09/11/2025
When I talk to modern dressage riders about their saddles, I get pushback when I tell them that their saddles promote abuse. They say that the new saddles are more comfortable for the horse. With the advances in saddle design and flocking, this might be true. However, while their tree design is probably more physically comfortable, these saddles enable a new and different kind of discomfort for horses in how they encourage riders to use these saddles to inflict pain.
The high cantles and the huge knee rolls/thigh blocks allow a rider to maximize their strength when applying their hands to the bit. Modern dressage riders can easily lean back against the high cantle beyond the traditional 5 degree. This allows them to use their body weight to apply excessive rein pressure.
The big thigh blocks facilitate their leaning back by stopping the rider's legs from launching forward beyond the flap when they apply the increased leveraged power of their body weight to the bit. Imagine trying to apply your body weight to the reins when riding in a traditional dressage saddle like the pictured Stubben Tristan dressage saddle at the top.
The older minimal saddles provide a great deal more communication between the horse and rider. This is important because horses are herd animals that need constant communication with their herd, which is the rider when a horse is being ridden. Without connection there is stress from separation and isolation. This is the horse's psychological basis for their need for unity of balance and movement with the rider through communication.
I think that people who push back on the idea that modern saddles are not an improvement do not fully understand unity or the connection needs of the horse. Additionally, these riders obviously do not ride in a high level of unity because they require such a restrictive "bucket seat" saddle in order to ride their horse at all. These new saddles are one more example of purchasing a solution to poor riding skills instead of doing the work to improve one's riding skill.
When you ride in a modern, heavily padded saddle, communication with your horse becomes so muffled that some horses will react negatively to the muddle in several ways. They might shut down, become stressed or ignore the rider. This is why I begin training young prospects ba****ck and later train horses using saddles designed for maximum contact and communication, like a minimal style polo saddle, between me and the horse. Constant communication soothes a horse more than any big fat stuffed saddle will.
I recommend that instead of using a modern dressage saddle for the horse's physical comfort, that riders improve their communication skills with their horses by riding better in a simpler, more communicative saddle. Shared balance and unity of motion, both of which I think are challenging when using modern dressage saddles, are most effective in making your horse psychologically comfortable. Riders can provide greater comfort to their horse by riding with a deeper connection and consistently clear communication. Most horses can manage some physical pain much more effectively than they can endure the pain inflicted by psychological stress and physical force.
Bottomline, Henry Whynmalen said, "Let the horse move you." A horse can't move you if your lower body is jammed between a high cantle and giant knee rolls.
