SMART Ambassador Justine Ward

Tino (McCartneys Valintino) is a Perlino Tobiano Cob standing 14-14.1hh - and roughly the same width!

Tino is 9 in July, and we have been partners since he was weaned at 6 months old. I spotted him when he was just born and I had to have him, so a deposit was paid when he was only 2 weeks old. 

As a busy, single working mum, working shifts, I fit in as much as I can. Luckily, I have the support of my family and some very good friends. This year we are competing at Intro and Prelim at British Dressage Quest and have round one Trailblazers tickets for Intro and Prelim with a round two qualifier coming up. We have also done a small amount of jumping, Trec and Working Equitation.

 

Our SMART Saddles journey began at the end of last summer. We were having issues with saddles slipping sideways. Tino has massive shoulders, with his left shoulder noticeably bigger than his right, so saddles were always forced to the right. He’s also very short coupled, and I was told we needed a saddle seat size suited to a small child. With the best will in the world, this was going to be difficult for me.  

It didn’t seem to matter what saddle I tried, nothing fitted and Tino was unhappy, hence we just couldn’t move up the levels. It showed in his canter work, he would buck if you could even get him into canter. 

Our local SMART Advisor came to see us and we had a really good trial session. I already knew within a few days I was going to keep the SMART Native Dressage saddle, but I took advantage of the full two-week trial to be sure. 

 

Since then, so many people around us have commented how much happier Tino is, how free he is in front and how much my position has improved. I feel more secure and can feel how much more Tino stretches out. He’s stopped dropping below the vertical in front and doesn’t buck his way into canter. AND the saddle doesn’t tip to one side. It moulds to him and doesn’t move!

I can’t wait to be out and about this summer advancing our education and showing off our SMART Native Dressage together. There’s a beach trip in the planning but I might cry if the saddle gets wet!