Welcome to Parelli Saddles

REGARDING The Parelli NATURAL PERFORMER and FUSION saddle systems:

Please scroll down the page to the bold headline about our ENGLISH Fluidity saddles if you are only interested in comments about those...but we encourage your awareness of the benefits of the Natural Performer as well, because they echo the feelings that you and your horse would experience in the Fluidity saddles.

Dear Parelli Saddle Team,
I just wanted to say THANK YOU sooooo much for my saddle.
After many emails back and forth, my saddle arrived last week and it's everything and more I had hoped for.
I watched the DVD then went straight out and rode in it. WOW, what a difference. It took me a couple of days to get the pad right but now it's perfect.
My horse is a 16.3 QH and very hard to fit, he's built like a 44 gallon drum!! It's amazing the difference the right saddle can do for the comfort of your horse and your confidence. I can now mount from the ground and canter circles without it slipping.
Again, thank you so much for all your help and making it so easy buying the saddle from the other side of the world!! You are a great team.
Kind regards,
Carrie B and Sunny
Macclesfield, Vic, Australia

Hi there!
I purchased a Natural Performer saddle within the last year. I do love
riding in it although I still (don't think I'm putting it) on my horses with graceful savvy.

They seem to love it and my own riding
confidence soared because I feel very secure in it. Trail riding to finesse
has gone extremely well. But now I am ready to return to an English saddle
for some of my riding. I am hoping to finalize my auditions for L2 within
the next few months - really its just a matter of my getting a video done!
Meanwhile I want to start the process of getting another saddle and I do
want a Parelli saddle. Do you happen to do any "special deals" for those
who have purchased a saddle and want another one? Just checking while I
figure out my saddle budget and start saving up for another one. Hopefully I
will be able to order it within the next few months.

PS - I keep my 2 horses at a "show barn" with all English riders. There is
just a small group of Parelli students. They keep admiring my saddle (even
though it is western) and can't believe what my horses can do. They see me
jump them on line and at liberty and are in awe. They can't believe I am
posting, riding in a dressage court and doing finesse things (really just
patterns). But I see them try to do things I do. One girl even begged me for
some DVDS to watch so she can try it. I gave her some and she is so so
happy. Her friend runs the pony club there, so who knows what great things
could happen! We are trailblazing in a very traditional environment to
forward the Parelli message. Maybe with the English saddle I will get others
into better fitting saddles for their horses. Oh, and they can never believe
it when I am just riding in a hackamore. I love it.

So thanks, and please let me know if you do any special deals for second
saddles for savvy club members. I purchased mine with the help of Susan
Nelson here in California.

My best,

Cynthia F

ANSWER FROM PARELLI SADDLE TEAM: Thank you, and we love hearing these stories every day!

Hi, Parelli Saddle Team

We headed to the woods to camp this past weekend & I rode, rode, rode. Did a six hour ride Saturday, it was long & hot. Stormy is still loving his new saddle & pad, he moves so nicely! Got into this trot going down beside an airstrip and my friend I ride with a lot, said Stormy got into a .carriage trot.. (Stormy is ¾ Friesian, and I guess she could really see him doing this trot with a carriage) I guess she meant that he was doing one HECK of an extended trot. We were flying! Also even had him jumping some downed trees, this was the first time ever!!! What a super weekend of riding in our new saddle! Got pictures, but I.ve got to get them developed, 35mm. Everyone was asking if I.d got a new saddle and asked what kind it was. I told them it was a Natural Performer, they just gave me this confused puppy dog look, so I had to say Parelli, and they went, Oooohhhhhh.

TD, Georgia

What it feels like to be the subject of a Parelli Saddle Makeover by Aggie O, Level 3 (see photos below):
I hadn’t yet had an opportunity to ride in any of the Parelli Saddles. So, when the chance to be in a saddle makeover with Linda and Letitia showed up, I jumped at the chance.

I am a level 3 graduate studying level 4 and was still having impulsion and lead change issues trying to develop my finesse skills. I have always thought that Amber, my 13-year old left brain introvert Paint, was generally lazy…not wanting to go forward even on line when carrying a saddle. When riding at the walk and trot, she was always reluctant to go forward… except once in a canter, she was impulsive and rushing. I was wondering why I was still having these challenges, as I thought my wade tree saddle was wide enough, and flared in the front to give her room to feel comfortable.

