Westernaires go global



UK ladies enjoy riding their Westernaires

 Here is what riders from the UK have to say:

Amanda: "The saddle is great. Pony going well in it. No more pics yet as I am on own when I ride, so haveing to wait unitl someone is here. Then you can say, hey look, even 13hh Fell ponies wear then too !

Also will hopefully be putting in another order int next year once the farm is sold so my other pony can have her own saddle too .Its great to ride with no back or hip pain!!"

Annie: "Just to let you know that my saddle has arrived! I am thrilled with it, it fits Tiff beautifully and is so comfortable to ride in. Well worth waiting for!!"

Mandy: My first ride on Saturday ... Sunny was great, we met numerous life threatening obstacles (cows, squirrels, sheep, round bales and a discarded fridge). He shied at a few things and scooted forwards but nothing dire. I felt quite secure in the saddle when he shied, and the stirrups caused no pressure at all thanks to your tips on twisting a broom handle.

Val writes: I just LOVE these saddles...all the different styles....I am now saving for number 6!!!! None of my horses will ever be asked to go in anything else.


Annie, on the black and white cob, was too nervous to ride last year and now looks like she was born on the horse. Her Westernaire is particularly lovely. I think they all look better for use and her has lots of hours on it......All were delighted with their saddles, none more so than me.....

Shannon Mazourek: Why I bought an Ansur

Reprinted with permission from Shannon Mazourek:


Thursday, April 7, 2011Why I bought an Ansur

I should have my Crossover in 13 weeks, that would be this saddle that I posted a few weeks ago. It's... um... *quite the investment* but I knew after I tested it out that it would be worth it.



Mine will look like this but in brown



 I'm fortunate that there's a distributor less than an hour away from me with a large collection of Ansur saddles, not to mention the assortment of Ansur saddles owned by all the people who board with her.

When I arrived there were two boarders riding in the ring, one riding dressage on a spirited freisan and one riding hunt seat on a cremello quarter-horse type. Both were riding in Ansurs. The woman on the friesan came by and spoke to me for a few minutes, telling me all about her saddle quest. She went through 4 different custom made saddles, one of them a Schleese, before she tried the Ansur. Now she rides in the Ansur exclusively and has a bunch of really expensive custom-made treed saddles gathering dust.

I then got the chance to inspect one of the saddles. I was quite impressed, for one thing the leather was thick yet supple, it had a very substantial feel.While I was poking and prodding away at it, the distributor came over and said, "watch this." She then grabbed the saddle and bent the pommel towards the cantle. I have to admit I was a little shocked, I knew it was treeless but for some reason I wasn't expecting that. It makes sense that the saddle should bend like that though, doesn't it? Everyone aims to get a horse to move with the back up, shouldn't the saddle allow that movement?

We then went down the barn and she told me about the histories of her horses and what a difference the saddles made for them, from burnt out western pleasure horses to hunters with old injuries to ponies that had been given away because they were so awful to ride. Rachel Fleszar's horses are in her barn, remember that video? She's third in the nation now for junior pony jumpers- and she rides in an Ansur.


She got out an older school horse for me to try it out on, an appaloosa with no spots that beginners regularly ride. He looked like a pleasant, everyday sort of horse that was a little sleepy. She popped her saddle on his back and we went into the ring. I slid onboard and noticed immediately how much legs naturally fell underneath me, I didn't have any feeling of fighting for my balance like I sometimes have in my ancient Crosby. Then we walked off, the horse immediately went into a swinging forward rhythm with no hint of sluggishness. Then I asked him to trot, I was initially posting, so the distributor suggested I try sitting. All was well until we came to the long side and that horse opened up! I used to think I could sit to the trot, now I know I can't. That horse was TROTTING and I was bouncing around hopelessly on his back like a rag doll. THAT is what my dressage trainer is talking about when she says forward- I get it now! (I was also wondering how in the heck beginners stay on that trot.) You know what? While I being astounded by the way that horse moved, I completely forgot about the saddle. Which is a good thing, if it was uncomfortable there wouldn't have been any way I could have forgotten it.

An aside- I realized at this time just how many horses I've ridden that don't go forward. I've never ridden a trot like that in a ring before. The biggest trot I've ever ridden was years ago on Radal during a competitive trail ride when he really wanted to move; I couldn't even post to that, I just stood in the stirrups. Coriander will move out if we're on the trail and he's got competition. But I've never ridden a lesson horse that moved like that appy with the Ansur.

After my test ride I asked to see her lesson saddles, which are all Ansurs, I wanted to see how these saddles hold up to hard use. Every single one of them looked just as good as her personal saddle. There was no wearing on the leather, no cracking, no warping. They looked great. I even asked her to show me her oldest Ansur, which just happened to be the 201st saddle they ever made, and it looked just as good as her newer saddles- and she'd bought it used!

I was sold, and I bought one the next day (Which just happened to be the day before they had to raise prices 4.5%, phew!). This might have been a crazy decision since I haven't tried it on Coriander, but in preparation for my test ride I took him out with the bareback pad and really compared how he went in that versus my Crosby. I noticed that he's much more willing to stride out with the bareback pad. Hmm...

There's also the fact that he has zip-zero topline right now. Any treed saddle that I bought to fit his back now wouldn't fit once he builds some muscle. But check out the underside of the saddle I bought:


The gullet is completely flexible, that saddle would lie flat if you put it on the floor with the flaps out. The flexibility in the gullet means that the saddle should easily accommodate any muscle gains in his back.

