Who we are and what we do
We are Sina Bleichner & Matthias Sellinger and run our own private open stable with our five horses. These are our two Arabian Berbers Chattou & Laziz and our three Mustang mares Mayani, Onida & Niyaha. We are ambitious leisure riders and our horses are trained in different areas of riding. When working with our horses, we prioritise the enjoyment of people and animals as well as keeping our horses healthy. We currently work with our horses mainly in the area of working equitation. We particularly enjoy building new trail obstacles and trail training.
You can find us on Instagram (@southsteensbeauties) and also from time to time at one or the other event (such as the Mustang Makeover).
Experience report on the Omega Vario & Mercedes by Matthias & Sina
We first became aware of Signum Sattelservice at Equitana in Essen in 2017. The "Omega Mercedes" model in particular, with its beautifully curved saddle flap, immediately caught my eye and I couldn't get it out of my head. We received great advice at the Signum stand and after trying it out, we registered online for the next saddle tour in our area.
Just two weeks later, someone from the Signum team came to our stables with various versions of the Omega Mercedes and the Omega Lotus in their luggage. After Chattou's measurements had been taken, I was allowed to test ride two models on her. I then decided in favour of an Omega Mercedes with a full-length cantle. 10 weeks later, our saddle was ready and was delivered to us personally to check the fit.
Experience with used saddle fitting
As we were so impressed with Chattou's saddle and she runs really well with it, we bought two more Signum saddles for our other horses in 2019. This time we opted for two second-hand saddles. When we checked the fit of Chattou's saddle, we had the measurements taken of our other horses.
Based on these measurements and in consultation with Signum's customer service, we then looked for saddles with the right basic requirements on Ebay classifieds and sent the measurements of the saddles to Signum for checking and comparison before purchasing. As soon as we had the go-ahead, we bought the saddles and had them sent directly to Signum's workshop. There, the used saddles were then customised to the measurements of our horses and then delivered to us again personally to check the fit.
Once again, we experienced a top service and can absolutely recommend the customisation of a used saddle as well as a newly made saddle!
Fit checks over the years
We have had Chattou's customised saddle for 7 years now and it still fits her perfectly! In those 7 years, the gullet plate has only had to be tightened once. And if she should change more physically, there is the option of readjusting the saddle. We are really super happy with Chattou's saddle and Chattou seems to be very happy too!
For our other 4 horses, we opted for customised second-hand saddles. These include two Omega Mercedes and two Omega Vario Classic saddles. We have the fit of all our Signum saddles checked at least once a year. This way we can be sure that the saddles still fit. This service was particularly useful for our youngest mare! As she has developed and changed a lot physically, especially after being broken in, we have her saddle checked and adjusted every 6 months.
Our saddles are used in many different ways and we are very happy with them. In addition to classic dressage, we also use them for longer cross-country rides, trail rides and smaller jumps.