During the makeover, while riding in my original saddle with the theraflex pad, Linda commented how she was traveling hard on her front end. Also, when asked to canter, I received pinned ears, found it uncomfortable to ride and Amber progressed into getting more impulsive.

When we took my saddle off, Linda pointed out her rounded shoulders and noted more muscling on the underside of her neck as well as in the loin area. She showed me that the position of Amber’s shoulder blade at rest compared to when her leg was lifted showed minimal movement. The distance between the back edge of her scapula when standing straight compared to maximum backswing was even shorter on the left than the right. She also commented that at least the theraflex pad was there, otherwise it would have been worse. Honestly I was saddened that I was the cause of this due to an ill-fitting saddle.

We saddled Amber in a Natural Performer with the Theraflex pad and 2 shims in her shoulder area. I was asked to walk around to allow her to feel the saddle. Well after 2 rounds of the 100’ corral, Amber started to stretch at the walk dropped her head and neck, and then OFFERED a nice trot! When Linda asked me to ask for more, Amber offered the most beautiful feeling canter depart and maintained it! Without all that ear pinning she used to do! She didn’t get

impulsive, either.

When we unsaddled her, we found that her worse-side shoulder blade moved back ½ inch after that 1 ride!
Well, I can’t tell you it was easy for me to do what happened next. I bought the Natural Performer. Now Amber and I are playing with Finesse and Freestyle in level 4 and are having an easier time with the concepts since we removed the blockage of an ill-fitting saddle. Thank you, Linda and Letitia for the wonderful experience and our great new saddle that fits the Horse, the human and the purpose.
Note from Letitia: Aggie called me a few days after her makeover to say, “Hey, Letitia! I am so excited, I wanted to tell you in person! I just asked Amber for a lead change and got it immediately! I have never been able to do that with her before!!!
Thank you! Thank you!!!"

Dear Kathy,

I would just like to thank you and all the Parelli saddles team for my beautiful new saddle (NP).

I was counting down the days until it arrived and it came yesterday and is everything I'd wished for.

I opened it up, watched the DVD and rode in it straight away!! Finally I have a saddle that fits my horse (16.3 QH built like a 44 gallon drum), it doesn't slip when I get on and I can even ride circles at a canter and it won't move. YAY.

Thank you all for making this so easy and helping me with all my questions, you're a fantastic team (it was a bit scary ordering from Australia).

Kindest regards,

Carrie and Sunny (will be sending photos to the Savvy Times magazine) :)

P.S. My instructor here in Aust is Chris Corbidge

Dear Parelli Saddle Team,
I received my repaired saddle yesterday afternoon. Thank you so much for the very fast service. It was a great pleasure to be able to use this saddle again.

When I first received the saddle in October, I knew I liked it but it took a little time to get used to, especially being super wide. My immediate feelings were not pure "this is it" and I grew to like it, but it was not until I didn't have it and returned to my old saddles that I really felt the difference. In my old saddles, I felt like I had little contact with the horse, it was nearly impossible to find my balance point among other issues like my ankles and knees ached and I could see my horse asking questions as my communication was not as clear through the other saddles (besides being less comfortable for him).

This small problem with the saddle was a blessing in disguise as I did not fully appreciate how great this Natural Performer saddle is until I didn't have it. Again, thank you very much and I will very soon be ordering a second saddle for my other horse.
Diane C

More from TD:

Let me tell you about today's trail ride. (True story!!!) There was a
"chance" of some rain today, so instead of riding my Performer, I went with
the Wintec Pro that I have. I've ridden in it about 5 times, new saddle I've
had for a while now. I normally ride my Tucker Equitation, that I've had for
7 years. Well, my girl friend I ride with, could even SEE the difference in
Stormy!!! She made a comment about how miserable he was acting. He was
twisting, tossing & slinging his head during the entire ride!!!!! Even with
the Theraflex pad I had bought especially for this saddle. He was feeling
very rushy, beating me to death with his trotting. I felt like a fish out of
the water! He & I were BOTH MISERABLE the entire ride! My back, knees &
ankles hurt!! Well, as soon as I got home, I cleaned the Wintec up and it's
going up for sale immediately!!!

