a tree that he could have would be 16 inches. This caused problems for me as although I am petite, I am 5’6 and have relatively long legs meaning my knees went over the front of the saddle. The saddler recommended SMART Saddles and I emailed them straight away.
SMART Saddles HQ were extremely helpful and responded quickly, we arranged for my local SMART Advisor to come out to see us 6 days later. My SMART Advisor was absolutely amazing with Lenny and explained everything thoroughly; she answered all my questions in great depth and I couldn’t recommend her more. We decided to take the SMART Eventer Saddle on a two week trial, after the first week I purchased it and it has been the best decision for both myself and Lenny.
Lenny is now going the best he ever has, whilst being in the best shape ever and we are both enjoying our work so much; he is so much freer in his movement and doesn’t feel restricted one bit. Lenny whinnies when I get him in from the field to go riding now so it definitely has his seal of approval!
My SMART Advisor has checked up on us on multiple occasions to see how we are getting on. With fantastic customer service, SMART saddles are worth every penny and I would recommend them to anyone; even those who don’t have the same issue as we previously had."
~ Charlotte Flaws, Northumberland
