By Lynndee Kemmet – Borné Saddlery’s motto is “Feel the Fit” and “fit” is exactly what one gets with a Borné saddle. It’s a fit so perfect that I can say from experience that this is one saddle that offers stability with no movement front to back or side to side. And if it feels that good for the rider, imagine how it must feel for the horse. That perfect fit reflects the true craftsmanship of a Borné.

Each Borné saddle is handcrafted in Scotland by Andy Sankey, a Qualified Master Saddler trained through the Society of Master Saddlers in the UK. It’s a title that took him nearly 10 years to earn in a process that included spending three years working under another Master Saddler. Sankey seemed born to become a master saddler. His father was in the tannery business so Sankey grew up around leather and came to love the smell and feel of it.

“When I was in school I went to a career advisor. I knew I wanted to work with my hands and asked what’s the hardest to do? I was told a saddle maker and a watchmaker. The only place to really make money making watches was in Switzerland. I loved working with leather so I decided to become a saddle maker,” Sankey said.

Sankey is one of a dwindling number of true craftsmen saddle makers. Unlike many modern saddle manufacturers, he still works from a cobbler-type shop at home filled with leather, saddle trees and all the other material needed to build a saddle from the ground up, which he does. While many saddle makers have gone to using laser cutters and other modern technology, Sankey still uses cutting boards and hand tools. With the help of one young apprentice, he makes one saddle at a time from start to finish, which he says is the only way to insure quality control in every step. “If you do more than one at a time, you tend to make loads of mistakes. I’m passionate about my saddles and my work. I believe that if I have to cut corners to make money than I’d rather not do the job.”

There are multiple unique features to the Borné saddles produced by Sankey, all of which contribute to the beautiful fit of a Borné. One is that Borné saddles are built with a variety of trees. There are actually more than 300 tree styles but most saddle manufacturers use only two or three in their designs, said Karen Borné. “We have nearly a dozen different dressage trees for our saddles and that’s unheard of in the dressage world,” she said. “When you use only a few trees to produce your saddles then what you really are is a custom option saddle manufacturer, not a real custom saddle maker. Everything we do is custom. We don’t have a single saddle that is pre-made and that includes our semi-custom Journey line of saddles. We don’t have an inventory. Everything Andy does is from scratch. Nothing is outsourced.”

A second feature that makes a Borné saddle unique when it comes to fit is that Sankey designs saddles to fit horses based on movement. What matters, Sankey says, is not how the saddle fits when a horse is stationary but rather how it fits while the horse is in motion. When building a jumping saddle, Sankey looks at how a horse moves coming into the jump, going over the jump and landing after the jump, for example.

“For a dressage saddle, I’m interested in how the horse moves and the way the dressage rider wants the horse to go in and out of transitions. I admit this is a constant learning process for me and I spend time studying conformation and movement. I want a saddle that allows the horse to be free in his body as he comes in and out of the various movements. And also, in dressage, communication between horse and rider is so important. The saddle cannot interfere with that communication.”

Sankey says that “within a mile of my horse there must be about 300 horses” and he gets their riders to test out different styles of saddle trees. This helps him experiment with how different trees impacts different types of horses and their way of going. “I’m always looking for improvements that will help the horse move better because before you can fit a saddle on a horse, you have to pick the right tree. A tree, even though it flexes, is still the rigid part around which the rest of the saddle is built.”

Another unique feature of the Borné saddles designed by Sankey is that they are traditional wool flocked panels. In the effort to be different or “technologically advanced” many saddle manufacturers have gone to other materials such as latex foam. Sankey believes that traditional material of choice for craftsmen saddlers – wool – is still best. “Wool flocking will decompress to fit the contour of the horse’s back creating a much more correct and comfortable fit,” he said.
Karen Borné says that one of the biggest challenges in marketing saddles is educating riders in terms of what is best for their horses. Riders know what they like when they sit in a saddle, but ultimately, what is best is that the saddle fit the horse and rider together. As an example, riders often like saddles with a deep seat, which is relatively easy to get with a saddle designed for a horse with a more curved back.

“But if you buy a horse with a straight and, or, flat back you can’t have the deep seat without it rocking and making the horse’s back sore,” Sankey said. “One reason many horses don’t have good extended walks is because they don’t want to elevate their backs because the tree rails are not the correct shape. If you have the wrong tree for that horse and he comes up against an uncomfortable rail when he elevates his back, then he’ll shorten his back again and you won’t get the extension.”

Although the focus of a Borné saddle is correct fit for the horse, Karen Borné’s belief is that when the saddle is right for the horse, the rider will know it – in other words, they’ll “feel the fit.”