I have a friend who has been searching, riding, trying & returning saddles like
I had been. I STRONGLY suggested to her, that the Natural Performer & the
Theraflex pad is a MUST!! Not to even think about trying anything else. I
think she really understood. I'm so THANKFUL my search is OVER!!!!! I feel
like I've won the lottery!!!! Thanks to you, Pat & Linda, again so very much for making this saddle! TD

I just wanted to give you my feedback. My new Natural Performer saddle is unbelievable. I love it and my horses love it!! I was waiting to put saddles on three of my young horses I started, to save them from having ill-fitting saddles (or to save me from their adverse reactions to ill-fitting saddles). I have now ridden all of them, and other horses in my charge, plus put it on some friends horses and every horse has done better than my expectation. The most challenging part is shimming for each one differently. Thank you! Angela K.

Hey, Parelli Saddle Team:

I received my saddle Friday, and took it camping with me. The difference
in Toot, my 6 yr old arab was nite and day. he has always been a very short
horse with choppy movements. This weekend he was so comfortable and smooth
and became a long horse. This was the first time I was able to get him in to
a full gallop and a extended trot. It was awsome. This saddle is worth every
penny. Sabrina and Toot (Arabian)

I have my new natural performer saddle and wanted to tell you how much I
love it!! I have had it for approximatley two months and have used it on my
three year old and my four year old paint partners. My three year old has
offered a smooth floating trot that I have not experienced on him before. I
honesty have checked the ground to see that we are moving as the trot is
that smooth! My four year old is often reluctant to move forward and is
much happier about moving at all in this saddle. Both horses are green and
have only been ridden this summer. I have a custom Wade saddle that I
thought I was happy with but now understand what a really good saddle is for
both horse and rider. I found that in my Wade saddle I often felt pushed
forward in the trot even though I have used a Theraflex pad with shims for a
couple of years. In my natural performer I do not feel that I would like to
grab the horn during the trot. I also find it much easier to do a pushing
passenger lesson as I find the mane/wither area so much more accessible. I
am at the end of level three with three tasks left to give you an idea of
where I am in the program. I find the natural perfomer lets me know when I
am out of position as I find it less comfortable. When I shift back to my
balance point I find the comfort that the saddle offers. The weight of this
saddle is a welcomed change from my heavier Wade. I am also very pleased
with the new theraflex pad as it is shorter and fits my horses' back better.
The quality and workmanship is excellent. I couldn't be happier with this
product and wanted you to know! Thank you to all who put their efforts into
this worthwhile project!
Jackie H, Canada

Hi Letitia

Had my first ride in the superwide NP today. Thought I’d drop you a line and thank you for your help and say how brilliant the saddle is. I mainly do trail riding and had been concerned for some months that my strapping 16.2hh 7yo Thoroughbred seemed a wimp on the hill climbs and no stamina for stretches of

trotting/cantering along the tracks and trails – we struggled to keep up with the others. What a difference the wide saddle makes – my riding partner wanted to know where my new horse had come from. His whole outline has changed and is much longer. We were able to keep up, take the lead and be alongside

each other without any issues. He is now able to use his back and haunches properly for the hill climbs and there is now a “go” button on my LBI. Think trot and you have it…and for how long do you want it? I can’t believe the difference. Even though we had no canter today, we didn’t need it, the big extended trot

which matched my riding partner cantering alongside was just breathtaking. I felt I was seated much deeper than in any other saddle and it was an armchair, making me feel secure, yet able to move around as I needed.

Once again the Parelli’s have done it again with this saddle. I’ll be spending much more time riding, quite excited now when I think what we can do in L3 finesse!
Warmest regards, Helen

I tried my saddle out and I was amazed, the comfort of it was like no saddle I've ever ridden in, after 46 yrs. of horses and at least 25 different saddles... I feel this will be the keeper. I found that staying on my balance point was so easy , I really didn't have to think, rock back, peddle, it happened so naturally. If there was anything I could have different it would be the weight, 30 lbs. doesn't seem like much, but it is a quarter of my body weight, so using savvy to saddle up is a bit of a challenge right now. The craftsmanship of the saddle was again amazing, the details on this saddle are impeccable, truly a work of a fine craftsman. Hats off to the entire team who make this a reality, it is a 15 out of a 10.

