2 Saddle style

What style of saddle you choose is down to the main discipline that you do with your horse. There are three main styles, which are each made according to the way you sit for that particular discipline.

■ General purpose saddle

As the name suggests, a general purpose

(GP) saddle is suitable for most disciplines and is a popular choice.

A well-designed GP saddle will allow you to do dressage, hacking and jumping in comfort.

A GP saddle has a slightly rounded saddle flap and quite often has no knee blocks, although some have removeable blocks. This allows you to move the blocks to give you support when needed, or to remove them.

■ Dressage saddle

These have a straighter saddle flap so that you can ride with longer stirrups, with your legs in close contact with your horse’s sides. Dressage saddles usually have larger knee rolls and a thigh block to help you maintain the correct leg position. The blocks can be fixed or moveable.

The seat tends to be deeper to help you stay in balance with your horse and to sit correctly. Most dressage saddles have long girth straps meaning you use a short girth — this prevents the buckles of the girth from interfering with your lower leg and allows that close contact feel, as well as eliminating any bulk underneath your lower leg.

■ Jump saddle

A jump saddle has a forward cut saddle flap, so you can ride with shorter stirrups. There’s also the choice of a traditional two-flap style, or a close contact saddle or monoflap with longer girth straps (used with a short girth).

Jumping saddles have a flatter seat to allow greater freedom of movement — this is particularly useful for cross-country riding.