PLN
When a horse cannot place its leg in time for a flying change, and the rider feels like something is "holding them back by their shirt," the problem rarely lies solely in training. Sometimes, the equipment limits what the horse and rider can achieve together. Klaudia Nalepa, a riding instructor and owner of a riding school, shares her long journey from show jumping to dressage and how testing the new Prestige Italia Brillante AS-X saddle with a movable tree changed the work with her student, a horse named Lord.
Klaudia Nalepa was one of the first people in Poland to practically test the Prestige Italia Brillante AS-X saddle – on a horse with whom she had been struggling for some time with limitations hindering correct flying changes and restricted shoulder freedom. In the interview below, she describes the saddle testing process, what she felt in motion, and how the equipment change fit into her horse's broader training process. A similar experience – though at a completely different stage of her career – is described in an interview for Equishop by another dressage rider, Gabriela Jaworska, who, after eighteen years of riding in one brand, decided to switch to the Brillante K AS-X model.
Table of Contents
- Beginnings of equestrian passion
- From show jumping to dressage
- Coaching and riding school work
- Lord and the search for the right saddle
- First impressions with the Prestige Italia Brillante AS-X saddle
- Effects of the change: horse and rider
- The role of equipment in training – Klaudia's philosophy
- Summary in a nutshell
A dressage saddle is one of those pieces of equipment whose influence on the horse is not immediately visible – until it is changed to a model better suited to the specific animal's build. Models with a movable tree, allowing the horse's shoulder to work freely during movement, have gained increasing interest from riders and saddle fitters in recent years, precisely because of how they affect the quality of gaits and the horse's forehand work.
Beginnings of equestrian passion
Monika (Equishop): Let's start from the beginning. How did your adventure with horse riding begin and how long have you been riding?
Klaudia Nalepa: I've been riding since 1988, although it's hard to talk about continuity here – for many years it was sporadic riding, not regular training. Horse riding was always my dream, but from the age of seven, I competitively trained rhythmic gymnastics, so there wasn't much time left for horses. Rides happened once a month, sometimes I managed to squeeze something in on a weekend between gymnastics trainings.
I started riding intensively only when I bought my own horse – in fact, there were several along the way. Regular riding, which I can now call training, began in 1997-1998. Before that, it was more like "holiday" riding. From the moment I could decide how and what to train, and started competing in show jumping, you could say my equestrian path gained direction.
From show jumping to dressage
Monika (Equishop): You used to actively compete in show jumping, and today you ride dressage. How did the change in discipline come about and what did getting to know both sides of equestrianism give you?
Klaudia Nalepa: I always wanted to do show jumping – I think most people want that at the beginning of their equestrian journey, perhaps because of the adrenaline. Show jumping is also simply more promoted than dressage. In the nineties, there wasn't much dressage in Poland, nor many stables with indoor arenas, so it was difficult to train all year round. In autumn, horses were detrained, in winter they went to the forest for walks or to snowy meadows, and in spring, they slowly returned to work. So there was no question of a strict competition season.
I started with show jumping, but dressage always fascinated me. My dream was to learn to ride an extended trot with a clear moment of suspension, as well as piaffe, passage, and flying changes in series. That's still my dream today.
I gave up show jumping due to an accident and injury – it wasn't an accident on a horse, but an increasingly bothersome knee, which is additionally strained during jumping. I continued jumping more or less until 2010–2011, but eventually decided to move towards dressage to be able to continue riding at all. Once, when I was still show jumping, dressage seemed boring to me – riding in circles, what's so hard about that? That's how it seemed to me back then. However, it turned out that performing these "circles" well is not as simple as it looks from the outside.
Coaching and riding school work
Monika (Equishop): You also run a riding club. How did this activity begin and what is most important to you in this work?
Klaudia Nalepa: The riding school didn't start with teaching children and youth, but with working with adults. I met them in stables, and friends, seeing how I rode, asked how to do something. It started as simple friendly help, which over time turned into regular training. I always thought others would teach better than me, but since I could help, I tried to give advice – and people liked it because the tips I gave worked for their problems.
