This picture sums up something I wasn’t sure I’d ever believe: this is my daughter, who now asks me every day “Mommy can I trot more?”

In spite of having a safe, wonderfully kind pony and every opportunity available at her fingertips, my daughter is an avid member of the barn community but had not taken to being a rider. She’ll spend hours with her pony but hasn’t been really comfortable on top of him. Over the years I’ve tapped into fun pony camps with other kids and knowledgeable teachers, but in the past, she hasn’t much wanted to continue riding her own pony at home— until about two weeks ago when I bought this little Tad Coffin A5 pony saddle at a tempting price on ebay.

This saddle is a 2008 model which is pre-SmartRide, but what has astonished me is how well the basic design of the saddle sits the kid so securely and in just the right spot for her to be in balance with the pony’s motion. Her leg is naturally underneath her and she sits right down in the twist, tucked in at the narrowest part of the seat. In the past she has struggled with feeling relaxed and confident up there, and she had not seemed to be blessed with an innate sense of balance or athleticism. With this saddle, I’m seeing a security that is allowing her to giggle and laugh while she’s trotting independently, and I’m tickled, too.

As a parent, I don’t blame my daughter for not wanting to ride if it didn’t feel safe and fun to her. As a riding teacher, I know that the foremost ingredients to a successful ride are unity and security. When I put these two hemispheres of my brain together, I realized that I had been overlooking an obvious component to her being able to be balanced: what the saddle really can do for us. I’ve ridden exclusively in Tad’s saddles since 2002 and have sworn by the way his saddles wrap me closely around the horse’s back, right in there like a glove, so I feel like I’m an extension of the horse and a unified partner where all we have to do is think the same thoughts. I had been presenting my child an opportunity to ride in a saddle in which she had a hard time feeling secure, and in switching to Tad’s saddle, she just feels better in balance. And now, by George, in less than about 10 rides, it suddenly looks like we may have a rider on our hands!

Here’s what I know from following the evolutions to Tad’s technology over the years: it’s been fascinating watching many horses’ reactions to the subtlest of changes. From the horse’s standpoint, I’d say overall they all move more freely, even look grateful, when they work in TC saddles. This means that answering their riders’ questions is simpler. There is an extension of the horses’ generosity with a variety of riders, and I think it is because the saddle is never their way, and they are able to be ridden in mental and physical relaxation. I really think they look forward to when their riders come ride them.

As a parent who has the professional experience to envision all the ways a ride could go badly, I most certainly want my child’s mount to be as comfortable as possible, because she will make mistakes and I want that mount to have a level of generosity when appropriate for her learning curve. It’s a no-brainer.

I can’t wait to get this little saddle upgraded to SmartRide Rx to keep my little girl continuing to feel safe and confident up there. But why, you ask, spend that kind of money to do that if what’s working now is working so well?

Over the years of open-minded experimentation, observation and even some sensible scrutiny, I have become convinced by the horses that there are indeed inexplicable wonders to the SmartRide Rx technology. Since I have the benefit of hands-on, day in and day out management of a full variety of horses, I have witnessed things I would have had a very hard time believing if someone told me about them. I have plenty of anecdotes, like the mare who was a no-sweater and started getting wet under the saddle and chest and flanks when she worked in my saddle after Tad upgraded it to SmartRide Rx technology, and several horses who are much better for the farrier or mane pulling while wearing the Thera-Tree, and then there are the bad acters who turned a corner in their training—it’s a good list. I know I’ve felt a greater connection to the horses when riding them in my old saddle after the Rx upgrade. I’ve seen riders at Tad’s Demos stand on one leg as guinea pigs for Tad’s “tip-over” test, where holding the Thera-Tree makes them more balanced and stable, while they are wide-eyed in disbelief at how much stronger they felt. I know that my own hummingbird of a child who has trouble unwinding to fall asleep at night has sometimes asked for the Thera-Tree while we read because “Mommy it helps me feel peaceful.”

Do I want the positive electromagnetic benefits of SmartRide Rx technology available for the most precious person in my life, for whose physical safety and emotional development I’m directly responsible? Of course, I do. I’m getting on Tad’s list for a tiny saddle upgrade. Because when she’s outgrown it, I know there will be other little people and ponies it will help as well.

-Jenn Fessler

Kit Sydnor and Carol Miller Hawley