Pessoa Saddle Information

X-Change System
Versatile and simple

Most horse owners are faced with the problem that their horse changes shape from season to season. This can often be inconvenient and very expensive and may even be overlooked for these reasons. Looking after your horses back at the beginning of his training is just as crucial as any other time.

All the Pessoa saddles can be altered in minutes to ensure your saddle always fits perfectly. The entire Pessoa range is presented with the adjustable gullet plate X-Change® system. The rider can modify the width of the tree using any of our adjustable gullet plates with only a screwdriver. It is really that simple! This system does not change the integrity or look of the saddle. The strength and the feel is the same. The tree size can be changed from Narrow up to Extra-wide.

• Since it does not have any MOVING parts, it guarantees a reliable, maintenance-free and safe performance.
• PESSOA saddles can be changed QUICKLY whenever your horse changes shape.

Saddle Tree - Lightweight & Flexible

Pessoa's flexible carbon fibre saddle tree brings a new dimension of closeness with your horse. Wooden trees have very little lateral flexion and prone to breaking. Plastic trees typically have no suspension and can hurt the horse’s back.

All Pessoa saddle trees are made of Carbon fibre. This is a very light but incredibly strong material that will save valuable pounds in the total weight of the saddle improving your horses comfort and performance.

Every tree is molded with polymers specially designed by Dupont®. The trees bring together flexibility and ultra-light weight, without losing resistance. Metal bands and the adjustable gullet plate grant stability and additional resistance. The anatomical design of the tree allows an unbelievable contact between horse and rider.

The advantages of this tree compared with the wooden tree are
quite important and it makes all the difference:

• The saddle trees are made from a mould so every tree
is PRECISELY the same.

• Carbon fibre offers STRENGTH and FLEXIBILITY allowing
the width to be ADJUSTABLE.

• Carbon fibre offers strength without bulk allowing you to
sit CLOSE to your horse.

Seat size

The seat is measured up in a straight line from the saddle nail up to the cantle in its middle part. The measurement is determined by the physical built of the rider and the horse. As a general norm the measurements lower than 17 “ are for young riders. On the other hand the 17 “ and 17.5” saddles are for adult riders. And finally the 18” are for big built riders.

AMS System

Traditional style wool -and synthetic- flocked panels can bunch up, causing hot spots and uneven pressure. As time goes by, the shifting requires constant adjustments and re-flocking. AMS® System has been designed to allow a perfect union between horse and rider. This system eliminates hot spots by dispersing any pressure variances of the flocking within the panels, thanks to the exclusive pressure-stabilizing neoprene layer. The neoprene provides a soft, consistent and very close contacting layer to support the rider’s weight on the back of the horse. This layer will absorb impacts and distribute pressure evenly for maximum comfort and freedom of movement for your horse. Saddles with AMS® panels can be re-flocked and fitted to your horse, just like traditional wool-flocked panels.

• A SOFT and CONSISTENT panel making your horse
more COMFORTABLE.

• SHOCK ABSORBING properties from neoprene layer
distributes pressure EVENLY across the horses back.


In order to compare the benefits of the AMS® panels,
thermographies were carried out on the horse´s back,
in a saddle with standard panels and another with AMS®
after 30 minutes of identical exercises*.

Diagram 1A shows clearly the unevenly on the pressure
surface on a traditional panel due for the discontinuity of
the white colour which shows a greater temperature.
In the meantime the temperature on the horse´s back
where this panel was used, shows a substantial increase and
unevenly (diag. 1B). The stabilisation took up to three hours
post-exercise.
While for the AMS® panel (diag. 2A) the weight distribution
without pressure points, it was uniform.And the same thing
is proved on the horse´s back (diag 2B). It took an hour in
stabilizing temperature.

The distribution of the weight of the AMS® System
is more physiological, allowing a very adequate
decomposition of the pressures on the horse´s back.

Flaps Sizes

The flaps on the PESSOA saddles possess different size options, according to the height of the rider and length of his legs.
These options offer the rider the freedom of choosing a saddle in the perfect size! Standard size is Regular for all saddles, but there are three available options you can choose instead of regular flap.
The difference of length between every option is of 1”

Jumping Collection S: short • R: regular • L: long (the flap is a bit advanced) • F: forward