I am largely self-taught myself. When I met a coach who explained things to me in a simple, understandable way, instead of using terms I didn't understand, that's when it finally clicked for me. That's why I try to explain things to others in a very clear way, without high-flown language.
Over time, adult students began asking for lessons for their children. I was reluctant, thinking I didn't have an approach to the youngest, but it turned out that the children were happy with the cooperation and kept asking when the next lesson was. And so it went. I teach everyone, regardless of their level or talent – I try to help anyone who wants to develop.
Lord and the search for the right saddle
Monika (Equishop): Tell us about the horse you work with and how you came across the Prestige Italia Brillante K AS-X saddle.
Klaudia Nalepa:
This is my beloved Lord, my client Magda's horse. Lord and I have known each other for over five years. Originally, he was, and still is, bought for Magda's daughter, who had been training with me for several years. However, life plans like studies and so on somewhat thwarted Julia's ability to train regularly with Lord. As Julia's and Lord's trainer, Lord is still in training and waiting for Julia's return.
Lord is a very sensitive horse. You need a lot of patience and humility with him – he is a lovely animal, but very introverted. He definitely prefers to run away from a human than to hurt them. We don't know his past history, so we simply work with what we have.
Our search for the right equipment led us to test the Prestige Italia Brillante K AS-X saddle. Previous saddles were good during a certain phase of Lord's training development, but they weren't perfect – either something bothered Lord and he stiffened up (he had a blocked shoulder), or we had trouble achieving a correct flying change. Our physiotherapist, Agnieszka Zelek, suggested testing the new Prestige saddle with a movable tree and free shoulder. We arranged a testing session with Kasia Czaprańska, a saddle fitter, who helped assess the saddle's fit for Lord.
It's worth noting that this type of mismatch – visible only in motion, not on a standing horse – is a typical case described in the Equishop article How to fit a saddle to a horse? Why evaluation at a standstill is not enough. Only when the horse works under saddle does it become apparent whether the shoulder has freedom of movement or if the panels restrict the stride.
Monika (Equishop): Did you immediately feel a difference after the test ride?
Klaudia Nalepa: Yes. We put on the Brillante, and the effect was wow, and for comparison and checking, we immediately put on the old saddle, and there was a huge difference. I also tested other brands, and while the horses also moved better in them thanks to the free shoulder, personally, those saddles didn't quite suit me. I prefer a narrower twist, and the Brillante saddle suited both me and the horse, but the horse is my priority, and his comfort must come first. We were looking for a compromise, and this was a bullseye.
Monika (Equishop): You were one of the first people to test this saddle.
Klaudia Nalepa: Really? I didn't even know, but indeed, there was nowhere to seek opinions or read about how horses performed in this model at the time – so we had to assess it ourselves. Besides, saddles aren't simply "bad" – they just don't suit every horse. Each company produces something different, and not every piece of equipment from a specific company will be ideal for every horse.
This is also one of the reasons why Prestige develops several different dressage saddle constructions – besides Brillante, the offer includes, for example, the Prestige Melody model, with a slightly different seat geometry. A full overview of available constructions can be found in the Equishop dressage saddle collection.
First impressions with the Prestige Italia Brillante AS-X saddle
Monika (Equishop): You noticed earlier that Lord had more range of motion than the previous equipment allowed – and that this was limiting you?
Klaudia Nalepa: It can be frustrating. You feel the horse could do more, but something is holding him – and you – "back by the shirt." You start to wonder if the problem lies with you as the rider, with the horse, or with the equipment. We started looking for the cause. We knew the horse wasn't crooked and it wasn't the rider's fault, so we looked for why the horse couldn't place his leg in time for the change. The saddle change helped a lot with that, and we're continuing to practice to get even better.
Monika (Equishop): What did you feel when you first sat in the new saddle, about a year and a half ago?
