CAL Equestrian

🤩🎉 I'm excited to announce that Stubben's Portos Elite and Phoenix Elite will soon be available in Romania!

🎉 when pre-ordered, these saddles will be fully customizable!!

🎁 Pre-ordered will receive 1️⃣ YEAR of free saddle fit as well as a 🆓 Stubben gift

😎 Portos Elite is the DREAM amateur saddle! With a slightly deeper seat, the perfect amount of knee block and sticky leather- the saddle enables you to hold a beautiful position

😍 Phoenix Elite, my personal favorite, has a flatter seat, a slight knee block that helps, but doesn't get in the way of, your jumping position!

‼️QUALITY, QUALITY, QUALITY ‼️

😎😎Stubben saddles are the perfect saddle for you and your athlete!

✋🏼Let's talk and see how we can get you in a customized Stubben!

🥱🥸🧠 bit of a boring post BUT super important!

☝🏽Comparison Time!
Again, we’re not comparing as ‘good’ saddle vs. ‘bad’ saddle but rather exposing the difference in jump saddle styles and then deciding which is a better fit for YOUR horses body!

🤜🏼 Let’s get started! 🤜🏼

💀🍽HEADPLATE:
🧦Close Contact: V headplate made to sit close to the withers.
🥾Stubben: U headplate to give room to the withers
📍PANEL PLACEMENTy:
🧦Close Contact: Attached high and made to sit onto the Trapezius muscle so the saddle can be CC
🥾Stubben: Dropped panels to allow the Trapezius muscle to not carry any weight or have pressure
📏TREE POINT LENGTH:
🧦Close Contact: SHORT! Places saddle/rider weight onto the Traps.
🥾Stubben: Different size options/long T.P. Lengths to cover the Traps and to reach onto the Latissimus muscle. *Horses with withers will love you for this!!*
☁️PANEL THICKNESS:
🧦Close Contact: Thin, foam panels. Non-conforming to horses back
🥾Stubben: Wool panels require more- which causes the saddle to sit higher off the horse, but this material allows the panels to conform to each individual horses back.
👗PANEL SHAPE:
🧦Close Contact: Dip to allow rider to have a closer feel of the leg. *The purpose of the panel is to distribute rider weight- you reduce the surface area, then the weight of the rider creates pressure points*
🥾Stubben: Wider panels which allow rider weight to be distributed more evenly. Although this “feel” might disturb you, your horse will truly thank you.
🐮🐄LEATHER:
🧦Close Contact: Thin, soft leather to feel like a “second skin” but buckles/metal pieces often times create pressure points/discomfort for horse.
🥾Stubben: Thicker/but yet still soft leather is used to protect the horse from buckles and girth.

🤔❓Now we ask ourselves, is the feeling of “close contact” more important than horse comfort?
We also have to consider rigid tree and a Stubben’s flexible tree that is allowing the horse to have an engaged back.

🥰🐎🐴❤️Let us be equestrians that look at our horses anatomy and their behavior to show us which saddle fits. I will choose a happy horse over a pretty saddle any day.

👢let's talk tall boots and brands

❓The question we're trying to answer is: does every saddle brand fit every type of horse?

😫I know I'm not alone in the struggle of finding tall boots that fit properly. We've all gone through the challenge of finding the brand that fits us... usually through purchasing boots that did not fit.

🦶Fun fact: I have short, fat feet.

🚫 Because I bought boots from a brand that makes a more narrow fit- my foot eventually destroyed the boot. I bought the boot because I liked the brand, but the brand was not a good fit for me.

🙌🏽As you can see with my new boots, it is a brand that not only fits my foot in shoe size but also in width. I had to change the brand of boot in order to find ones that fit me properly.

‼️Not every brand is going to fit you‼️
‼️Not every brand is going to fit your horse‼️

🙌🏽It's the exact same with saddle fitting and knowing which brands fit your horses

❗️A saddle with short tree points will never fit a horse with high withers.

❗️A saddle with full, traditional panels will not fit a horse with a short back(they'll need an upswept panel)

❗️An uphill horse will probably need gussets added to make the saddle balanced.

🛑 don't buy a saddle simply because you like the brand- buy a saddle because it is what fits your horse!

In the last 24 hours my account has doubled in followers- so, I thought to post a short bio!

Chase Alexander Land- CAL
'cal' in Romanian is the word for 'horse' but it's also my initials. I truly believe God destined me to live this life.

I am a 29 yo American who has the privilege of living in Romania for over 5 years now. Pictured with me is my trusty pup, Toby. Wherever I go, he goes.

My passion for horses started as a young child and never left me. But I was never the one that just enjoyed riding- I am a learner. I thrive off of becoming a better rider, a better training(horse and student) and most recently, a better saddle fitter.

I've always respected the horse and put them above the sport. I want to see my horses healthy and happy and a lot of that starts with something so incredibly neglected in every equestrian discipline- correct saddle fit!

Despite the struggles of being an expat and creating a life and horse business in a foreign country- I'm excited to continue this journey of molding my students into true horsemen and horsewomen as well as developing saddle fitting and seeing more horses healthy and happy!

Thanks for joining!