12.10.14

WOW saddle, part 1

I'm so incredibly lucky be getting a new WOW saddle for my 21st birthday! We have WOW saddles for Rama, Basse and Nelli, and now Vallu will be getting his own one too :)
For those who don't know anything about WOWs, the unique features of a WOW saddle are the modular concept, carbon fibre tree, lateral flexion, and interchangeable everything. It is like playing with legos; you can make the saddle to be like anything you want, with the ability to have interchangeable head plates, panels, flap position, and many different girth options. The Y-shaped WOW™ tree encourages better movement from the horse, since it gives more space and flexibility to the horse's shoulders and withers. The main difference of the WOW saddle to more traditional saddles is that it has a Flair, the air flocking system, instead of woollen flocking. The flair flocking uses a system of four air bags which provide a soft and even bearing surface without pressure points. 
Showing the modular concept - all of these can be changed

I emailed WOW to ask who was my closest saddler, and found out that the lovely Lorna Triggs (LT Equine Services) was. Unlike a flocked saddle, the adjustments can made quickly whilst the rider sits on the horse. Once the different parts of the saddle you want to try are put together, you or the saddler can adjust and balance the saddle perfectly (both front to back and side to side) even if the horse has uneven muscle development → super useful! Apparently Vallu and I are both rather equal and balanced, and so for us, we only added a tiny bit of air to the front two bags and it amazing to feel and see the difference that it made to my riding. It was only the smallest bit of air, but it made a massive difference to how I was sitting and made it much easier for me to sit down to Vallu's new massive trot.

What my saddle will look like, extra deep seat and high knee blocks
Saddle fitting was an awesome experience, and now that the saddle is ordered, we now have to wait for 4-6 weeks until it arrives! The saddler will come to visit us for a final fitting when the saddle arrives. 

I'm so excited for this, and eternally grateful for my parents unconditional love and support ♥︎

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