Parelli Saddles - Natural Performer
The NATURAL PERFORMER - The great all-rounder! Perfect for any student of Parelli Natural Horsemanship… This western saddle offers versatility and comfort along with rider safety. Features of paramount importance to Pat Parelli when designing this popular and proven model years ago.
- Traditional Western Styling with small profile skirts
- Versatile - Perfect for athletic maneuvers, trail riding, western dressage and more
- Smartflx foundation - Offers comfort to horses & close contact for riders
- Quality veg-tanned leather
- Durable Suede-covered memory foam underside
- Buck Rolls for added rider security
- Handcrafted, 3" footbed laminated wooden stirrups
- Free-swinging fenders for optimum rider leg flexibility
- Selection of color combinations
- Parelli Signature Horsehead Tooling
The Natural Performer has been the first choice for students of the Parelli Natural Horsemanship levels program world wide for many years. Designed by Pat Parelli to offer comfort, versatility & safety for any horse/rider combination.
-
Pommel: shape is known as a low profile, heavy "slick fork" Wade with no swells, a shallow, wide, flat 4" round-topped "Guadalajara horn", and shallow gullet. The horn is slightly narrower at the base for the sake of stacking your rope coils on the front "lip" of the fork while dallying. (CAUTION: If your horse has very high, narrow withers, this fork may be too low)
-
Cantle: is 3" tall with with significant"dish" that hugs rider securely. 1.5" Cheyenne roll.
-
Leather: #1 Quality veg-tanned leather hides used exclusively. Roughout leather on seat jockey, body housing and back cinch. Smooth leather on fork, top skirt and cheyenne roll.
-
Seat: Grippy soft padded textured leather inset seat and buck rolls. (Traditional Wade saddles had hard leather seats, but an inset of soft padded leather provides magnificent comfort for rider while facilitating the bit of flex in the tree under your seat which is great for the horse, too.
-
Underside of saddle: natural fleece.
-
Stirrups: 4" wide wooden bells, hand bound brass or steel covered, leather lined with wooden heel peg.
-
Tooling: Artisan hand-carved Sheridan floral pattern on both sides of fork and back top skirts.
-
Hardware: heavy duty brass with our signature scalloped horse head line pattern on conchos, flat plate in-skirt rigging, large back cinch D and small breast collar D's.
-
Tie Strings: 6 sets of tie strings holding slotted conchos.
-
Extras: Knife/Leatherman holder on back billet, hobble strap holder on left side (included)
-
Back Cinch: Doubled-and-stitched Rear Cinch and Flank Billets with short cinch hobble for stability of back of saddle without impacting horse’s soft abdomen. Standard back cinch length is 36"// 91.5 cm, which fits most breeds. If your horse is very small or very big, please let us know and we can arrange for a custom length.
-
Fenders: Free-swinging fenders for optimum rider leg flexibility. Cut to size for Rider inseam length. 5 basic leg length sizes available.
-
Front Rigging: flat plate, In-skirt with signature horsehead design
-
Latigos: Latigos on both sides for main cinch rigging, no off-side billet unless requested.
-
Breast Collar D-rings: set high for freedom of shoulder movement. Crupper ring or not.
-
Seat sizes 15 - 17.5 available.
-
Approx. Weight: 38lbs / 17.2 kg
-
Length: 25.5" - 26.5" (63.5cm - 66cm)
Made in USA
SMARTFLX™ TECHNOLOGY
“Welcoming” the horse’s back in motion requires that you MANAGE THE INTERFACE – which is the space between your horse’s body and the underside of the saddle. After incorporating a good saddle, this is the next most important factor for successful saddle fit when you want to give your horse the opportunity to enjoy the journey with you. With SmartSaddlePads.com saddle pads and tapered foam shims you are best equipped to custom fit the interface of your horse to adapt to individual age, top line shape and state of training.
SMARTFLX´S EXCLUSIVE, UNIQUELY SHAPED TREES ARE THE SUBSTRUCTURE AND MAJOR KEY TO SUCCESS OF ANY OF OUR SADDLES.
The very special SMARTFLX™ shape provides room needed for the horse’s back to come up in performance of any athletic maneuvers, especially ones requiring significant engagement or “collection”. Also sculpted into the SMARTFLX™ shape are the ergonomic considerations built in for the rider which enable feeling close to the horse’s body and it’s movement while securely balanced and unstressed in hip, knee and ankle joints. The “bars” and “groundseat” of the SMARTFLX™ western tree are a one-piece molded shape based on years of research and development incorporating thousands of horses worldwide. This molded piece is formed utilizing a particular, extraordinary elastomer compound material that is solid enough to support the rider and protect the horse’s back yet flexible enough to allow the horse to move as nature intended and the human to feel connected in harmony. It is amazingly thin and keeps you close to your horse. Our wooden forks and cantles provide the base stability to hold the bars at the attitude and angle that our research proved was optimal. Our english saddles are constructed with the same principles regarding the spacious, welcoming shape we know is necessary for healthy, comfortable movement. English SMARTFLX™ trees are handcrafted by Master Saddlers in England utilizing digitally sculpted, laminated beechwood bars reinforced by steel head plate and thin diagonal steel bands that support appropriate diagonal flexibility. Because the SMARTFLX™ trees are sculpted to welcome the expanded “moving” horse body, there is room to accommodate an enormous variety of horse breeds and sizes.
VersaFit™ unique shimming concept provides a simple way to offer dynamic custom fit. The welcoming “hug” of our saddles’ undersides provides for a physically and mentally un-restricted equine athlete capable of enjoying full physical potential under saddle.
So your horse can move as Nature intended.
WHERE DID PARELLI SADDLES ORIGINATE?
Our Parelli Saddles range was developed in support of Parelli Natural Horsemanship’s quest for saddle equipment which doesn’t get in the way of natural movement nor cause restriction and pain.
The Parelli community, in all of it’s variety, was instrumental in developing specific models including the Natural Performer and Fluidity General Purpose Saddles, which Pat recommends to students undertaking his training. Pat’s Ranch Roper was especially created with Pat’s specific design and performance preferences in mind. We are proud our unique saddles and proven saddle fitting principles provide comfort, safety and performance for both horses and riders, while achieving their goals in the Parelli training program.
WHAT IS PARELLI NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP?
Parelli Saddles has been supporting the Parelli community for over 2 decades. Famously, Parelli Natural Horsemanship was the first true at-home study program that enabled horse owners and riders to master the principles Pat Parelli had formulated. The Parelli step by step program helps their students to understand horse behavior and how to improve it using the principles of Love, Language, and Leadership. Today, Parelli Natural Horsemanship has spread to 76 countries, over a million people, and has improved the lives of horses around the world.
INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION.
Pat Parelli has currently over 200,000 students worldwide, with 250 instructors across the globe in his Licensed Professionals Program. Pat’s aim has always been to help make the world a better place for horses and the humans who love them. His teachings are influenced by mentors/legends/friends Tom and Bill Dorrance, Ray Hunt and other skilled horsemen he has met along the way. All over the world, Parelli professionals inspire the next generation of horsemen/horsewomen towards never ending self improvement. We always appreciate the input, feedback and wishes of the Parelli community in the process of developing new saddle models and products.