Horse Connection Kind Solutions Pty Ltd is your Specialist shop for flexible and tree-less saddle solutions since 2004. We offer a consultation service and a carefully hand picked selection of flexible saddles, bareback pads, therapeutic saddlepads and bitless bridles.

NEWS: We quit both Freeform and Barefoot during 2011! After thorough assessment of 13 flexible saddle models from around the globe since Feb 2011, we are now distributing the saddle brand that is most in line with our learning curve: The Austrian Hidalgo leathertree saddles. The Hidalgo is available in 3 styles all of which look traditional: Dressage, GP and Spanish/Classical, a western and an endurance model will be available later this year. Beyond that we have expanded the range of the beautiful and smart Christ Horsedreams Fur-saddles.

We have a Facebook page now: please search for 'Horse Connection Kind Solutions Pty Ltd' on Facebook and you shall find us. Photo's of new products will generally be published on the fb page before they are added to this website .

We were just informed about changes re cost of import and sadly we had to increase our prices, the price increase will not affect orders placed before 5th May 2012.

 

Christ fur-saddle	Hidalgo GP	Hidalgo Dressage	Hidalgo Spanish/Classical

General intro to treeless and flexible saddles: Flexible saddles have gone through a lot of development since Horse Connection introduced the first bareback pad style treeless saddles in 2004. The brands of treeless saddles worth considering, have successfully addressed issues that proved problematic with the early designs. Many types of flexible saddles are fairly structured now to ensure spinal clearance and optimal weight distribution. Different styles offer varying degrees of rider support and security. Due to the flexibility, the lesser weight and the reduced amount of hard components, these saddles are more forgiving and usually better tolerated by the horse than many saddles with a rigid tree. We do not deny that we have also seen several bad examples of treeless saddles, but I guess you get those 'bad ones' with traditional saddles too. We have looked at and ridden in lots of different types of treeless saddles over the years. We made the decision to distribute the Hidalgo saddles after a 6 months trial period and and assessing of all up 13 modern flexible saddles from around the globe during 2011. The construction of treeless / flexible saddles can vary a lot from saddle brand to saddlebrand and sometimes the construction varies amongst models from one company. Now every type of construction has its merits and its limitations. Part of our service is to work through that little 'treeless jungle' with you, to find the perfect match for your needs and wishes as an individual horse/rider team. If the Hidalgo should not be suitable for you and your horse we will pass you on to a dealer who sells a saddle that matches your requirements. We charge an upfront fee of $60 for our consultations, this fee is waved if you end up buying products from our shop worth over $250. Treeless saddles were officially approved for competitions in Australia in February 06, only PC still makes a fuss in some States due to the closed stirrup D's on some saddles. The Hidalgo models all have open stirrup points which should satisfy PC requirements. General introduction to the treeless principle: Treeless saddles are constructed of several layers of leather, foam, wool, synthetic fur, felt and/or other shock absorbing materials like Prolite and PU. The idea is for the saddle to mould softly around your horses body and to follow every move, without restriction. The horse’s stride lengthens and the movement of the shoulders and back is free and more powerful as the horse moves forward with more relaxation and ease. The rider sits nicely 'on' and not above the horse, gaining a very close contact and intimate connection with the animal. Balance, harmony and improved comfort for horse and rider, are the most obvious advantages for the rider choosing a well made treeless saddle. Why a treeless or flexible saddle? we were taught that the rigid tree is the most important structure of a saddle, so why the change in direction? Most saddles with a traditional rigid tree are fitted to the ‘stationary horse' This is highly deceptive and too often does not allow for a moving back and shoulders. The horse's back and shoulders move constantly while in motion and a saddle has to accomodate this movement with your weight on top. Your comfort is also important, yes, that's agreed. But lets not forget that the horse did not choose to be ridden. He/she is not and was at no time in history naturally designed to carry the weight of a person on his back. It is therefore our responsibility to ensure the horse's comfort so that they do not suffer physically for our joy. Horses also change shape a lot during their lifetime and often from season to season. To be fair a traditional/rigid saddle would need to be adjusted whenever this takes place. Responsible horse owners in Europe meanwhile have their saddles checked on the moving horse with a high tech pressure testing system every few months (2-4 times per year is recommended) and then they have the saddle adjusted accordingly and scanned again to make sure all is good. Many professional saddlers in Europe do own such a pressure testing device meanwhile. To my knowledge only a single one of those computerised pressure mats exists in Australia and it is owned by the Sydney university and used by a very competent vetchiro for research on saddles. FYI Horse Connection involves the services of this vetchiro and her pressure testing equipment to keep expanding our knowledge base. Because horse and rider are two constantly moving beings/structures while engaged in riding, it makes a lot of sense to place a structure between them that has some 'give and flex' rather than something that is hard and rigid - I hope this makes sense to you. If we create pain while riding we make our horses numb and uncomfortable meaning less responsive, or listless and lacking forward motion. Sometimes they even react aggressively trying to get away from the pain and who could really blame them. With the availability of our treeless and flexible saddle range there is simply no good reason to put your horse through saddle pain any longer. It is our aim to make the riding experience as comfortable and enjoyable for horse and rider as physically possible. Our saddles are suitable for most disciplines including endurance and they fit all shapes of horses. Hard to fit horses are our speciality: No withers? High withers? Short back? Long back? Wide horse? Roach back? Atrophied spine? Sway Back? left /right Asymmetry? recovering from injury or saddle pain? Due to our background in physical therapies (Natalie had a thriving bodywork practice for close to 20 years and worked on a wide clientele that included Olympic athletes) we also try to take the riders physical issues into account when fitting saddles. To get our recommendation re which saddle and saddlepad set up would work best for you and your horse(s) please email Horse Connection to request our saddle fitting questionnaire. The assessment of suitability and our recommendation will attract an upfront fee of $60 which is waved if you end up purchasing products of min $250 from our shop post consultation. Please note that a treeless saddle when it is fitted or set up incorrectly or it is badly designed or lacking the right type of underlay can create numerous problems for your horses backs. We invite you take advantage of our saddle fitting expertise, we have in-depth experience with several different systems of flexible saddles and have literally fitted thousands of saddles over the last 8 years. Since we are human and sadly not perfect we offer a 7 day return clause which applies to the purchase of most items of this shop. When it does not apply you will find it is clearly advertised as such. This shop exists for the horses first and foremost, the biggest motivator to keep Horse Connection going is to serve horses and give something back to those amazing creatures who give so abundantly to us. Natalie and her agents reserve the right to refuse a sale if your horse is too physically immature or too unwell to be ridden or if you are too big for your horse (rider weight should not exceed 20% of the bodyweight of your horse). Some call us rude for this others love us very dearly for the exact same thing. We run this business in accordance with our expertise, values and beliefs and when you contact us you enter into our little world. We dearly hope that you will enjoy the experience.