Nuno Oliveria was perhaps the greatest rider of all time. His ability to represent ‘live’ weight to the horses he rode was a tribute to the knowledge he acquired over his life and the genetic traits that allowed him to sit very close to the horse's shoulder.

Unlike the Warmblood, which can bear the rider’s weight in the center of their back, the Iberian breeds require the rider to sit very close to the shoulder to allow the horse’s pelvis to articulate. That is the necessary energy to develop the topline muscle group, longissimus dorsa - the strength which enables the horse to achieve throughness.

What makes it difficult for most riders, especially women, is that most saddles won’t allow the rider to sit close to the shoulder as Nuno was able to do. There are two reasons for that. The first reason is that a saddle should sit on a horse’s back right behind the shoulder. That would be for most saddle trees are what is called a T-14 (thoracic vertebra 14) saddle, which means that if a saddle sits on the thoracic vertebra from T-8, right behind the shoulders, to T-18, the last thoracic vertebra, the center of the saddle would be T-13. However, as shown by the woman in the left picture, that T-14 saddle places her ‘behind the motion.’ This has to do with her disproportionally longer femur. However, the center rider, Nicole Uphoff, has a balanced upper-to-lower leg length, allowing her to ride comfortably in that T-14 saddle.

For the woman on the left, we made a T-12 saddle (right picture), which allowed her to sit closer to the horse's shoulder in a ‘live-weight’ shoulder-hip-heel position.

The second reason is Iberian’s inherent wither sensitivity. When the rider’s weight is placed on the wither, the horse goes into a state of submission. So you might say that not sitting close to the shoulder of the horse prevents them from articulating their pelvis, while sitting close to the shoulder can put them in a state of submission. In other words, “You are damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.”

To alleviate that problem, we have designed a longer and stronger gullet plate, shown at the top of the right picture, that prevents the plate from touching the horse’s sensitive wither, unlike the shorter and narrower plate, shown at the bottom left image, which is made to contact the horse’s wither.

Unlike so many of the traditional Portuguese and Spanish Iberian saddles that look very impressive, our goal was to do what we do with all of our saddles—allow the horse to move in its natural biomechanical frame while giving the rider an effective position. Those fancy Iberian saddles have one thing in common: They never fit the horse and seldom fit the rider, and more importantly, they can’t be adjusted to fit either.

We use the same tree in our dressage saddle, which can easily be adjusted to fit any horse and allow any rider to sit in a ‘shoulder-hip-heel position.’  So, instead of this just being a ‘show’ saddle, it is designed and fit for everyday use.  As for different color flap inlays, we have a large selection at no additional cost. 

Our saddles can be readjusted as needed at either a stable or horse show - they don’t need to be sent away.

· Our saddles are made with beautiful Italian leather.

· Sizes 16-19”s

· We use extra strong and long gullet plates, which allow the rider to sit on the horse instead of on top of them.

· A wide range of colors are available for the flap inlays. 

· 5-position adjustable stirrup-bars

· Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery.

The total cost of an Iberian Dressage saddle is $3695 for a Traditional Iberian Dressage Saddle is $3,995

    For more info, call: (224) 447-5414

or Email us at conradreupert@gmail.com          

There are three ways to purchase one of our saddles. If you live in an area that we cover, measurements will be taken of you and your horse at no additional charge.

If you live outside of our area of coverage, and are comfortable taking your own measurements on the following fitting form, an additional charge of $500 which is required to deliver and adjust your saddle when completed.

If you are not comfortable taking those measurements, we will make wo trips; one to measure you and your horse, and a second trip to deliver and adjust your new saddle for an additional $1,000.