Marilee and Alev

It isn't always easy to change one's thinking. I have ridden dressage for about 16 years and, let's face it, this is not an activity that encourages being different; it is about conformity. If you want to succeed, get a second mortgage on your house and buy a warmblood. And, of course, you want the best saddle you can afford, which in some cases can be outrageous. I first decided to buck the system when I thought about a future dressage horse and I opted to adopt a Premarin foal - a draft cross. Somehow, I ended up with two weanling fillies, Alev and Toby, both with distinctly different body types. On top of that, I already had a mature Appaloosa/Arabian cross, Apache who was yet another shape.

Once the fillies were three and were ready to start work under saddle, I knew I was in trouble. I had a dressage saddle, a Collegiate Baron, that fit my Appy, and it was adequate for the fillies, but I knew they were going to grow out of it. I eventually bought another dressage saddle, a used Kieffer Lech Profi wide tree, to get me through yet another phase of their growth, but, again, I knew it would not last. When I began adding up the cost of getting custom made saddles to fit these growing wide-bodies, I started to despair. Then I remembered seeing an Ansür Saddle booth at a California Dressage Society Symposium. At the time I saw the Ansür, it was very new and very different; I just gave it a brief look and passed by. Now that I was actually faced with fitting three horses, I decided to look seriously into it. I checked out the website and read the testimonials. I was particularly impressed by what J. Ashton Moore had to say.

When I contacted Meg Francouer, she happily came out and spent the better part of a day letting me ride in an Ansür on all three of my horses. She was very friendly and patient, and answered all of my questions. A very fun day, indeed. All of my horses seemed so happy in the saddle; they were more relaxed and more supple, particularly my Appy who seemed to respond to the both Ansür's increased stability and flexibility. I also loved the fact that you could feel every movement of the horse's back and a "large and lovely" like me could sit the trot so comfortably without disturbing the horse. An added bonus was the lightness of the saddle when compared to a standard dressage saddle. The last thing I wanted to do was add more weight to my horses, and this was a great solution. My Christmas present to myself in 2001 was an Ansür Chic. A great investment when you consider it can fit any horse. I no longer worry about hurting my horses' backs with a stiff, pinching tree.

Attached is a picture of one of my draft crosses, Alev, now five years old, and myself at a recent schooling show (hence the Hawaiian shirt). I have ridden Alev at both rated and schooling shows, and she has achieved scores up into 70's. Not bad for a rescue horse! And I have to attribute a big part of that success to the Ansür. I have been using the saddle for about nine months now and I think it was one of the best things I have done for my horses. Meg was also great about following up on my "happiness factor" following the arrival of my saddle, and I could not say enough nice things about it. All of my horses are happy, comfortable, and their mom has a saddle that fits her, too! Thanks, Ansür.