It has a standard wooden tree that is velcroed to flexible panels via sorbathane (shock absorbing discs). The fit of the panels is easily adjusted as the horse's back changes. Owners can do it with video assistance from company reps.

The flexible panel provides a much larger surface area of contact than can a flocked saddle.  It can also give a wider gullet. This gets pressure off muscles attaching to the dorsal spinous processes. So horses with issues like kissing spine, painful multifidus enthesophytes, and facet arthritis are more comfortable. Movement changes include increased use of the back dorso-ventrally and laterally.

A study done with Hilary Clayton a few years ago in Wellington comparing horse's own saddles to EQ saddles found significant differences in the EQ:

• Lower heart rate (Holter heart monitor with cardiologist at the test site.)

• Increased vertical acceleration - video with dots on horse and rider

• Decreased rider movement in the saddle - high tech saddle pad evaluating both rider movement and saddle pressures on horse.

I watched a biomechanical seminar with advanced riders from a berm above the horses so I could see the top of the back.  One rider had been shortlisted for the dressage team, i.e., a very high level of riders.  In flocked saddles, the propulsive impulse/wave from the hind limbs stopped at the back of the saddle. In the EQ saddle it went all the way to the ears.  The EQ rider was the heaviest one on the smallest horse.

Some riders say that they cannot feel the horse's hind legs. From above I realized that this is from the impulsive wave stopping at the back of the saddle which creates an impact motion to the rider.  With the EQ that propulsive wave is not stopped and continues through the horse's body. This gives riders a different feel, who say that it is like riding bareback with the security of the saddle and that they feel their horse's better.

It is worth the time to check it out. They offer a two week trial before purchase and a rehab rental program. The company is very science oriented, and has saddled difficult client cases for me since 2004.

Diane A. Isbell DVM

Livermore, California

December 4, 2025