Saddles for the Spanish Riding School

[Denise]

A friend asked me if I could find out who makes the official saddles of the Spanish Riding School. Does anyone know? This is where I hope our European connections can help out!

[HorsehairBraider]

Google is your friend: Albion wins Contract

[Denise]

Thanks! I guess www does stand for World Wide Web. So if Albion just got the contract in March, who has been building them?

[Crystal]

Thanks! I guess www does stand for World Wide Web. So if Albion just got the contract in March, who has been building them?

Hi Denise-

Try this: www.spirigsaddlery.com

Crystal

[gesa]

Hello Denise,

I could not find a proof, but as far as I know Spanish Riding School runs his own saddlery. At least until Desmond O'Brian left them as master saddlemaker in 2006.

His website is: http://www.desmondobrien.de/content/view/1/3/

Or contact The Spanish riding school itself via his site. http://www.srs.at/index.php?id=353

I think Albion just made a tack collection that is inspired and sold by Spanish Riding school.

Greetings from Germany

Gesa

[Denise]

Thank you for your answers. Unfortunately, I don't know German so I can't read about Desmond O'Brian. I'll have to contact a friend of mine who can in order to decipher that site. Being unilingual is a handicap in these days of the net!

[Hilly]

Thank you for your answers. Unfortunately, I don't know German so I can't read about Desmond O'Brian. I'll have to contact a friend of mine who can in order to decipher that site. Being unilingual is a handicap in these days of the net!

Try this for German to English translation:

http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?d...TrUrl=Translate

It even translates entire web pages/sites.

[Denise]

Thanks Hilly. I'm still learning the ropes on this web thing. I now have that translation site in my favorites so it will help in future too. Interesting how saddlery becomes upholstering in translation!

[Tosch]

Some time ago Crystal published a link to spirig saddlery in the US. I went to their saddle section, had a look a the saddle built for the Vienna Lipizzaner and thought I like the seat shape. http://www.spirigsaddlery.com/html/saddles.html So today on short notice I dropped by the workshop of the spirig saddlery here in Switzerland. I had a chance to chat with Mr Spirig and to sit in the Vienna saddle and the Spanish saddle. He explained to me that both saddles as well as all the dressage saddles they build have this basic seat shape, modified in the individual saddle by the rider's measurements.

I had never sitten in a dressage saddle before. One sits in it completely different than in a western saddle and not only because the knee rolls force the legs back. In the Spanish saddle due to not having knee rolls one can sit a (tiny) bit like in a western saddle. It was a very interesting experience, hard to describe. So If you never sat in a dressage saddle but have a chance to sit in an expertly built saddle the right size for you with someone knowledgable explaining how to sit correctly, just try it out. Very interesting.

Tosch

[Kieran]

They speak English so you will be OK.

Thanks Hilly. I'm still learning the ropes on this web thing. I now have that translation site in my favorites so it will help in future too. Interesting how saddlery becomes upholstering in translation!