Advice from our saddle fitter Filippo Rancati

Choosing the right saddle.

Filippo, who handles several fitting requests from our dealers and Ambassadors every day, is making his expertise available to help us in choosing the right saddle.

Find some interesting suggestions in the below interview.

What is important to take care about when you buy a saddle?

When we buy a saddle, we are buying a tool that connects us and our horse in daily training. The shape of the seat, fit for the horse, size of the seat and the flap, and balance of the saddle are all variables that influence our position in the saddle and the suppleness of our horse. Therefore, my advice is to ask a professional fitter to sat up an appointment in a stable where we can test different saddles together before making a choice.

What is the philosophy of Prestige Italia?

In Prestige Italia, we are aware that craftmanship is necessary but no longer sufficient, in fact for us a saddle is a tool that must support the performance of a combination throughout the entire sport career. The first requirement for this to happen is to focus on the well-being of the horse. In Prestige Italia we are constantly innovating to provide fitting solutions to horses with a wide variety of body types while concentrating more and more on the balance/comfort of riders to make more effective their riding.

What would you say concerning horse movements regarding to the saddle?

One of the main problems we face in saddle fitting is trying to fit a rigid tool, the saddle, to a flexible athlete, the horse. For this reason, measuring the horse is only a starting point for us when we make a saddle tailor-made. The most important part of a fitting session is in the arena, working with the horse and the rider, and testing different solutions. A perfectly fitting saddle on a standing horse is often blocking the horse in the training. The trick is to find the right balance between freedom of movement and stability.

Is taking care of the rider important too? Why?

The rider is a fundamental variable of the saddle fitting equation. For the best performance by the horse, as well as for the better balance of the rider, the rider must be positioned over the center of balance of the horse. Our goal as saddle makers and fitters is to make this happen effortlessly. A perfectly fitting saddle is worthless if the rider is not in balance and supple. When the rider is not comfortable and safe in a saddle, he gets tense and rigid, he activates what could be called survival mode. On the other end when a saddle is keeping the rider in an optimal position, he can focus on the technique and use his body and his balance to communicate with the horse.