News & insight
Saddle news & blog
Updates from our work with IDEAL saddles and riders around the world — new models, special offers and practical saddle-fitting insight.
2026!
We wish all visitors to our web site all the best for 2026! We’d love to hear from you if you are thinking about a new saddle and given the current…
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The Iconix Dressage Saddle takes "close contact" to a new level!
The result: ultra close leg contact and the potential for ultra subtle leg aids. Available with adjustable gullets or on a tree of choice. Also…
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Working Hunter Show Cut Saddle for ponies in USA
Off to the USA recently was this lovely Working Hunter Show Cut Saddle. Made to quite a specific spec, we were very happy to hear “It is beautiful”…
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A Further 20% OFF our Saddle Special Offers!!!
Fab prices for some lovely saddles! Ideal Suzannah Monoflap Dressage Saddle, an ex demonstrator, at £1480 is now 35% OFF the standard price! Ideal…
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Ideal Nyala Jump GP Saddle 17 1/2" MW SPECIAL OFFER £1080
Ideal Nyala Jump GP Saddle 17 1/2″ MW SPECIAL OFFER was £1350 NOW £1080 Ideal Nyala Jump GP Saddle. Dark Havana with Blocks on velcro. 17 1/2″ MW…
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Ideal Suzannah Monoflap Dressage Saddle 17" MW SPECIAL OFFER £1480
Ideal Suzannah Monoflap Dressage Saddle 17″ MW SPECIAL OFFER was £1850 NOW £1480 Ideal Suzannah Monoflap Dressage Saddle with Tonishia style knee…
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Three Fabulous New Offers just posted!
Three lovely saddles, two being ex demonstrators , one being new! All at great prices. Save at least £400 on each! Ideal Suzannah Monoflap Dressage…
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Ideal Sienna Dressage Saddle - a rising star!
…..and the word is spreading!!! The Sienna Dressage Saddle is a brilliant & ground breaking new design from Ideal. The Sienna combines a wide and…
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T&T Monoflap Dressage Saddle added to Ideal's range of Adjustable Gullet saddles
The Technical & Traditional (T&T) adjustable gullet range from Ideal now comprises this monoflap dressage saddle plus twin flap dressage, jump, GP…
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3 Lovely New Saddles from Ideal!
Ideal Sienna Dressage Saddle, designed for the dressage horse with a broad wither: A Monoflap version of the X-CEED Jump Saddle for a closer contact…
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18" Grandee MW ....Great Special Offer just posted!
This lovely 18″ MW Ideal Grandee GP saddle in Dark Havana with cream piping is new and comes with knee and thigh rolls on velcro. You can have a…
Read more →Fitting Visits!
Ian is more than happy to visit if you live in ESSEX, HERTFORDSHIRE, KENT, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE and BERKSHIRE Contact us to arrange a day! 01572 767638…
Read more →Ideal are winners at BETA!
Ideal were New Product Award winners at BETA International with their Technical & Traditional range of adjustable saddles. Judges said: A clever…
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"So in love with the saddle"
“Because I’m so in love with the saddle please see pic attached. Thank you again.” The pic is of her Palomino for whom Julie, from Australia, wanted…
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New Saddle Special Offers Posted!
Some lovely saddles on SPECIAL OFFER: 17″ Suzannah Dressage 17 1/2″ Integra Monoflap Jump 18″ Gazelle 16 1/2″ Deal Jump, Jessica Dressage, VSD and…
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Ideal Show Cut H & C Wide Seat Saddle 17 1/2" XW SPECIAL OFFER £760
Ideal Show Cut H & C Wide Seat Saddle 17 1/2″ XW SPECIAL OFFER was £950 NOW £760 Ideal Show Cut H & C Wide Seat Saddle. 17 1/2″ XW Show Cut 17 1/2″…
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Ideal Ramsay Show Saddle 15" W SPECIAL OFFER £680
Ideal Ramsay Show Saddle 15″ W SPECIAL OFFER was £850 NOW £680 Ideal Ramsay Show Saddle. 15″ W This lovely Ramsay show saddle, brand new, has hide…
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Walsall Riding Monkey Jump Pony Saddle 15 1/2" SPECIAL OFFER £520
Great pony jump GP saddle with a good sized block for jumping. 15 1/2" made up in black & ranch.
