Rider-Saddle Fit: Optimising Saddle Fit for the Rider with Dr Russell MacKechnie-Guire
Thursday 27th February 2025 @ 19:00 HRS
Rider-Saddle Fit: Optimising Saddle Fit for the Rider with Dr Russell MacKechnie-Guire
The importance of correct saddle fit is widely accepted. There has been a significant advance in our understanding of the effect that saddle fit and design can have on equine health and performance.
However, rider-saddle fit is an area that is often overlooked but is worthy of equal consideration. This 2-hour session will discuss the anatomy and biomechanics of the rider in relation to the saddle and discuss how the features of the saddle, i.e. seat depth/length, knee/thigh blocks, saddle flaps, can interact with the rider. Horse-rider-saddle interaction is complex. Therefore, this session will not only discuss rider-saddle fit in a static position but also the dynamic interactions, and the effect that rider-saddle fit can have on equine locomotion.
For all attendees, CPD certificates are available, as well as a “view only” recording of the webinar with a 30-day access pass. There will also be a Q&A session, with ample opportunity to post questions via our interactive Q&A panel.
Dr Russell MacKechnie-Guire
Russell MacKechnie-Guire graduated from Warwickshire College in 2006 with a BSc (Hons) in Equine and Human Sports Science and now holds a PhD in Equine Biomechanics, graduating from the Royal Veterinary College in 2019. Russell’s thesis was titled ‘The Relationship between Saddle and Rider Kinematics, Equine Locomotion, and Thoracolumbar Pressures in Sports Horses’. Russell is based at Centaur Biomechanics, a company which he founded in 2006. He has extensively researched the effect that tack (saddle, bridle and girth) has on equine health and performance. Russell’s current area of research is horse-saddle-rider interaction, spinal kinematics in horses when ridden over ground and the effect that rider asymmetry has on equine back movement. In addition, Russell collaborates with researchers from around the world on various research projects associated with equine health and performance. He regularly presents his work at international meetings throughout the world and is a consultant for the British Equestrian Federations World Class, Team GBR programme. Russell is a member of the Team GBR’s Scientific Advisory Group, Society of Master Saddlers Scientific Advisory Group and chairs the horse+rider subgroup, part of the International Task force on Laterality in Sports Horses.
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