Parelli Saddle, Shims and Gaited Horses

We have been riding horses for a significant number of years. Forty-two years for me and fifty seven years for Donna. We have had a number of saddles . some good . some not so good. In 2004 I was in attendance at a Level 3 course in Pagosa Springs. Since Pat likes to go for a trail rides and move cows, I was having my usual difficulty of keeping my saddle in place. We have ridden Tennessee Walking Horses exclusively during all of our riding years. At the class I was riding a 16 hand black gelding with a breast collar and as usual the collar was too tight. This is where changes began to occur. I purchased a Theraflex pad without shims. The next day the class was following Pat up the side of a mountain and at a break I checked the breast collar and to my amazement it was loose . as if I had just put the saddle on the horse.

I bought another Theraflex pad for Donna. This started a process of research into pads, shims and saddles. PNH teaches that saddles should be moved back a bit on the horse to free the movement of the scapula. We started doing this adjustment after the course in 2004 and have been placing the saddles back a bit on all our horses ever since. My gelding was a stepping pace horse with long over-stride . about 18 inches. After adjusting the saddle and shims his over-stride increased to 24 inches. The horse stepped up into a rocking chair canter more easily with freedom of shoulder movement. The mare I ride currently along with Donna.s mare are square and even Walking Horses and the affect is the same . more stride and free movement of the shoulders.

We have now added shims to this process and a Natural Performer saddle. The results are striking. Gaited horses should see a lengthening of stride, including increased smoothness of movement. This is what we have found. Experiment with the placement of shims to lift the saddle so the scapula has freedom to move rather than block and constrict the horses shoulder. Linda explains this eloquently. And it works. The Parelli Natural Performer is comfortable for the human and is more comfortable for the horse. Gait improves; stride lengthens; smoothness gets smoother; saddles stay put without a breast collar! Take the time it takes and you and your horses will benefit. Bill Coon

This is a long one...but a great story!: MY SADDLE ALMOST COST MY HORSE HER LIFE!

Ida, my 18yr old Arabian mare, has proven to be a very loyal partner for me. About five years ago, we were beginning to train for an endurance race and were competing in western pleasure classes. During the middle of our show season and training for the race, she stopped eating. I took her to an equine specialist after she had stopped eating for a few days. She weighed in at 1000 lbs. They ran routine blood work, and could find nothing wrong with her. They contributed it to her being in heat and the stress of the shows and training for the race. They said to return if she did not begin to eat in a few weeks. A few weeks went by and we were back at the vet's. She weighed in at 750lbs. They could not believe how much weight she had lost in just a short time. They decided that they wanted to keep her and run more test on her and see if they could get her to eat. Three weeks later they called and said that she was eating and could go home. Since they could not find anything physically wrong with her they said she must have a form of cancer that they couldn.t find&And I needed to let her live her life as comfortably as possible and when she got bad I could bring her in and end her suffering. I was MORTIFIED. They gave her a death sentence. I brought her home and did what they had said. I put her out to pasture. We spent a lot of undemanding time together over the next six months.

After not being able to get on her for eight months, she was wanting to go. She would come to the barn when I would get other horses out to ride. She was letting me know she was ready to ride again. So I decided that would take her out on a short ride. She was so much better and was looking great. I had decided that the vet had to be wrong with the diagnosis. Then she came off her feed again. And she had lost all of the weight that she had gained. So back to the vet we went. She stayed another three weeks. And I got the same diagnosis: guarded prognosis. At this point, I decided that if she got any worse I would love her enough to let her go. I would not keep her here to suffer. I brought her home and put her out to pasture. Her days were numbered. Eight months later, she was looking and feeling great. We were on our way to a horse show, and she came
running up as if to say "I want to go!" So we decided that it might do her some good go get out and stretch her legs. As I was riding her around the show grounds, this cowboy came up to me and was admiring her. He said that he could tell that we had a good relationship. Then he said, If you really care for her as much as I think you do, you will get off of her. She is in pain.. I did not want to accept what this man was saying, because he did not know me or my horse. He asked me to trot her and watch her head and ears. As I trotted off she did as she always did, she threw her head up and pinned her ears back. And he said "See, she is in pain".. And I
proceded to tell him that she does that all the time, and its ATTITUDE, because I won't let her go fast. So he patiently showed me the difference for attitude and pain. Then he asked me if she ever stopped eating for long periods of time. I began to tell him my story of all of the vet stays and her having cancer. He told me that he was not a vet, but he would bet his farm on the fact that she came off her feed because my saddle was causing her a great deal of pain! He showed me where my saddle was pinching her and what I needed to do about it. He even helped me fit her for a new saddle.

