Adaptive Horse Riding: Dressage Saddles

Video Transcript

"My name is Raeshell Sorensen I'm the Equestrian Program Manager here at the National Ability Center This is some of the equipment we use here. We generally like to use as much of the regular English and Western tack as possible. We like to normalize the experience as much as possible here. Here we have an example of an English dressage saddle, which we use to more of an upper level riding lesson, also a lesson that might need a little more balance challenge. We use dressage saddles for a couple of reasons. One being they have a deeper seat than a English all purpose or jumping saddle, which allows for a maybe more comfortable ride but also a more safe feeling ride.They also have a straighter leg, which allows certain riders to be able to stretch their legs a little more easily down the saddle. Again, the tack is very specific to each rider. We might use different saddles for different reasons. We do have jumping saddles that are used for different reasons. But we like to use these also because they allow for more independence, they don't have a horn like a Western saddle, they don't have big huge stirrups like a Western saddle. So this is a little more advanced and challenging people's balance or strength or different abilities as well. We also have different programs where people are learning dressage as well as going on to competitions so we have more equipment for that."