Tack & Equipment

Saddles   The interaction between horse, tack and rider is complex. Research has shown that rider position and stability in the saddle are vital for good performance, which is why it’s so important to have the saddle fitted for you as well as your horse. This sounds obvious but if your saddle is too small you will tend to find yourself sat on the back of the saddle rather than in the middle. And that’s important because with the addition of the rider the average force on...

With so many different products on the market, it’s quite a task to whittle down the options to work out what you actually need. From Lunging aids to riding equipment to boots and saddle pads and more variations of stirrup than you could ever begin to imagine, walking into a tack shop nowadays can be absolutely mind-boggling!    I’m personally a firm believer in the less-is-more approach, but here’s a few bits of kit I simply wouldn’t be without!  ...

Many riders know that their horses’ legs heat up during exercise, and it’s common for horses’ legs to be cooled after fast work, competitions, or an intense schooling session. How can we create an even balance - keep legs cooler during exercise and use ice for recovery afterwards? This article explains the role that well-vented exercise boots can play, along with ice boots.

If you’re a horse owner, you probably already know the basics when it comes to equipping your horsebox or trailer. However, there are a few accessories that can make your life easier, and your horse’s life safer and more comfortable, so in this post, we’ll take a look at four of the best!

Saddle accessories are often an afterthought when it comes to horse riding. However, there are a few pieces of equipment that can make your ride much safer and more comfortable for both you and your horse. In this post, we'll take a look at some of the most essential saddle accessories you may not have considered.

Summer is the perfect time to get out and really enjoy riding. However, it's important to choose the right clothing for the summer season. You want something that will keep you comfortable in the heat, but that won't sacrifice style or function. Technical fabrics are a great option, as they can go a long way in helping both you and your horse stay cool, comfortable, and protected from the sun, while keeping you stylish at the same time!

Summer is well and truly underway, and with the warmer weather, we all need to make sure our horses remain as comfortable as possible through the long hot days. On top of the basics of plenty of shade and hydration, Fly Rugs are must-have products for this time of year! Here at Horsemart HQ, we want to help you keep your horses happy, so here are our 5 recommended fly rugs for summer 2022...

Are you raring to get out and start competing in 2021? Looking for a new jump saddle but not sure where to start? In this article we will discuss what makes a jump saddle a jump saddle, where to get a jump saddle from, and the top 10 jump saddles of 2021! What defines a jump saddle? Jump saddles are more forward cut than GP saddles. They have flatter seats and usually have good sized knee and thigh blocks to support the rider over the fence. Jump saddles can be monoflap or dual flap....

The main purpose of any horse rug is to provide your horse with protection. There are many different types of horse rugs available, each designed to protect your horse in different ways, whether it be to keep them warm, dry or clean, or even a combination of all three. When you’re just starting out as a horse rider or owner, the varying types of horse rugs available can be pretty confusing, and it’s often difficult to know what kind of rug you should be using and when. In this ...

There are generally considered to be two main types of riding style – Western and English. Western riding includes the disciplines of roping, reining, trail riding and barrel racing. English riding generally refers to the more familiar UK disciplines of dressage, show jumping, eventing and endurance. Each riding style has a different saddle design, which is then modified further to meet the demands of the individual disciplines.

Horse rugs are an essential part of horse care and getting a rug that fits well is incredibly important for the comfort and protection of your horse. An ill-fitting rug will not only provide inadequate protection from the elements but can also cause a lot of discomfort; too small and the rug will dig in and restrict movement, too big and it will move and chafe - and rug slippage can become a major hazard in the field. So, whether you’re a new horse owner or you’re simply wanting t...

The aim of your riding hat is not only to provide protection but also comfort. It doesn’t matter if you just have a hat for hacking or if you’re an international competition rider, you only have one head and therefore it’s in your best interest to ensure it is fitted correctly. Every brand of hat fit’s differently and within this the fit and size of each model will also vary. Not everyone has the same shaped head, some are more rounded while others are more oval, some dee...

As winter approaches horse owners in the UK will be digging out rugs ready to keep their charges warm as temperatures drop. At the same time, those changes in day length will have triggered the horse’s body to start growing a longer, thicker coat with more oil to help keep it warm and dry in cold and wet weather. Horses have a remarkably wide thermoneutral zone, which is the breadth of temperatures in which they will feel comfortable. While their core temperature is 38°C, it’s on...

Hi, I’m Ken Lyndon-Dykes from Saddleworld, and I want to talk about all-purpose saddles today. Now, that can mean almost anything, say, all-purpose, general purpose, eventing or a saddle you can use for lots of different things. An all-purpose saddle is exactly what it says, you can do a bit of jumping, you can do a bit of flat work, you can do a bit of hacking. But like anything that’s all-purpose it’s sort of alright for everything but not brilliant if you want to be a d...

Hi, I’m Ken Lyndon-Dykes from Saddleworld and today we are going to talk about dressage saddles. Generally speaking, dressage saddles look like this. Sometimes they have skin on the seat and front other times they have soft hide, or not, it really doesn't matter. The thing about a dressage saddle that’s so important is that it’s very straight cut and allows the leg to come a long way back, doesn’t interfere with the horse's shoulder and often they have bars whic...

Hi, I'm Ken Lyndon-Dykes from Saddleworld. We will be looking at saddles today and various fittings but before we think about that, why do you need your saddle checked and what effect is it going to have on your horse? Now all of us have seen horses where you go into a stable, with a saddle in your arms and it runs to the back of the stable because it’s thinking ‘oh boy, I don’t want a saddle fitted on me today.’ That’s a fairly good clue there might be a probl...

Hi, I’m Ken Lyndon-Dykes from Saddleworld and today we are looking at jumping saddles, some of which will be close contact which are much favoured nowadays and others that are semi-close contact. What do we mean by that? Well, first of all, if we are to look at perhaps one of the most famous jumping saddles in the world which is the Nelson Pessoa saddle. This has a thin panel of foam and is called a close contact saddle and it gets you, surprise surprise, close to the horse. Almost ...

My name's Robert Lemieux. These are my pads the I have designed. They're Australian Merino lambskin. The great features of Merino lambskin are, the old Horseman used to say, they wick away the sweat and there's nothing better for a horse’s back than good old lambskin. The fibres hold 40 times their own weight in moisture. So of course, they keep the back very dry and clear of any bacteria and sweat. This particular pad has a clear Spine down the centre, very good point, keeps the whol...

Hi, I'm Ken Lyndon-Dykes from Saddleworld. I've been asked to come and check a pony called Rio and it's Jane’s daughter, Chloe, who rides this pony. I've been told it's been very difficult to fit. So let's have a look to see what we think. Hi Jane, looking very pink today. How old is Rio? ‘Shes 11’ I do a lot of ponies and they often are very hard to fit, how tall would you say she was? ‘12.2’ When people ring up and say the got a 12.2 Pony that i...

Hi, I'm Abby from the Tallan School of equitation and I'm going to show you a couple of different types of numnahs and saddle pads. Okay. First of all, here, we have quite a basic commonly used saddle cloth. It's quite nicely padded. This is for general use, with the cut of it, It's quite long this way so you could use it for either dressage or jumping. It's nice and comfortable against the horse. When fitting the thing you need to remember is when you put it on and you've got the sadd...