I have the Ansur!

Blog reprinted courstesy of Shannon Mazourek:

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

I have the Ansur!
                            And it is beautiful!
















I received it last Saturday and have been holding off on posting about it so I could give an educated opinion. So far my educated opinion is that I love it. It's very comfortable for me (though it did take a few rides for my legs to get used to being under me instead of in front of me) and best of all Coriander seems to be pretty happy with it. Our mutual communication is clear as a bell in this saddle too, he has been super responsive to my tiniest signals, especially at the halt: I exhale and start to sit and he's already stopping. It's also easier for me to feel my diagonals, something I've always had a hard time with.

We had a lovely experience with it last week when I put the Ansur on him and ponied Gwen with one of the Crosbys. I wanted her to get some more dynamic movement with a saddle on so we did more trotting and even tried a canter. There I was on Coriander who had a lovely rocking-horse canter on the buckle and Gwen was cantering away right next to us. It was wonderful.

I'll just ignore that he was a bit pitchy last night, though it did give us a chance to work on halt/trot transitions going downhill. If he's going to buck at the canter then by golly he's going to work until he doesn't feel like bucking anymore. Don't feel bad for him, he was mad at me for not going where he wanted and it was a lot cooler than the last time I rode so he was feeling uppity. It was just one more test for the saddle- which stayed in place through it all.

I am having issues with my girth, I can't seem to get it tight enough. It doesn't have any elastic and has lots of loops to keep the flaps down, that makes it a little hard for me to tighten it adequately from the ground and I can't do it at all from the saddle. I've reached down mid-ride and found the girth that was tight when I got on hanging loosely under his belly. Shockingly the saddle still felt stable with only a little slippage. Still, I've just ordered another girth so that problem should be fixed next week. (Ed. note: Ansur recommends the equalizer dressage girth and has them available...call 800-987-1545)

Gwen's worn it too, though I haven't gotten on her yet. I tacked her up with it last night, brought her to the mounting block and asked for neck flexions. Then I leaned over the saddle a bit, slapped it and moved the stirrups around. She was feeling a bit spooky and I was feeling a lot chicken so I didn't swing a leg over. My timeline for that is sometime in the next two weeks, when she's feeling soft and I'm feeling confident it will happen. Or I'll stock up on Valium, whichever comes first.

So far so good, I'm hoping for many years of happiness with this saddle!

Ramblings courtesy of smazourek at 1:12 PM 19 Thoughts

Shannon Mazourek's Blog on "Why I bought an Ansur"

Reprinted with permission from Shannon Mazourek:

Thursday, April 7, 2011


Why 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!

Choosing a girth

Samples of acceptable girths for the Ansür Saddle in order of preference:

1. Girths without elastic.

2. Equilizer girths.

3. Girths with elastic in the middle and not on the ends.

4. Girths with elastic only on one side.

5. Girths with elastic on both ends-one side sewn so that the elastic is not stretchy.
.

This particular girth is the Professional Choice and it must be pulled apart into its two halves--they Velcro together). When they are separate, sew through the 2” black strips and the Velcro backing so there is no longer any way to stretch one side of the girth. Then the two pieces are simply stuck back together again. (This separation is how the you are supposed to clean the girth after riding. that way you don’t have to get the whole top side with buckles, elastic, etc. wet.) Goes without saying that the “sewn up” side is then used on the off side.

Test: You, the rider, puts on a leather belt to hold up your pants or as a fashion accessory. So, think about it. Do you crank it as tight as you can get it? And after you walk around a few minutes do you tighten it some more? How would that feel to you if you then had to perform athletic feats with your belt on as tight as it can be pulled? How do you think your horse feels about his girth? And we wonder why they get “cranky” at girthing time.

OK, so we need to have it snug so we can mount and not pull the saddle off to the side. Snug, but not tight is the operative term. There are riders who can mount a large horse from the ground without a girth and there are riders who have trouble getting on a small horse and can dislodge even treed saddles. Most riders are somewhere in the middle between those extremes and having the girth to stabilize the saddle when mounting is a comforting thing.

Another test: Place your fingers under the front of the saddle and have someone else tighten the girth until you say stop! That hurts! By this time your horse is rolling his eyes at how his beloved rider has managed to get their fingers stuck under his saddle. This may help you understand what “too tight” feels like.

Check to see if you can slide your fingers under the saddle in several areas at the front. If it is easy to slip your fingers under the saddle, you may tighten the girth one more hole and check again until you can get your fingers under the saddle but it’s not as easy. This is most likely tight enough. The horse needs to breathe!

If you tighten the girth too much, you will cause the saddle pad to tighten on the withers, so be careful to watch that it stays in the gullet. Those center and edge seams can cause pain. Over-tightening the girth will also change the balance of the saddle’s seat. Check that once more.

