About Tack wins Innovation Award for New Saddle Technology

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:23:44 +0000

Well, it's been a while since I last posted - and now I can tell you why! We've been working hard behind the scenes to develop a new saddle technology.

As part of this process, we have spent several years researching existing saddle designs, trying to work out what need each design is attempting to meet. We have immersed ourselves in both treed and treeless saddle designs, and listening (if lurking on equine forums can count as listening!) to arguments for and against these existing designs.

There is a small, but growing body of excellent, scientific research relating to the equine back, saddle design, fit, and function, and these have helped to shape the goals for our own saddle technology. For example - did you know that the horse has recently been found to be capable of bending more than 60% through the thoracic spine (the bit that roughly runs from the withers to the loins)? Or that sustained pressure greater than 4psi has been shown to impede blood flow, potentially leading to soft tissue damage? Or that a direct correlation has been established between saddle pressure and stride length? As peak saddle pressures rise, a measurable reduction in stride length is generally seen.

Our team has come up with two key requirements for our saddle technology.

1. To be flexible enough to accommodate the horse's full natural range of motion, without restriction.

2. To evenly distribute the load of the rider over the length of the saddle, even when jumping, or riding over undulating ground.

Even more importantly, we've developed a saddle technology that is capable of meeting both of the above requirements, and are now involved in testing practical models to ensure that the solution we've developed is at the same time functional, rideable (yes, riders are important too!), and also kind on the eye.

We entered in the John Logie Baird Innovation Awards in December, made it through to the Regional Panel Interviews, then to the Final Panel Interviews - and we were absolutely chuffed to win our category at the Gala Awards Dinner on March 12th (the pic below was taken on the awards night with Alan Suttie from our design company Fearsomengine). We didn't get to give an acceptance speech on the night - so I've added a few thank you's at the bottom of this post ....

I'll work on an article that summarises our main findings relating to existing saddle designs, and post the link here once it's done - hopefully some of you find it useful. We're very interested in working out exactly what riders are looking for in a saddle, so please feel free to get in touch or leave a comment with your thoughts on saddles, saddle fitting, treed vs treeless and the like.

It's been a fantastically interesting journey so far, with more discoveries still to come, I am sure!

____

Many thanks to our category sponsors EDTC for their support, and the funding for our pre-feasibility study and benchmarking exercise.

Thanks to NESTA and more specifically Starter for 6, for their support and assistance last year, and also for the funding for phase 1a and 1b of this project.

Thanks to John Hughes, a fantastic advisor who works via Business Gateway and the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.

Thanks to Louise Arnold and the team at Interface, who did a great job in finding an appropriate Equine Orthopaedic specialist for us to work with.

Huge thanks to Brian Verth and the team at ERI, for their support in our complex project - which will hopefully lead in to further research in conjuction with Edinburgh University and the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.

Thanks to Alan Garratt from ICASS for his support and advice.

Big thanks to Fearsomengine for their assistance with concept generation and testing.

Many thanks to Dr Nancy Nicholson, whose blog and research into equine biomechanics provided an excellent introduction to the requirements of the saddled horse. You can read her blog here, or purchase her book Biomechanical Riding and Dressage here.

And finally - thanks to the GO Group, organisers of the John Logie Baird Awards!

BETA - lookout world, here we come!

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:17:02 +0000

We made the 5 hour drive to Birmingham this week to attend the British Equestrian Trade Association fair – and good thing we did. Technically it was a little early for us, as we don’t even start trading properly for another month or two! We had a couple of our most interesting products (due for launch spring / summer) on display, and there was a phenomenal amount of interest, especially in the Mosquito Magnet and the Fly Visor.

Admittedly, the Mosquito Magnet is pretty cool (I have got myself one for spring / summer), it covers an area of around one acre, and helps to keep the local midge and mosquito population to a bare minimum!

The Fly Visor is shaping up to be the product to beat this summer. It got loads of comments on the amount of eye clearance it gives the horse, and the amount of protection it gives the underside of the jaw. Some of the biggest mags have picked up on it, and are featuring it in their upcoming editorials. Keep an eye out for the Fly Visor (and our fluffy Spanish model - Revo) in Your Horse, Eventing, Just Dressage and Horse Scene over the coming months!

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About Tack wins Innovation Award for New Saddle Technology

BETA - lookout world, here we come!