The Grand Prix International saddle has been designed, tried and tested by some of Irelands most successful riders. It was created by integrating the newest technology and innovations to provide the ultimate saddle for comfort, balance and performance for the horse and rider. Designed with Berney’s most premium French calf skin leather integrated into the seat, skirts and cushioned pads over the knee and thigh blocks. This gives the rider more grip that intensifies with use and that ridden in feeling from day one. Berney Bros. were able to provide the most comfort to the horse and rider by using a combination of orthopaedic memory foam, a spring tree, and wool flocked panels. The orthopaedic memory foam is embedded into the seat of the saddle and retains its spring and shock absorbency over time providing a really comfortable seat for the rider and aiding the horse by absorbing the impact of the rider’s movement.
As with all of Berney’s saddles, this saddle is made with a laminated beech wood spring tree that is strength tested to the British Safety Standard. By using a spring tree we were able to achieve added shock absorbency while keeping the saddle lightweight. We designed the tree with a higher gullet plate and cut back head to accommodate the more blood horses with more prominent withers. The third component we use to achieve the ultimate comfort and welfare for the horse is our fully leather lined panels flocked with pure new wool. The biggest advantage that this material provides against others is that it spreads the weight of impact over a bigger surface area allowing the horse full use of themselves. Pure new wool also retains its spring and shock absorbency over time and moulds to the shape of the horses back compensating for horses changing shape throughout the season. The Grand Prix Saddle range has been praised for its ‘balance’, the reason for this is that riders are able to get into a really good position in the saddle mainly because of the square cantle and knee and thigh blocks. The square cantle is a modern design that gives the rider more freedom when jumping and allows them to hold a good forward position for their jumping phases. The combination of the knee blocks with cushioned knee pads at the front and the thigh blocks at the back give the rider a definite and secure leg position. The knee blocks apply a gentle pressure above the knee to aid and support the rider in a more forward seat and then the thigh blocks are positioned behind the leg allowing plenty of scope for the lower leg to move when jumping but providing support when needed in cases where riders may be jumping down a drop out on the cross country course.
This saddle is the ultimate jumping performance saddle. By having two flaps it suits a jumping rider that may want to alter their girth several times while warming up and just before they enter the competition arena. The two flap system allows quicker and easier access to the girth. This saddle is fitted with three buffalo hide girth straps that are attached to two separate cross over webs that are strong and durable. This saddle is available in sizes 17” and 18” for the rider. We recommend riders under 6ft. and 12.5 stone to go with a 17” and riders above that to go for an 18”. The fit refers to the shape and prominence of the horses withers. We find that a medium fit is perfect for 95% of horses. However if your horses has a very high wither, most commonly found with more blood horses then a narrow fit may be better and if your horse has a ‘mutton shoulder’ or relatively low withers then a wide fit would be better.