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Rosehill Dressage story just posted!
Read it here….. “We now feel comfortable asking horses to work”
Read more →Lots of saddles built on a different tree!
Notable in the last few months has been the number of saddles built on a different tree…………Impala Pro on an H&C tree, Impala on GPX (Grandee) tree,…
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Amazing photo!
Just posted a new “Saddle Story” with this fab photo! ! Desiree Maile Lavilla with Ulambo, sitting in his custom made Suzannah Monoflap Dressage…
Read more →Been very busy!
I have been very remiss in my blogging of late! But, we have been very busy!!! Soon to be posted will be some great new “Saddle Stories”. So, watch…
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Donation made to Hillside
Yes, today we sent a few hundred pounds to Hillside, the result of our fund raising efforts in honour of Sara & Alfie. Thank you to everyone who…
Read more →New Year Lockdown Update
2021 begins amidst worrying Covid developments and further lockdown measures. But, Ideal remain in production and the “best estimate” of order…
Read more →Update.....the UK's second "Lockdown" begins but there is some good news!
…..and the good news is that Ideal will remain in production. Timescale for making is the usual 4 – 6 weeks although in these difficult times we feel…
Read more →Help us raise some funds for Hillside Animal Sanctuary
The full story is told in our “Saddle Stories”…..scroll down on the home page. It is a very moving story. A big thank you if you can help us.
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An Individual Spec off to the USA!
This one is a Suzannah Monoflap on a Suzannah Low Head tree. Made up in Buffalo and Makela, it has serge lining on the panels, royal blue piping,…
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Something Very Special off to the USA!
This lovely saddle is an Ideal Hayley W G Dressage saddle made up in Buffalo and Makela. Our customer asked for Ivory coloured stitching and sent us…
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This Suzannah Monoflap is "incredibly versatile"
Made for a customer in the UK, this Suzannah Monoflap is made up in Remi French Calf with grey patent piping and rear facings. The standard Suzannah…
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Two new saddle offers posted!
Firstly, an Ideal Impala 1450 Jump saddle, 17″ W in Sala and secondly, an Ideal Lynx Pro Monoflap Deluxe, 17 1/2″ MW in Black, a lovely combination…
Read more →Ideal out of lockdown AND we specialise in fitting "remotely"!
Great news! Ideal are out of lockdown, albeit initially with reduced staff. So, if you need a saddle, it now can be made!….AND the waiting time is no…
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NEW from Ideal. Saddles with changeable gullets
This new range, Technical & Traditional (T & T), comprises a dressage saddle, a mono flap XC/Jump, a twin flap jump and a GP. Ideal bring their…
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New Special Offers Posted!
Yes, I’ve just posted five new special offers: 16 1/2″ XW Ideal Impala with Gazelle flaps & blocks in Military. 17″ Ideal Suzannah MW in a very dark,…
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"Little tiny Ramsay for our little hunter pony"
Nicola from Australia sent us these lovely photos of “our little tiny Ramsay you guys made for our little hunter pony”. It was tiny (!), 14″ and made…
Read more →Ideal Ramsay on an H & C Tree
Having recently posted a “Saddle Story” from Tasmania with some lovely photos of two ponies who had Ramsays built on an H & C tree, I thought a few…
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Ramsay ready to go!
Just posted a lovely Ramsay, 15″ W in Sala on our “Offers” page. Brand new, this Ramsay has hide covered flaps, suede seat, no knee rolls and is the…
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Two very individual specs!
….made for customers in UK! Just a couple of examples of what can be done! Firstly an Ideal Gazelle for a big man and a big horse. This is a 19″,…
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Saddles with Short Panels
A notable theme this year have been requests for shorter panels than standard. A decision to be taken with care(!) but it can be done! Here is a good…
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Three new saddle offers posted!
Yes, I’ve just posted three new saddles on our “Offers” page Saddle Offers They are….. Ideal Finesse Show Saddle 17 1/2″ W in 2 tone black &…
Read more →2018....so far!