On my next day off, Ida and I were back at the Vet.s and I told him about the cowboy and what he had said. They examined her back and just from that few minutes' ride, her back was so painful that she would not allow them to touch it. I began to feel so bad because I have caused her so much unecessary pain for so long! So, to give her back time to heal form all of my abuse, I put her back in the pasture and began doing level one and two ground work with her. I was not going to ride her with another saddle until I found one that was truly going to cause her no pain.

Then, I met the Thompsons (Parelli Instructors) at a clinic they were doing. I learned lots of things from them. But the most important thing I learned is saddling techniques. Not only was my saddle uncomfortable to the horse I had there, (causing him to have bad posture), my position was too far up and I was riding downhill. Emily allowed me to ride in her Parelli saddle and the change in my horse was amazing. So I decided that I would buy one, hoping that I would help Ida be more comfortable. This was our last hope. I came home excited and shared with every horse owner I know the things that I learned. And I tried it out on Ida. I was disappointed to take the saddle off and find she was still a little painful.

After waiting five months for my saddle it finally got here. And Ida was the first one to wear it. I rode her for about an hour. I took it off and she had NO PAIN! But I decided not to just take that one ride as feedback about the saddle. Maybe I was just hoping that it was working.

It has been a month now, and I have ridden her for five hours at a time! And when we get home and un-tack, there is not pain and her posture is good. This is the first time in five years that I have not had to use a tie down on her when I ask her to trot or canter. She does things willingly and pain free.

I have friends that ask me why in the world I would spend so much for a saddle. I tell them, because the one I had almost cost her, her life. Thanks, Pat and Linda for taking the time it took to make a saddle that would be comfortable for her and all of the other horses that have the pleasure of wearing one.
And thanks to the Thompson family who showed me the importance of proper fitting and placement of my saddle.
And last, but not least. Thanks to the cowboy who helped me to recognize Ida was in pain.

Sabrina and Ida
Savvy Club Member

Hello Parelli Saddle Team,

How wonderfully exciting - my Natural Performer arrived yesterday from Fed Ex and I tested it on my mare.

She has never before been so relaxed about having a saddle on her. She stood still while I put it on her and fitted it and then while she cantered around with it on, she stretched out her neck and looked so comfortable.

I rode in it and it felt very safe.

The reason I bought the saddle was because all other saddles I've used slip to the side on her. Even when I cantered on her in the round yard, the saddle stayed put, smack bang in the middle of her back!!!!!

Thank you so much for this wonderful saddle.
Warm wishes,
Eva

I have had my saddle for a few months now....

Amazing and exciting! I now know that my horse was like "riding a Rabbit" on trail rides because she wanted to get back to the barn so I would take the old saddle off. The change has been so huge with my Parelli saddle that I say it is sprinkled with Magic Fairy Dust! I am now able to relax and chat with my friends and even turn around to face them now that my horse is wearing the Parelli Saddle. My horse's back muscles are developing nicely and we are now almost finished taping our Level Three test. Amy

Dear Linda:

This is a story of how the Parelli Natural Performer Saddle changed my horse.s world.

Sam, my 4 year old left brain introvert has had many saddles on him in his short life, none of which fit him correctly. Either the gullet was too narrow for his appendix QH shoulders, or the bars were too rockered for his young flat back. Either way, every time I would take a saddle off of him after riding, I would find hard quarter sized lumps down the length of his spine. They did not appear sore to the touch and would disappear after an hour or so. Soon, either side of his spine became sore to the touch.

I hired a chiropractor to treat him who said that Sam was probably in a good deal of pain. After a couple of adjustments and some time off from riding, we did a cavalleti program (also thanks to Parelli), and he started to feel and look better. However, as soon as it came time to ride again, his symptoms returned.

Next came the savvy conference 2007, our very first one ever and extra exciting since the Natural Performer that we ordered had come in and we were excited to bring it home and try it out on Sam. Letitia went the extra mile to see that the saddle got into our hands before the conference ended, since she had heard our story about how much pain Sam was in.

As soon as we had the chance to ride we put the saddle on Sam. We rode for hours in the mountains by our home and to my delight and surprise, he did not charge down hills, appear to be holding his breath, nor did he refuse to lope as he had done with every other saddle we had on him. He loped willingly and blew and snorted immediately. And when I took the saddle off of him at the end of the ride&no bumps!