Klaudia Nalepa: When we transitioned into extended trot, I distinctly felt greater shoulder freedom and a looser neck. Lord tends to stiffen his forehand a bit and tuck his neck into his withers. In the new saddle, I immediately noticed that his neck rounded, and his movement became more flowing. The horse pushed off the ground more flexibly and eagerly. Something simply stopped holding him back from the front.
Effects of the change: horse and rider
Monika (Equishop): And how did the change look from Lord's perspective?
Klaudia Nalepa: The horse became rounder, the scores on the dressage tests improved – we stopped getting comments about a stiff forehand. Flying changes started appearing more often. I'm not saying it's solely due to the saddle – it was a whole process: our combined work, strengthening different muscle groups. However, the equipment was one of the elements that pushed this development forward.
I believe that the effect is made up of a hundred percent of the whole: proper training, nutrition, care, supplementation, physiotherapy, and equipment. All of these must harmonize with each other.
Monika (Equishop): How do you know that a horse feels good in a given piece of equipment?
Klaudia Nalepa: You have to listen to your horses. When they show dissatisfaction with work – reluctance, resistance – you can't immediately assume the horse is being malicious. Usually, a horse's frustration stems from our fault: from poor treatment in the past, ill-fitting equipment, or physical limitations. You should always first rule out health reasons – call a physiotherapist and a veterinarian. If everything is in order there, it's worth looking at the equipment, and above all, at yourself. Equipment helps, but we also need to develop, train our own bodies, and stay in shape so as not to interfere with the horse from the saddle.
The role of equipment in training – Klaudia's philosophy
Monika (Equishop): As a trainer, how do you assess the role of equipment? When can it help, and when does it hinder the horse's development?
Klaudia Nalepa: Unfortunately, I more often encounter equipment hindering horses than helping them. Sometimes this results from a lack of knowledge, and sometimes from limited funds. Someone buys a saddle just because it fits at a given moment, or they think it fits, and then they're surprised when the horse refuses to cooperate. Sometimes, you don't need an expensive saddle at all – it simply has to fit the specific horse's build. That's fundamental.
"Equipment helps, but we also need to develop, train our own bodies, stay in shape so as not to interfere with the horse from the saddle."
Summary in a nutshell
Monika (Equishop): How would you describe your approach to equipment in one sentence, before you found the right saddle for Lord?
Klaudia Nalepa: A bullseye – that's how I would summarize the whole search process.
Monika (Equishop): What did the Prestige Brillante saddle primarily give your horse?
Klaudia Nalepa: Greater freedom of the neck and shoulders, and overall relaxation.
Monika (Equishop): And what did it give you as a rider?
Klaudia Nalepa: A more stable, confident seat and a very good feeling in the saddle.
Monika (Equishop): What surprised you most in this process?
Klaudia Nalepa: That the horse can show a huge difference in just a minute between a saddle that bothers him and one that doesn't bother him at all.
Monika (Equishop): If you had to describe this change in one sentence?
Klaudia Nalepa: It's definitely worth trying this saddle yourself and seeing for yourself on your own horse.
Summary: what's worth remembering?
The conversation with Klaudia Nalepa shows that saddle selection is a process, not a one-time decision. Before settling on the Prestige Brillante, it involved months of testing various models, consulting with a physiotherapist, and observing the horse's reactions to changes. Several conclusions from the conversation that may be useful for any rider looking for equipment tailored to their horse:
Limitations in a horse's movement, such as difficulty with flying changes or a stiff forehand, can stem from the equipment rather than solely from the rider's technique or the horse's conformation. However, before deciding to change the saddle, it is worth ruling out health issues with the help of a physiotherapist and veterinarian.
A saddle with a movable tree, allowing the horse's shoulder blade to move freely, can significantly impact the quality of gaits – but, as Klaudia emphasizes, no saddle is universally "good" or "bad." What matters is its fit for a specific horse and rider.
Changing equipment is one element of a holistic approach to training – alongside nutrition, care, physiotherapy, and the work under saddle itself. Treating equipment as the sole solution to a problem would be an oversimplification, which Klaudia clearly points out.