Theoretically this saddle should fit every horse I put it on and I should never have to get it restuffed or reshaped to fit a changing back. Plus it should last until I'm too old to ride anymore. If my new saddle lives up to that, then it will be more than worth the purchase price.

(But if he hates it I have 7 days to send the saddle back. I'm really hoping he likes it.)

*BTW- I don't work for Ansur and they aren't giving me anything for free, I was just really impressed.

Posted by smazourek at 12:45 PM

Ansur Saddlery Northwest, LLC debuts the Crossover



See it at the Equine Affaire in Pomona, CA

3-6 February 2011

Here it is the...

The Ansur CrossOver!

The CrossOver

goes from

the dressage ring

with pain-free elegance

to the trails with comfort

and does it western style!

A light weight english saddle

for your inner

cowgirl/cowboy!

Featuring exquisite,

hand-carved

Basket weave design,

4 rear D-rings

with optional carved mini-fenders,

clips and strings.



The inevitable price increase

Ansur and Northwestern Saddle are finally having to increase the prices of saddles. They haven't done it but twice in the last 15 years and have held out until their accountants are yelling at them.

We have received notifications of price increases of 4 - 8% on nearly all the materials we use to produce Ansur saddles. Therefore, as of April 1, 2011, we are reluctantly raising all of our prices by 4.5%. Current prices will apply to all orders received by midnight March 31, 2011, PST.

In Shop Talk, The Leather Retailers' and Manufacturers' Journal, there is an article discussing the rising cost of hides trend. They quoted a news item from http://www.leatherbiz.com/ "why leather suppliers simply have little recourse but to raise prices." They go on to say that the cost of Heavy Native Steer hides have increased by over 18% and the availiblity has decreased since the grains that feed the cattle have dramatically increased. The farmer's can't afford to feed them to maturity and are sending them to slaughter at a younger age....hence thinner hides.

The structual integrity of making Ansur and Northwestern treeless saddles depends on those thicker hides. Therefore the price increases of leather and other materials used in making the saddles plus the rising costs of just doing business (salaries, insurance, etc. for employees) are inevitable. We are all experiencing this trend. Everytime I go to the mailbox, there is another announcement that a service is increasing rates. At least with Ansur/Northwestern Saddles, you get the highest quality materials and finest quality craftsmanship in the construction of your saddle....made exactly the way you want it!

NW Saddlery unveils the Enduro!

For all you trail and endurance riders who prefer a bit more saddle, here it is... the Enduro!

This is the ultimate flex-core, treeless western/aussie-style trail and endurance saddle made for total comfort for horse and rider over the long haul.

Every detail has been carefully researched and tested to ensure stability and comfort for the rider as well as pain-free comfort for your horse.

The basic Enduro comes standard with a slick fork and no horn and without mini fenders or stirrups  for $2995.

Enduro Specs:

24 ½” front to back and about 22# without mini-fenders or stirrups

Options that can be added include:

Suede Seat ($150)

1” English Leathers ($85)

                                                Mini Fenders ($350)
                                                [Shown on saddle pictured above]


                                                Endurance Stirrups ($110)
                                                [Shown on saddle pictured above]

     Regular 2” Stirrups ($65)

    
     No Stirrups

     4 ½ “ Cantle ($150)

     Horn: Slick Fork ($150)

     Horn: Swell Fork ($245)

    You can also add a bit of carving or silver  for that personal touch.

The Enduro along with the english trail/endurance saddle, the Endeavor (photos on the Ansursaddle.com blog), several Westernaires, dressage, hunter/jumper and eventing saddles can be seen, touched and sat on and even ridden on your horse if on or near the show grounds.



In 2010 Northwestern Saddlery and Ansür Saddlery will be coming to:

October 27 - 29 Equine Extravaganza, Doswell, VA

November 11-14 Equine Affaire, W. Springfield, MA

Welcome to Westernaire World!

Many riders visiting the Ansür Saddle booth at the various horse-oriented trade shows such Equine Affaire, Horse Expos, and many others, asked if Ansür Saddlery would ever build a western treeless saddle? That question came up so often that Carole and Don Weidner, owners of Ansür Saddlery decided to start researching the project. It was quite the undertaking and much research and development went in to what is now know as the "Westernaire". Since this was a new product for riders who don't ride English style saddles, a new company, Northwestern Saddlery, was formed to produce Westernaires and related saddlery.

These innovative saddles not only look like beautiful western style saddles, but are fully functional as a western saddle for all riding with the exception of roping. Since the saddles are treeless, the structure, having no rigidity that treed saddles have just won't stand up to flipping cows!

It's not only the reiners, the barrel racers and the cutting horses that appreciate a saddle that flexes and allow them to bend and move their shoulders in a non-restricted way, the trail horse and pleasure ride horses also feel the comfort and enjoy the protection of the built-in trauma layer. The trauma layer works for both horse and rider by absorbing shock. These saddles allow our horses to feel good about being ridden all day in a saddle!

If anyone is reading this blog and already has a Westernaire, you are welcome to talk about your riding experience with yours horses in their Westernaires.
Since these saddles are not restrictive like a treed saddle, it will fit any shape or size horse  from the small short backed breeds like Arabians to the really large draft breeds like Clydesdales and Shires.The Westernaire comes with a huge assortment of options to perfectly fit your needs, whims and heart's desires from the plain and simple to the bling of a fancy show saddle. First class carving is available in many styles as well as custom art for that special personalization.