Testimonials
11/09/2009 | I have no use for saddles anymore
The first few times I rode in my LittleJoe, I wasn't so sure I liked it. But I kept coming back to it every few rides. Finally I took the stirrups off, and went for a trail ride. That was the ticket! I've used my saddle once in the past 6 months. And I cut the ride short because it was uncomfortable and my horse's gaits were awful. He is free moving and smooth in the LittleJoe, and he's more stilted and bouncy with the saddle. I have no use for saddles anymore. The LittleJoe is the only saddle for me, and my horse!
Written By: Amber
08/25/2008 | No more knee pain
The Little Joe bareback saddle arrived a few months ago, and I cannot tell you enough how amazing it is! I bought the saddle as a last resort because every other saddle I tried hurt my knees. I went on a five mile trail ride with the Little Joe, and normally at the point a mile or so in where my knees would begin to hurt, I had no pain! The whole ride was pain free, something I hadn't felt in a while! It was also my half-Arabian Apollo's first big trail ride, and even though he acted up around other horses, jumped a stream and teleported four feet off the trail because of a dog showing up suddenly, I didn't move an inch! I felt completely secure.
If I never ride in another saddle ever again, it will be too soon! Thank you so much for making it possible for me to really enjoy riding again!!!
Written By: Carmen
05/19/2008 | Wonderful to ride in
I just wanted to say the Little Joe arrived today and it is beautiful! We've been lucky to have been loaned one by a friend so we already know how wonderful it is to ride in - it's the only way I can ride "bareback" any more, and my daughter loves it.
Written By: Billie
05/16/2008 | Videos!
I thought you might like to see the videos from this past weekend's Open Barn presentations, all done in the Little Joe, except for the Western one, for which I needed some authenticity. They are at
www.youtube.com/matselleste if you want to have a look.
Written By: Victoria
04/25/2008 | He loves it and he doesn't buck
I bought your Bareback pad last year and I've been using it for a year. My horse got sick and I started riding a horse in the barn that nobody rides because he bucks. I wondered if it was a saddle issue, so I tried my bareback saddle/pad on him. He loves it and he doesn't buck. I feel secure in it and don't use stirrups. He's a draft cross so he's very round and as long as my girth is tight it doesn't slip when I mount. I love the pad.
Written By: Amber
01/17/2008 | I love it
I just wanted to tell you how much I LOVE my bareback saddle (I think my horse likes it too)! I've had several people at my barn try it and it's getting rave reviews. One of my barn friends that is having difficulty fitting her horse with a saddle is going to try my bareback pad as well.
Just wanted you to let you know how excited I am about your product!
Written By: Kim M.
06/26/2007 | Balance and Harmony Restored
This winter I became an horse owner for the first time in 25 years, but I was having an impossible time finding a saddle that fit my horse. I decided to give the Little Joe a try, and I intended to use stirrups. I'd been riding bareback out of necessity for about a month before it arrived--I was doing fine for over 40, and felt pretty secure. But I didn't know what secure meant! This morning, I cantered along a twisting turning path in the woods for the first time since going to bareback, and I actually felt more secure than I had with the English saddle I'd been using. It was like my butt stuck to his back, and I was really balancing on the horse and riding him instead of feeling like I was balancing on a greased pole to save my life. Wow--it was like I was 17 again and riding in harmony with my horse just like I did back then when I rode as naturally as I breathed. Now I think that stirrups will just get in the way and I won't use them. I felt more secure than I did in the leather saddle, and a ton more secure than just bareback--I was cantering and doing everything bareback, but not in a really relaxed way. Now I'm relaxed, steady, and stable, and my horse is responding to that confidence beautifully. Thanks Little Joe! The month-long wait was not only worth it, but gave me a base-line to judge just how great this product is!
Written By: Kim G.
11/29/2006 | You surpassed my expectations
"WOW" is all I could think of when I open the package today containing the headstall and reins from your company! Whew!!! It is fabulous! I have NEVER seen any headstall or reins like the one I received today. I expected something very nice....however, you SURPASSED any expectations I had in my mind. The workmanship is outstanding and excellent, excellent quality. The colors, and beading, matched my horse blanket perfectly! Love the horse hair tassels! You can be sure I will be telling everyone about your products and the outstanding craftmanship, and superior customer service!