Well, I have to admit to having been a bit remiss in my posts so far this year! Having told myself off, let me bring you up to date! The UK has been…
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Two new saddle offers posted!
Two new saddles available now! A Monkey Jump pony jump GP (15 1/2") and a show cut FWB for the very wide (17")
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Tall, long legged & riding very short!
If you are and do, for jumping and cross country then you might be interested to see this saddle. It was made for a young man in Ireland who is tall,…
Read more →New Special Offers!
4 NEW SPECIAL OFFERS have just been posted on our site: 1/ Ideal Suzannah Monoflap Dressage saddle 17 1/2″ MW Black 2/ An exotic version of the…
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Made in Britain
The August issue of Equestrian Trade News included a feature on Made in Britain and met some “major players” with reasons to celebrate being British.…
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Black & White!
Black saddles with white piping and/or white stitching have been quite a thing this summer! This saddle, an Ozelle and made for a Spanish horse in…
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The Ideal Ozelle - a dressage saddle for wide horses but with a narrow twist for the rider! Truly an innovation!
In an earlier post I mentioned this new saddle from Ideal, the Ozelle. It is truly an innovation and to our knowledge has never been done before.…
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A Suzannah ready to go!
We have one 17 1/2″ MW Black Suzannah Dressage Saddle, brand new, ready now and just listed in our special offers. No need to wait for it to be…
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The "Amy Saddle"!
This lovely saddle recently winged its way to USA! It was made for our customer, Amy and we just had to call it the “Amy saddle”! Amy sent us a photo…
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Jumping Saddle Special Offers!
We’ve just put four lovely jumping saddles on Special Offer: a Barclay Liberte Monoflap XC saddle (Barclay is essentially what was Barnsby. Ideal…
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Spring Round Up!
Many new customers in the UK but key countries for us so far this year overseas have been USA and New Zealand. Even more pleasing for us was that…
Read more →A New Year!
Well, here we are in 2017 and I hope it’s a great one for all our customers and readers! We will soon be busy sending out saddles ordered at the tail…
Read more →Great News for Worldwide Customers!
The British Pound has fallen in value against all major currencies. The % move varies from currency to currency but broadly speaking we are talking…
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A Breakthrough in Saddle Design for the XXX Wide
I’ve just been talking to Ian about fitting the XXX wide! He thinks Ideal have made a breakthrough in design with their FWB GP saddle and says there…
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New SPECIAL OFFERS
I have just posted 10 new SPECIAL OFFERS on the site. There is a brand new 17 1/2″ W Ideal 1350 GP for £1150, a brand new 17″ XW Ideal Josephine for…
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Lots of NEW SPECIAL OFFERS!
Just posted on this site are 11 “SPECIAL OFFER” saddles. Most are Ian’s ex demonstrators. Brands are Ideal, Jeremy Rudge, Keith Bryan, Jeffries &…
Read more →Long Time No Blog!
Hello everyone, I have been very remiss in not keeping up with my blog! My lame excuse is that we have been very busy looking after customers in the…
Read more →Slipping back....badly!
K**** from Nottinghamshire rang us on her way back from a show. Her coloured horse is “all shoulder” and very flat backed and her new saddle which…
Read more →Enjoying himself!
Lauren from Worcestershire is thinking about an Ideal Gazelle for her six year old, 16.1 hh Warmblood. The saddle is purely for show jumping. They…
Read more →Dressage saddles for the very wide!
Our topic for today is inspired by an enquiry from Mandy from Lancashire, England who is “desperately searching” for the right dressage saddle for…
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Ian is featured in Chiltern & Thames Rider Magazine
The following is from an article in Chiltern & Thames Rider Magazine. Download the original article here. When Sue Mitchell, editor of Chiltern &…
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Sway Back
Heidi is a 17 year old Thoroughbred and is a dressage schoolmaster or should I say mistress, for her new owner, Heather in Victoria, Australia. A…
Read more →Not sure which saddle suits your horse?
Tell us about your horse, your riding and any problems you are having. We will reply with honest, experienced advice and suggested IDEAL options — no obligation.