We returned recently from the American Equestrian Trade Association, (AETA) show. Filled to the brim with vendors of all things horse, it makes one feel like a kid in a candy store! I had to constantly remind myself that I was not shopping for myself. It is always fun to see the latest innovations. We also attended the educational seminars in hopes of broadening our horizons.

Did we find the latest and greatest? There wasn’t really anything that jumped out at us in a major way but it was nice to see the improvements and/or new additions to some of the lines that we carry. We also went with the plan of exploring some new lines that we were considering for the shop.

We knew we wanted to investigate the Kent and Masters because we have found great success with the Thorowgood saddles. Many of you have become familiar with them. We love the fact that the saddles are wool flocked, well designed and have the changeable gullet system and repositionable billets. Furthermore, we think that the variety of tree options, Hi-Wither, Cob and Standard, offer infinite fitting possibilities. Yet, some customers aren’t crazy about a synthetic and leather saddle so we have decided to expand into their Kent and Masters line and dip our toes into their Fairfax dressage line.

From the Kent and Masters line, we have ordered both Hi-Wither and Cob dressage saddles in the S series line. They are a bit nicer than the standard K & M line, all leather with the same changeable gullet system and re-positionable billet system. We chose the saddles with the movable Velcro thigh block as opposed to the exterior fixed thigh block because we felt that would suit more riders.

We have also decided to carry their S series jump saddle. They are the standard wither fit but they still have the same gullet changing ability. The billets are re-positionable and the panels are cut in such a way as to enable more shoulder freedom. They do not yet come in a size 18 inch seat so we ordered 17 and 17.5 inch saddles.

Lastly, we have also decided to try their Fairfax dressage saddle. We have only ordered a couple of them to see how they fit and ride.  They have an exterior thigh block and the changeable gullet system and all of the conveniences of the other lines but are far more luxurious than the K & M saddles. The beauty of all of these saddles is that they have been tested extensively with the Pliance pressure sensing system and the results were very positive.

In the bridle line we have decided to carry the Rambo Micklem Competition bridle in both horse and cob, in brown and havana. The Micklem Competition bridle was designed to be more humane by fitting in such a way as to avoid sensitive facial nerves and delicate bone structures. It won the BETA 2008 award for innovation. I personally looked it up on the USEF site and it is now legal for competition as long as it is not used with the bit clips. However, I would strongly recommend that you check the rules for yourself in your discipline.  What made me so excited about the Micklem bridle was our bitting and bridle issues with Hamilton that we documented in several newsletter articles. This bridle seemed to lessen some of his anxiety and bridling is a much easier endeavor now.

Lastly, we added the Nunn Finer Galway bridle to our bridle jump line. We were looking for a darker brown bridle to match some saddles and we really liked the quality and look of this bridle. As many of you already know, Nunn Finer is well known for their quality products with an emphasis on eventing and jumping.

Everything is on the site with the exception of the Kent and Masters and Fairfax saddles because they haven’t arrived yet and please feel free to email or call with requests or questions on the new inventory.

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