Aussie Panel Styles

In order to best fit specific horse shapes and contours Aussie saddles come with four distinct panel styles.

1) SELF FORMING SERGE PANELS.

These panels are best used for horses with medium to narrower/higher withers. The panels will adjust to your horses contour over time. Kate’s popular RideAbout series features panels stuffed with a blend of memory fiber and wool. Years of making and selling saddles has proven that this blend does the best job of adjusting to the horse contour while preventing hard spots. It can also be easily awled and reshaped if necessary.

BE AWARE: Other companies try to sell serge panels for wider backs and even draft horses. Sometimes this can work. However, as a rule of thumb, serge panels make a chamber that is to narrow for these wider horses. Serge panels are designed to sit the saddle up away from the horse. Thus helping to protect the back and muscle structure on each side of the backbone. While this is one great benefit of serge panels it also causes this same saddle to slip and be unstable on wider backs.

2) FELT PANELS.

These panels are best used for horses with medium to narrower/higher withers. The panels are not sold on many saddles sold in the US. Typically felt panels are an option used if fleece panels are a bit wide.

3) FLEECE PANELS.

These panels are best used for horses with medium to wider withers/backs. These panels allow Aussie saddles to fit the widest possible variety of horses. Kate’s popular RideAbout series features fleece panels lined with memory cell foam. Years of making and selling saddles has proven that this blend does the best job of insuring full contact with the horse. The most possible contact with the horse means the best possible distribution of the riders weight and thus a much more comfortable and happy horse.

FLEECE VERUS SERGE: Fleece panels, because they are much flatter, as compared to serge panels allow the same tree to fit a much wider horse. For instance; a medium tree with a fleece panel is much wider than with a serge panel. It is not unussual to fit a wide backed horse with a medium tree fleece and have the same saddle with serge fit a narrow horse.

PLEASE KNOW: Wacky details like these are why we strongly suggest wither tracings. Kates in-house experts have years of experience at advising what saddle styles will best fit you and your application. The little bit of extra effort it takes to provide all of the information you possibly can will surely save you allot of time, grief and money when ordering and shipping.

4) ENDURANCE PANELS

Memory cell foam covered with softy seat leather. Great for close contact, non-slip riding. The foam allows for contour differences between the horse and the saddle while the leather adds to the texture and fit of the panel and adds tackiness to help keep the saddle in place.

NOTE: On the synthetic Endurance these panels are covered with felt.