A frame for equestrian saddle including a frame body provided with at least one opening shaped corresponding at least partially to at least one of an inguinal and/or ischiatic and/or sacrococcygeal region of the user, wherein the opening is adapted to receive a respective shock-absorbing insert. Specifically, the shock-absorbing insert includes a container provided with one or more side walls and with a bottom wall joined to each other defining an open base opposite to the bottom wall, and at least one damping element adapted to be received in the container on the bottom wall, wherein the bottom wall is made with a first elastically deformable material configured to dampen impacts and/or vibrations, and the damping element is made at least partially with a second at least partially elastically deformable material configured to dampen impacts and/or vibrations.

A saddle for horse riding includes a supporting frame associated with at least one covering body designed to define a seat for a user, the supporting frame having a front region, which has a pommel, and a rear region, which has a cantle, the supporting frame is provided with connecting elements configured for connection between the front region and the rear region that are adapted to allow a rotation about an oscillation axis, which in use is substantially vertical, of the rear region with respect to the front region.

A cassette to be inserted in a saddle pad pocket, having one or more multiple aligned rigid elements that independently teeter totter about a fulcrum under a conventional saddle, creating an instantly morphing interface to match the dynamic shape of the horse’s back in order to better distribute the weight of a rider and reduce peak pressures as the horse moves.

A locking headplate for an adjustable saddle tree includes opposed, hingedly connected plates for securing to a saddle tree head portion and a rotatable displacing element for displacing the hingedly connected plates inwardly or outwardly, wherein the rotatable displacing element assists in retaining the hingedly connected plates in a set spaced-apart configuration when not being rotated. The locking headplate further includes at least one supplemental locking mechanism for selectively preventing rotation of the rotatable displacing element. The locking headplate further includes a supplemental motion restrictor for restricting outward motion of the opposed hingedly connected plates to a desired range of motion. Saddle trees and saddles incorporating the locking headplate are provided.

Multiple flex units are used to provide predetermined focused areas of flex in a substrate, such as an equine saddle tree, Apertures are placed on the underside and filled with either a combination of stopple and slimy or slurry alone, each forming a flex unit. The placement, dimensions and fill of the flex unit enable a predetermined focused area of flex to be established within the specific area. The slurry is a mixture of carbon fibers and epoxy and the stopples are a mixture of substrate and epoxy to form hard stopples, a mixture of composite and flexible epoxy to form more flexible stopples; or a combination hard and flexible mixture in a stopples. The shape, periphery, diameter and depth each of the apertures and hardness, size and: category of the stopples as well as location of placement determines the area, degree and direction of the flex.

The invention relates to a saddle tree for a riding saddle and to a riding saddle having such a saddle tree. The saddle tree according to the invention comprises a saddle tree structure extending in the longitudinal direction from a pommel to a cantle, the upper side of the saddle tree structure forming a seat for a rider and the seat defining a contact area for the rider's sit bones. In the area between the contact area for the sit bones and the cantle, the saddle tree structure has a pivot axis transverse to the longitudinal direction, about which the cantle, starting from a zero position with respect to the pommel specified by a stop, can pivot towards the upper side. The riding saddle according to the invention is based on saddle tree of this kind.

A saddle tree for a riding saddle has rear, middle, and front sections. The saddle tree has at least two flat panels projecting from the rear through the middle into the front section, as well as a frame element structure having at least one rear bridge element interconnecting the two panels in the rear section, and a front bridge element interconnecting the two panels in the front section. The connection of the panels via the rear bridge element is largely designed to be rigid. The panels in the rear section are substantially and relatively immovable. The connection of the panels via the front bridge element is movable so that the panels in the region of the front section and optionally also in the middle section can be deflected by bending and/or torsion out of a rest position defined with respect to the region of the panels in the rear section.

A comfort bridge for use with an English saddle. The bridge is formed of sole bend leather of a particular size, shape, and thickness positioned between a tree point and the back of the saddle tree. The bridge is placed on each side of the saddle and either placed within a panel or attached thereto. The bridge increases the structural support area by carrying the rider's weight over a larger area under the rider's leg. Each bridge is tapered around the edges to provide a smooth connection to the saddle panel, and provide for the comfort of the rider by avoiding the large material stuffing mass that has been traditionally used in the saddle panels of early designs.

A frame for an equestrian saddle includes a frame body provided with at least one opening shaped corresponding at least partially to an inguinal and/or ischiatic and/or sacrococcygeal region of a user. Each opening contains a shock-absorbing insert. The shock-absorbing insert includes a container provided with (i) one or more side walls and (ii) a bottom wall joined to the one or more side walls. The container defines an open top opposite to the bottom wall. At least one damping element is in the container on the bottom wall. The bottom wall is made with a first elastically deformable material, and the at least one damping element is made at least partially with a second at least partially elastically deformable material.

A horse riding saddle includes a saddle tree disposed in a cover, the saddle tree including an arch that forms a pommel. The saddle includes at least one sensor positioned in the saddle, close to the pommel, and connected to the saddle tree by a thorough connection under the arch of the saddle-tree, in a longitudinal and vertical plane (PMV) of the saddle-tree.