Knowledge Portal
We have been fitting saddles for horses that don’t fit the standard mould since before it was a talking point.
Iberosattel was born in Bavaria — a region with a long and serious tradition in saddlery, equine biomechanics, and the kind of craftsmanship that takes decades to develop. For many years, we worked almost exclusively with riders in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland: horse people who already understood that a saddle is not a piece of equipment you simply buy in a size. It is something you fit — carefully, individually, and with a deep understanding of both the horse’s body and the rider’s.
In recent years, that work has taken us further. We are now regularly riding and fitting in the Netherlands and Norway, and hearing from horse owners across the English-speaking world who are asking exactly the same questions our customers in Bavaria have been asking for years: Why does my horse resist? Why can’t I sit straight? Why does a saddle that looks perfect on paper feel wrong the moment I ride?
The honest answer is usually the same: because saddle fit is more complex than the industry tends to admit. S, M, and L do not exist here. A horse is not a clothes rail. Pressure distribution, panel contact, tree width, balance point, wither clearance — these are not luxury considerations for competitive riders. They are the foundation of every comfortable, willing, forward-thinking horse. And yet in many parts of the world, the conversation around saddle fit has barely started.
That is why we built this portal. Not to sell saddles — our website handles that — but to share what we know. Freely. In plain language. For any horse owner, anywhere, who wants to understand what is actually happening between their horse’s back and the leather they sit on every day.
You will find articles here on everything from reading sweat patterns after a ride to choosing a saddle fitter you can trust. From the biomechanics of the equine back to the psychology of why we convince ourselves a bad fit is “good enough.” We write for the curious, the careful, and the slightly frustrated rider who knows something isn’t quite right but isn’t sure where to start.
If something you read here makes you want to talk to us directly, you will find us at iberosattel.com. We are a family business, not a call centre, and we answer our own emails.
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