THANK YOU!!!
Written By: Tami
10/29/2006 | You will be a far better rider
I purchased my Little Joe saddle in a last ditch effort to make my Arab/ASB mare stop being so tense. I was sure at least part of her horrid attitude was saddle fit, but it didn't change no matter what size tree I tried with her. I rode her bareback for months, just to stay alive. My very first ride with her in the Little Joe, I could feel a huge difference. It was like she said to me, "Finally you got it right!'
This is my Country Pleasure Champion Arab mare, Matselleste, in the Little Joe
Originally intended for use only with her, just for fun I tried the saddle on some of my other horses. In the first week that I had it, I put it on eight horses, ranging from my rolly polly dressage mare, a bony TB jumper, my Saddleseat horses, and my hot hot hot ASB jumper. In each and every ride, I felt closer to my horses and I felt like they were giving me more than ever before. I also felt, once I figured out how to adjust my stirrups correctly, that I was riding ten times better. I could not believe how secure I felt, how much interaction I had with the horses, and the instant augmentation of movement in horses that I hadn't felt, to this point, had saddle fitting problems.
It has been four months now and I have only ridden in a treed saddle on three occasions! If I have my way, I will never sit these seat bones on a tree again! My dressage instructor got all the way through my lesson, commenting on how nicely my leg stayed put (my problem area!) before I gleefully pointed out that I wasn't in a "real" saddle! In a race with some of my students, my Arab mare got very excited and decided that every good race needs a hearty buck - and I never moved. I have jumped courses to 3', galloped uneven terrain, and put on a Saddleseat demonstration in this saddle. I intend to ride all of next years Hunter Paces in this saddle. I have sat six of my students in this saddle, and three of them have asked for one for Christmas! The universal statement of my barn, horses and humans alike, is this: while the saddle is at first harder to ride well in, because it doesn't set you into place, if you are interested in being a better rider, this saddle guarantees you that with a little work and determination, you will be by far a better rider than you ever could be in any kind of treed saddle!
Victoria Adkins and the horses and riders at Serendipity Stables, NC
Written By: Victoria
08/17/2006 | I never felt so comfy in my life
I think we went about 5-6 miles in all -- about 1-1/2 hours. I have never felt so comfy in my life! And secure too! Myth did a couple of his famous sideways plants, and I never felt unbalanced at all - stuck like glue. We mostly walked, but I did a little trotting -- still felt good -- maybe next time we'll canter a bit!
DH rode Tessa in an old FQHB western saddle that we have. Well, DH's legs got too sore about a mile from home, and he had to get off and walk. Not mine! I am pain free! And I think Myth liked it too.
Written By: Laura
08/17/2006 | I will not ride in anything else
I love mine, love mine, LOVE mine!!! I will not ride in anything else.
Written By: Joye
08/17/2006 | It is a great saddle at a great price
I have both a LJ and a very expensive Ansur treeless saddle. . . . They ride in a remarkably similiar manner. The biggest difference, about $1500. The LJ is a little softer which makes it very comfortable mile after mile. (And that isn't a bad thing at all.) Of course, one looks like a bareback pad and the other looks like a dressage saddle....but your seat won't notice much of a difference.
You can sit anywhere you want on the LJ, so if you want more of a chair seat, you just slide back a little. If you want your feet more under you, then scoot forward. It is remarkably comfortable and secure. Both saddles are extremely comfortable for the horse. I ride my Ansur during the summer when the weather is dependably nice. I ride my LJ the rest of the year. Both saddles stay put equally well in the North Idaho mountains around my home.
If you are looking for a treeless saddle that is very comfortable for horse and rider, I would suggest that you save yourself a lot of money and make your first one a LJ. It is a great saddle at a great price--and fully guaranteed.
