The evolution of saddles has recently started to gather pace. From the very early saddles, designed purely to provide a more secure seat for the rider, through the development of stirrups, leaving aside pack saddles, there have been three main strands of design: the military, designed to secure the rider firmly and provide a degree of protection; the working or western saddle, also designed to provide a degree of security for the rider; and the English or close contact style where security for the rider is subservient to need for close contact with the animal. All three styles have a solid backbone or “tree”, traditionally made of wood (more recently materials have included fiberglass, metal and plastic), round which the leather (or synthetic equivalent) is mounted. Inevitably such a rigid structure placed on a moving surface raises difficulties with the fit of the saddle to the horse. In the case of the military and western saddles this is partially addressed by using a thick saddle blanket. However with close contact saddles the issue is addressed by attention to fit, either by having a bespoke saddle made for the horse (which is very expensive), or by careful selection from a range of off the peg designs. It is estimated that a saddlery wishing to carry a basic range of off the peg saddles, covering the three main saddle styles (dressage, jumping, general purpose), in one single colour option, and to fit most sizes of horse and rider, would have to stock in excess of 72 different saddles.
Even when a rider invests in a bespoke saddle, the traditional, static design based on a rigid tree does not allow for the changes in a horse's shape that occur as it moves, or as there are variations in its fitness. Even the best fitting saddle cannot distribute the pressure evenly throughout the range of a horse's movement, and even a well fitting treed saddle will inevitably create pressure points on the horse's back, especially when turning tightly, where the saddle tree acts somewhat as a splint longitudinally on the spine, or when riding up or down hill or jumping, where the load is focused by the tree towards the front or back of the saddle. This can cause pain and restrict movement, and can potentially leading to a range of physiological and behavioural problems such as bucking, rearing, lameness, bruising of the muscles, muscular atrophy and in more severe cases, tissue necrosis.
Over the last thirty years several new designs of saddle have been developed, both to try to address the problems enumerated above, and to facilitate newly evolved riding disciplines such as endurance and vaulting. All still use a static method of mounting the saddle on the horse. Many of these new designs are described as “treeless”, but in practice most are semi-treed, in that they have a rigid internal fitting at either the pommel or the cantle of the saddle. This can lead to weight being distributed over fewer points than a standard tree, which, in some circumstances, can exacerbate the problem. Saddles that have no tree at all do nothing to spread the pressure of the girth and the stirrups, the full force of which is therefore concentrated immediately over the mounting points. There is also a perception that such saddles are not as secure on the horse, as many treeless designs do not include a gullet, which has the effect of reducing lateral stability. A further disadvantage of many such saddles is that it is difficult to design them to look like the traditional English saddle, a look that is very popular in the market.
An additional issue with traditional close contact saddle design is that the mounting position of the stirrups can be quite critical to the ability of the rider to effectively balance on their horse. Many buyers' choice of saddle is primarily based on this factor, in an attempt to ensure that they are able to sit in the ideal position “over” the stirrups. There is little or no allowance in most saddles for any adjustment of the stirrup bar mounting position, so that this factor can quite severely restrict the choice of saddle, and associated ability to ensure a good fit.
In the following discussion, the invention will be generally described in relation to equestrian uses of the invention. However, the invention is broadly applicable to pack animals as well as mounts for personal transport.
An object of the invention is to obviate or mitigate at least some of the aforesaid problems by providing improvements in saddle design.