New pony saddles lead to sponsorship
The new Quest jump saddle, one of three completely bespoke saddles in the Sue Carson Saddles pony range, is the choice of successful 10-year-old junior show jumper Ria Scott from North Yorkshire, whose athletic 128cm Bunbury Conquest (pictured) will be supported by the company in 2015 following valuable input into the design of the saddle, which is named after him.
The Quest offers a deeper, more secure seat and puts the pony rider into a good ear, shoulder, hip, heel alignment, giving a stable lower leg position, which helps to improve stability and confidence over a fence.
Ria's mother Wendy explains: "We bought our first Sue Carson Saddle 12 years ago and have had six or seven more since then. Sue has been watching Ria ride for over a year and after meeting up to discuss saddle design ideas, she measured Ria for the seat, flaps and blocks, and Conquest for the tree and panel, so that his new Quest saddle could be made for him. It has a red back cantle to match Ria's helmet and is very eyecatching."
"Ria quickly got used to it and her flatwork trainer is really impressed, firstly with the way Conquest is moving more freely and secondly, how secure and well balanced Ria is in the saddle. They have already won a Winter 128cm competition and she looked very secure in the saddle - those courses get up to 1.25m in the third round and smaller children need all the help they can get."
The second new pony saddle is the Swift, designed with help from Derbyshire junior rider Lauren Geraghty and her pony Milly. Lauren's mother Julie confirms: "We needed a saddle to fit Milly as she came with a saddle, which due to her typical Welsh table top back and no wither, only fitted where it touched and was also a 'jack of all trades' working hunter saddle. Not great for a nervous 8-year-old to learn to do anything in, as it was too straight cut and offered no support.
"Sue designed a new saddle based on a previous saddle she designed for our other pony (also a tricky fit), to fit Milly and Lauren too, which gives her the support and security she needs. The saddle was also designed to grow with Lauren and fit other ponies in the future. Lauren instantly felt more secure, her seat improved and so did her confidence."
Sue Carson explains, "The Swift offers a flatter, more open seat and is manufactured from very sticky leather and has velcro blocks with a choice of both dressage and jump blocks."
The third saddle in the Sue Carson Saddles pony range is the Merlin pony dressage saddle. All are bespoke manufactured by a UK craftsman from top quality leathers to fit both pony and rider, can be adjusted to fit ponies from narrow to wide and cost £2700.
Find out more from Sue Carson Saddles on 01629 540343 or visit www.suecarsonsaddles.co.uk