This saddle has made a world of difference to this young horse. The Natural Performer is the greatest saddle in the world!!! Thanks so much to Letitia for making sure it was in the car with us when we left Colorado . The saddle is truly a life saver.

Sincerely, Lorri Roy and Ethan Zimmerman

I've had a good chance to try out my new Fusion saddle and love it. I've gone on some pretty good trail rides, with lots of up and down and the saddle performed well and stayed put on my horse.

I find that it sits me very straight in the saddle, probably much like a dressage saddle would, although I've never ridden one. My legs are definitely underneath me. I assume this is part of the design. I've been riding a Fallis saddle for 15 years, which is supposed to sit you fairly straight, but the Fusion feels different. I feel I really have my legs under me and that's good.

The stirrup leathers are really free-swinging and I like being able to swing my legs easily to miss cactus or giant rocks, etc. I don't have to fight the leathers.

It's been comfortable, even for long hours and over difficult terrain.

I've noticed my horse's shoulders moving freely and I think he can really feel the difference from his old saddle, although it's hard to ask him, haha.

So, that's my report. Thanks for making and selling a great saddle.
Kathy S, Arizona

Just wanted to drop you a note. I finally received my Parelli "Fusion" Saddle. And I LOVE IT........... The craftmanship is wonderful, I know, I was married to a saddle maker and appreciate all of the attention to detail in this saddle. The quality of the materials and construction make a saddle that I will be proud to ride and know that I will enjoy it for years to come.

Thanks again for the great saddle.

Shelia, St. Helena, CA

Dear Letitia and Parelli Saddle Team:

Thought I would write a letter to let you know how I am going with my new FUSION saddle, which I have had for 3 months now&.apart from how beautiful it looks (the colour is superb, and the design and leather quality is really impressive) it feels great to sit in and my horse loves it! In fact, so far the 8 horses we.ve tried it on love it! I have used it in several .saddle demos. on different student.s horses&.from Thoroughbred to Arabian, Anglo-Arabian, Standardbred, Stockhorse, Appaloosa and Quarter Horse. With the airpad and correct shimming, we have seen it fit comfortably, allowing all these horses an unrestricted range of movement, and also allowing their humans to find and maintain their balance easily!

So am I happy with it? You bet! It is everything Linda promises in her letters, and I am so glad I chose it!

It is the opinion of my QH Cooper that really counts though. He is VERY touchy about saddles, and has been very unaccepting of them up until now, (Cooper is one of my level 4 challenges!) so I was curious when it arrived to see if he would change his mind! After initially screwing up his nose at the sight of it (so the great look only matters to us apparently!) I could see he expected it to be .just another saddle. but after wearing it for an online session, (where it looked like it was growing on his back) he didn.t object and get to bucking . which is his usual reaction to wearing a saddle&.and even though I decided to put him through a process over at least 3 sessions of getting to .know. his new saddle before I swung a leg over it, he actually offered me a ride on the first session . by sidepassing up to the block I was standing on and putting himself in a position for mounting! This is usually only something he does if I am riding him in a bareback pad&..usually if he has a saddle on, he objects strongly to being mounted&&so that was interesting to me.

We've since had a couple of sessions where I've ridden him in his new saddle, and it felt completely different to when I have attempted this in my old saddle (which was a custom built .good. saddle, but clearly not .good enough. for this horse!) The difference is in how Cooper feels when I step up, instead of feeling bracey and tense, he has for the first time felt relaxed whilst wearing a saddle . which has been a major obstacle in our horsemanship progress together. Of course, his emotional and mental development has been the most important part of all this, no saddle was ever going to fix that, but adding the .physical. benefit of a comfortable saddle was an important piece of his puzzle! And it has meant I can now go forward with everything else, without undoing our .relationship building. progress.

Now all I have to do is keep my FUSION locked up from my husband and daughter, who are keen to steal it off me! Get your own!

Chris Corbidge

3 * Parelli Professional

AUSTRALIA

WOW!!!!!

Where does one start with trying to descibe how fabulous the Fusion is and what it does for the
horse and rider. Even though Time is just starting under saddle, the Fusion
(and Pat and Linda's program) benefits are already evident:

Time wanting to be saddled, asking to be ridden and SO willing!
What it does for the rider is just phenominal: puts you right "there" and keeps you there and oh so comfy.