Written By: Linda
08/17/2006 | My seat stayed exactly where it was supposed to be
I was trying out the bareback saddle today working at a steady trot and Dobbin spooked big time at some animal lurking in the bushes. . . . It was by the far the biggest spook I've had while on him and he can really explode sometimes. Didn't even think for a moment that your saddle would slip and it didn't!!! My trusty dressage saddle would have slipped big time, without a doubt. Actually, my seat stayed exactly where it was supposed to the entire time, too.
Written By: Vania
08/17/2006 | I felt totally secure
I rode in the LJ today without stirrups, and I felt totally secure. I walked, trotted, foxtrotted-and are you ready for this??-loped!!!!! My butt never once left that saddle-the suede was very sticky and really made me feel just super secure. I never once felt like I was losing my balance or might fall. I felt great! And it's SO thick and comfortable.
Written By: Erika
08/17/2006 | It fits all three horses well, and they like it
Since I've been riding in the LJ saddle, my balance in the saddle has improved greatly! The last time I rode, the horse teleported! Normally, this would unbalance me, not unseat me. This time, it did neither!
I've been using the same LJ saddle on 3 horses and it fits all of them well. They are all shaped differently, too! I have the tall, elegant Morgan that is high withered, yet fairly wide. The tall low withered tank and the short, slim across the girth, strangely gaited, belly on legs. They all seem to like it, too!
I could never (and I tried repeatedly) get the Morgan to canter in the 4 years I've had her. Since I've been riding her with the LJ, she has asked to canter! She doesn't run at the sight of the LJ saddle, either!
Written By: Renee
02/13/2005 | High quality and rugged sturdiness
I appreciated the high quality and rugged sturdiness of your bareback pad. I have used other bareback pads but they always seemed very flimsy to me. I like the closer contact it gives over my saddle and actually think that TJ likes it better also because we can each tell what the other is thinking more clearly.
Written By: Michael
02/07/2005 | I was impressed
Ever since I got [the LittleJoe bareback saddle], I have not ridden in any other saddle. This saddle is secure enough that I am cantering more in it that I did in my English saddle. I love this saddle. It keeps you so warm. [My horse] moves more freely with this saddle. He can move his shoulders more. This saddle is just as secure has my English saddle.
A few weeks ago, A. (hubby's riding instructor) wanted to try the bareback saddle. I tacked up Mokey and she really liked it. They cantered a lot. Amy said she was very secure. Mokey is a BIG horse, I would say at least 16 hands. Amy is not a big person, but she mounted from the ground and the saddle never moved. I always use a mounting block myself, but there wasn't one around, so Amy just hopped on Mokey. I held my breath, not sure if the saddle would move or not. It didn't at all. I was impressed. Amy was surprised how the saddle felt. She rides Western. She said this was very comfortable.
Written By: Sheila
02/07/2005 | I think I've finally found a saddle that doesn't cause her pain
I think I've finally found a saddle that doesn't cause her pain. When I first asked her to trot, she threw her head up and was really choppy, though without the saddle hitting me in the butt, it was MUCH easier to ride! The second time I asked her to trot, she didn't throw her head in the air! Too cool! After that, she was much more relaxed and I could feel her loosen up. She might even start gaiting, once I work with her in it. I could definitely feel her shoulders moving freely.
The saddle stuck with her and didn't slide at all, even after she released tension after I girthed her up and rode around. I didn't get the feeling that it would slip, unless I got WAY off balance....She was also more responsive to me, because she could feel me move around on her back. She also didn't feel nearly as uptight as she usually does.
Written By: Renee
02/07/2005 | I can vouch that it doesn't slip
[My horse] moves nicely in it. She's got a much freer, more extended trot than she's ever had with a treed saddle. Anyway, it was pretty comfy to sit in. I felt her nicely, but it felt kind of like there was a pillow between my butt and her back. I had a little bit of trouble with posting, but got the hang of it after a while. I can vouch that it doesn't slip. It didn't roll when I mounted nor did it move when I was riding. It felt secure and sturdy.I think this is what I'll use for youngsters [young horses, not young people] for their first saddle experience.
Written By: Chris
