RIDER OF THE MONTH

Rachel Fleszar and Valley Girl

In 2009, Rachel Fleszar, age 16, was already an accomplished rider and competitor on the pony jumper circuit with her mount, “Valley Girl” aka “Currie”, a 1994 Welsh-TB cross mare.

When Rachel and her mother, Ruth Fleszar, moved Currie to Gale’s Equine Facility in Big Flats, NY, the move provided them with more than just a shorter drive to the barn. They learned how the techniques of classical dressage would improve Rachel’s riding. They also noticed that most of the riders at Gale Wolfe’s rode in Ansur treeless saddles. What was up with this?

Currie had a reputation of having a “cold back” and she had all the normal “industry” treatments to make her comfortable. Currie’s disposition was so miserable and her back was so sore that she was donated to a local veterinary college and later ended up as a school pony at Rachel’s former riding stable.

Rachel and Ruth saw something in the pony and bought her in spite of Currie’s clear demonstration of her dislike of being ridden or jumped. They continued to treat Currie’s back issues, even though her beautiful, well-fitted treed saddle was ruled out as the cause of her problems. They even rode with a well known “shock absorbing” pad under the saddle. Currie wanted to do the job for Rachel, and bless her heart, she did–even though she was hurting. After a couple of months, Gale recommended and Rachel agreed to try out an Ansur jumping saddle called the “Elite”.

The improvement in Currie’s movement was immediate. Not only did her jumping get better, but also her disposition. And most significantly, the soundness of her back improved, verified by an equine chiropractor.

From October 2009, Currie was ridden exclusively in Gale’s Ansur Elite saddle. In February of 2010, Rachel got her own Ansur Elite. Currie’s jumping continues to improve.

Formerly Currie had to be ridden in a jumping hackamore so Rachel could slow the pony down as she raced through the jumps. Now, Currie is schooling first level dressage, competing and winning the pony jumper events in a French link snaffle.

Currie shows a happy expression with great form over her jumps.The miserable disposition is gone! When riding dressage, the pony rounds up softly, brings her back up and stretches into the bridle.

People often ask about the stability of the Ansur saddle. The Elite is very stable. See for yourself by viewing the sharp turns ridden by Rachel in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYqadFnmD8o

Once again.... the Ansur saddle IS the answer.

Click on each of the saddle photos to read their detail pages

Classic

Carlton

Excel

Elite

KonKlusion

Westernaire

Endeavor

Enduro