Time is a draft cross, and there were many, many concerns about the saddle fitting but with the Parelli info and help,
those concerns were soon laid to rest. Parelli Collection (Art, Letitia, Cammy, John) standing totally behind what they and Pat and Linda truly believe in... and if thesaddle did not fit, send it back no harm no foul. There are certainly not
many gaurantees like that around anymore but there sure is with Parelli Collection .

Needless to say it certainly did not go back but it sure was an awesome reassurance knowing that it could if it needed to. Tim and Time (Percheron Draft Cross)

Regarding our English Fluidity saddles:

I would like to share an exciting experience I had this past Friday. Fran (Darkhorse) drove over to Green Bay for a visit and brought a little surprise with --- her Fluidity Saddle!!

Charmer got to try it on (her first time in an English saddle and out of all saddles it had to be the Fluidity!) And .. I got to ride in it! What a ride it was.. It actually left me speechless.. it felt like I was sitting in a lazy boy rocking chair. It put you exactly on your balance point and amazingly kept you locked in place. I have only ridden in an English saddle a handful of times and from what I remember, I've always felt "out there" and one wrong move would send me flying off. Not the case with this saddle! This time I felt more secure than any western saddle I've ever ridden in. I've always thought that the Fluidity saddle felt even more comfortable than the Natural Performer at the tour stops.. well, you should feel it on a horse! Even more comfortable! Amazing! After riding my horse in the Fluidity, I would consider buying one someday.

Now, I am a graphic designer and I know how easy it is to alter photos to make them look "better" to sell a product. So when I see before and after shots in magazines.. I kinda roll my eyes and say "yeah, but.."

Here is the proof!! The pictures below are not altered! I promise!

This picture is the "before" picture from October 2007

And here is the "after" picture.. taken this past Friday in the Fluidity Saddle

Just look how round and .collected. she looks.. her belly, her neck, her back, her hind quarters, how uphill! .. look how far her hind leg is reaching under her. Cool huh!

Jokingly I said.. if I ever need to sell her, i would use this "after" picture for the ad.. She looks like a Million bucks!

Charm - 7 year old Paint Mare
L3 Student

Hi!
I've had my fluidity saddle for a few months now and I did want to get back to you and let you know how pleased I am with the results!

But before I get to the actual feedback, let me give you a little background on my formerly saddle challenged horse Jamie.....

Jamie is a 16HH thoroughbred with some major conformational issues - he has a fairly significant hunter's bump, is built downhill, has rounded shoulders, and has quite a bit of wasting area behind the withers on both sides. When I first bought him about 5 years ago, I got rid of my previous saddle because I did not think it fit him well and bought a Pessoa AO saddle based on the recommendation of my vet and my eventing instructor. At the time he was pretty undermuscled so the saddle worked for a while. I started getting suspicious though that we had saddle issues after he started bulking up a bit. He just didn't seem to be moving very fluidly and cantering was really difficult for him. I rechecked with my vet who looked at him in his stall with the saddle on and said it was fine. I also had a saddle fitter come by to see if there were any problems - also negative.

To add to his difficulties - he was also diagnosed around this time with a muscular disease called EPSM that makes it difficult to determine if he's stiff because of muscle problems or if the saddle is causing it. So his cantering got worse and worse - it felt like I was cantering into a very strong head wind and getting nowhere. I had started studying Parelli arounnd this time and noticed that asking him to move sideways under saddle was also difficult. But again, I didn't know if it was his disorder or if it was his saddle that was causing the problem. I tried several other saddles on him with no improvement - they were either too wide in the front and slid down behind his shoulderblades because of his downhill build, or they were too narrow and pinched his back.

At this point, I have to thank Linda Parelli for the great information she started putting out a year or so back regarding saddle fit. After watching some of the DVD's on the subject and reading some of her articles - I said aha! That's my horse!! I immediately went out and bought a Theraflex pad. If I couldn't have a saddle that fit, at least I could improve the situation somewhat. And it did - it got the saddle off my horse's shoulderblades and I actually saw improvement in the wasted area behind his withers. But I knew the pad was limited - I still had an issue with saddle fit but no conventional saddle seemed to work for us.

Then your fluidity saddle came out. I was immediately interested because of two eng