You say, so what’s wrong with my double-sided elastic girth? The rider tends to over-tighten these stretchy girths just because it’s easier and they can. Most riders tighten them so much that they aren’t stretchy anymore…which in turn stretches out the elastic and the rider tightens it once again. When the horse trots, jogs, gallops or canters, that stretchy girth acts like a bungee cord allowing the saddle to bounce up and snapping it back down. The Ansur saddles are designed to sit in contact with the horse’s back at all movements and gaits.

Try another test. Put your girth on at light to moderate adjustment—not flopping but a bit too loose for you to mount. Lunge the horse briefly at walk, trot and canter and observe how the saddle sits, moves with the horse and magically doesn’t slide off.

So the bottom line is: sit level in the middle of the horse and be safe without over tightening your girth. Then both horse and rider can enjoy the ride!

Ansur debuts new trail saddles at the 2009 Equine Affaire, Springfield, MA

Here is...the Endeavor

The 2 new Trail/Endurance models, one english-style named the Endeavor and one western-style named the Enduro are to debut soon at the 2009 Equine Affaire, MA, on 12-15 November 2009.

All the Ansur saddle models including dressage, hunter/jumper, eventing, pleasure and western of can be seen, touched, and sat-on in the Better Living Building at the Big E grounds in Springfield, MA.

If you have a horse on the grounds, you are welcome to have a test ride on your horse. Just stop by the booth and sign up.

The Endeavor is sure inspire riders around the globe who enjoy english-style saddles to go out and have fun with their horses. This new saddle can provide pain-free comfort to horse and rider while out riding the trails, be it competitively, long or short distance, endurance or purely a pleasure ride.

This is truly a versatile trail/endurance saddle with amazing rider support. The base price of the plain Endeavor with a pair of front D rings, without stirrups and leathers is $3195.

You can have tons of D-rings and strings to hang on everything imaginable you want to carry as well as the kitchen sink.

There are many options to choose from including a choice of leather color: chestnut  and dark brown  as well as black. Suede seats are also a nice option for a even more secure ride.

The choice of normal english stirrup leathers, wide straps for platform stirrups or fenders should cover everyone's individual preference.

If you want custom or a bit of bling...just ask.

The photo below is Brent, Ansur's master saddle maker out doing extensive test riding with the Endeavor to evaluate firsthand the comfort for horse and rider.

Kudos for the Excel

The Ultimate Dressage Ride

See, touch, feel, sit-on,

test ride the Ansür Excel

Booth 732-733

Better Living Building

2009 Equine Affaire

Springfield, MA

November 12-15

"I love the Excel... and so do my horses. i have tried it on my three, which are a national show horse with a broad back, a lipizzan, and a holsteiner... the holsteiner is very particular and he was just wonderful in it. (he is the one who so far has only liked your Classic model)....

I love that you have given it just enough structure to feel like a dressage saddle to the rider (in the good way) but it still seems to feel flexible to the horse. I do miss the absolute closeness the the classic gives it, but i think as a discipline-specific saddle you have really made a breakthrough! "   ~Karen Rohlf, FL

Gale Wolfe, NY, rides her Friesians in the Excel and she said:  "it's the BEST SADDLE THAT I'VE EVER RIDDEN IN!"

"The Ansur Excel is PERFECT for the Friesians. Four Friesians at my barn attest to it. I'll make one more comment.... the photos on the Ansur website do NOT do the saddle justice.

It really looks JUST like a regular dressage saddle. I show it to people and they can not believe that it is treeless. It's a GREAT saddle.

And... it fits ALL my horses, and needs no ADJUSTMENTS. I use no special pads and just plop it on any of my horses and GO!

Gale is featured as the October "Rider of the Month" on Ansur's home page.

I love my Excel! I brought my Amigo with me up to Canada to test-ride Pepper, my Rheinlander-cross Gelding, and he’s been wearing an Ansür every since. But when the brand-new Excel arrived for a test-ride, Pepper made it clear that we needed one immediately – the additional support for the rider provided me with increased confidence and a longer leg, and Pepper moves more forward with more freedom and fluidity – making us a more confident and fluid pair overall.
Thank you.      ~Vicki K. and Pepper, VA

Trainer Marcy Armstrong, Alberta Canada
"I fould the new EXCEL at Ansur. I didn't get to try it: I asked some good questions and sounded like it had what I needed. A Twist, feel like a real dressage saddle (not a bareback pad) Fits every horse, flexible, not rigid, looks good... so I got it that day.

17 H happy horse- or 1500# monster! At one clinic ( I knew I needed help!) he refused to go, he backed into walls, and he broke a $400 mirror. This was in his custom made, custom fitted saddles. This horse had historically overbent, curled behind the contact like he gave up on me. And therefore not forward. I know many times he was stuck between a rock and a hard place- me urging him to get more "in front of me" and him restricted by the wood and spring-steel parts of solid saddles. The horse feels like One Piece- not several that you manage to tape all together. Fix this, fix that, oh this again. I think the treeless lets it all flow freely!  ~Marcy Armstrong, Canada