For Lina Åkerlind, professional saddle maker and saddle fitter at Mustang Saddlery, the horse's movement pattern and emotional expressions are crucial indications of how well a saddle fits and, not least, of what the horse itself thinks of it.

Under the saddle, she likes to put a Back on Track saddle pad, because of its unique shape - and the Welltex®️ effect.

Saddle fitting - a craft and an art form

Mustang Saddlery is beautifully located in the Uppland countryside outside Rosersberg, halfway between Uppsala and Stockholm. Anyone who wants to invest in a high-quality saddle comes here - and carefully tries it out, so that the saddle you buy is really perfectly adapted to both horse and rider.

Lina Åkerlind is a saddler by trade and has extensive knowledge of the parts of the saddle and the properties of the materials used. Over time, she has also developed a strong sense of the horse's biomechanics; the structure of the skeleton, the work of the muscles and how the parts of the body should be positioned in relation to each other. This has given her something of an artist's eye for form, balance and movement.

"The horse has to move during a saddle fitting," she says. It is not enough to put a suitable saddle on a stationary horse.” It's only when the horse is working that Lina can determine what the saddle does for the horse - and what it does for the horse and rider together.

During the process, the horse also has the opportunity to express its opinion. If the horse is unhappy with a saddle, it may show this in movement patterns and body language, or - even more obviously - through angry tail whipping and bad temper.

The human-horse interface

It is in the saddle that human and horse come together and ideally become a harmonious unit. A perfect saddle must be designed to bring out the best in both horse and rider.

First of all, its internal structure, the saddle tree, must be specifically adapted to the horse's anatomy and closely follow the contour of the back. In addition, all parts of the saddle must rest against the horse's body in a way that favours a correct movement pattern. Muscles and joints must be able to move freely without the saddle restricting, pressing, pinching or chafing.

An ill-fitting saddle can cause incorrect posture or oblique loading and cause back pain for both human and horse. Lina has seen many people suddenly realise what a good saddle can do. In fact, a properly designed and perfectly fitted saddle can change a horse's body in a short period of time - which in turn, of course, can mean that the saddle will soon need to be adjusted or replaced (this is the motive behind Mustang Saddlery's follow-up checks and replacement guarantee).

The shape of the saddle tree is crucial

The most important thing is the shape of the saddle tree, says Lina. She uses saddle trees made of wood, because it is a strong, suitably elastic material that makes it easy to mould. The goal is broad pressure distribution, protection for the delicate dorsal spinous processes and a saddle that stays in the ergonomically correct position.

She stuffs the bosses with wool from Jacob’s sheep - an ancient, rare variety with black and white wool and four horns. The reason for this somewhat inconvenient choice of material is that this particular wool has proved particularly suitable for stuffing saddles. The wool holds its shape with just the right amount of firmness, does not become compressed and does not form lumps - a more than good reason to breed Jacob's sheep.

What makes a really good saddle pad?

Lina Åkerlind particularly appreciates the shape of Back on Track's saddle pads. They are cut high in the front, which lifts it over the withers and leaves the sensitive area free from pressure. This gives a neat, tailored look that makes our saddle pads easy to recognise. But above all, the shape is anatomically adapted to the horse, giving it full freedom of movement with less risk of chafing.

Next to the horse's skin there is always a textile material containing our Welltex®️ technology. In the saddle pads, this usually consists of Power Waffle - the material that provides the most powerful reflection of infrared energy (FIR). Infrared energy is well known for its therapeutic effect that can help increase blood flow in the muscles, joints and tissues of the back.

Our saddle pads all reflect therapeutic FIR

The Welltex®️ technology means that minerals in the fabric's thread reflect the energy generated by body heat, without retaining heat or moisture. At the same time, the functional materials in our saddle pads are highly breathable and wick moisture and sweat away from the horse's back.

This is especially true of our Airflow Collection, which consists of cool, airy materials that allow air to circulate.

Back on Track saddle pads are designed to give the horse the very best in function, effect and comfort. They are also designed to fit perfectly under a handcrafted and carefully fitted saddle.