OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012 THE RIDER /63
New Book - “The Silent Killer – The Painful Truth of Saddle Fit and why it doesn’t work”
The Rider put some questions to regular columnist and educational con- tributor Jochen Schleese. Schleese’s first book “The Silent Killer – The Painful Truth of Saddle Fit and why it doesn’t work” is being published by the WuWei Verlag in Germany (same company which publishes Dr. Gerd Heuschmann and the Dressage maga- zine “Piaffe”), and his first commercial DVD “Beyond the 9 Points of Saddle Fit” will both be available for sale in early November – just in time for Christmas! BF: Jochen, it seems that you are a very busy man. When I talk to Sabine you are never around! JS: Yes, I have been travelling pretty much non-stop the last months (and years!) as we continue to build up the market in both the US and Europe. I am happy to say that we have a great team of SFTs (Saddle Fit Technicians) to support our efforts in this – especial- ly in the local Ontario market our team of Denise Lenz and Julia Dixon have been instrumental in re-establishing the relationships with our clients in this area. But it does seem like it has got- ten a little more crazy than usual in the last couple of months as we continued to work on finishing the book. BF: Tell me more about this book – how did you get the idea? JS: We have actually been discussing writing a book for a couple of years now, but there never seemed to be enough time to really begin. Over the years I have written many many arti- cles on various topics around saddle fit; I wrote a regular blog for Barnmice for about two years – and I have been honoured to have been a featured writ- er in many publications, including yours. So Sabine and I decided that we
already had the basis for a book in many of these arti- cles, and on top of that, literally hundreds of anecdotal testimoni- als from the years of working with horses. We proba- bly see upwards of 2000 horses every year between all of my staff, so there are lots of good stories there! But we didn’t want to become another generic saddle fitting book, or chicken soup for the soul type of stories. BF: so what kind of book is this? What can we expect to learn? JS: Last winter while we were based in Florida we began to consolidate the various articles and came up with about 35,000 words right off the bat – a pretty good start we thought! We sent it to a couple of potential publishing partners in the US and England – all of whom expressed interest, but wanted a little more ‘meat’. We based the book on many of the key issues that sur- round saddle fit – the basic 9 points – but in more detail. BF: So how did it end up being pub- lished in Germany? JS: We had a relationship with Isabella Sonntag of WuWei from when I was involved in Gerd Heuschmann’s DVD “If Horses Could Speak” from a couple of years ago. I actually had an appoint- ment with Isabella in August 2011 for a personal diagnostic evaluation for her and her horse and during that meeting we discussed the book project. She was very excited about it and immediately
BF: What’s new in the book that we haven’t read about before? JS: The book may generate a bit of a controversy, especially among other saddlers/saddleries/saddle fitters. I honestly have not held back in voic- ing my thoughts and opinions, most of which are absolutely substantiat- ed with facts and evidence that I have gathered in my 34+ years of working in the industry, having seen over 60,000 horses. But at the end of the day it is written for the rider – the person who has day-to- day involvement with the horse at any level – and who at the very least will hopefully be open to considering alternatives to doing something different from ‘this is how I’ve always done it’. I am very fortunate to have people like Walter Zettl, Dr. Gerd Heuschmann, Dr. James Warson, Dr. Joanna Robson, Jane Savoie, and Barney Cummings (among others) support me in this ven- ture; Walter and Gerd even contributed to the project by writing forewords for the book.
drafted a contract. Unfortunate- ly it will appear first as a 200 page hardcover book only in German, but according to the contract it is sched- uled to be translat- ed into minimum 8 other languages. I’m not sure of the process, but I understand that other publishers then bid on the rights. (as we speak, it’s still available for North America!)
BF: So how long did it actually take to finish the book? JS: I was working with a ghost writer (5000 miles away) and we conversed mainly by email and on those few occasions when I was back in Ger- many. I honestly had no idea how
much is involved in
writing a book – the back and forth and proofing and editing/re-editing was insane! Often Sabine and I would be on the phone long after midnight (after a day on the road dealing with saddle fit evaluations in a hotel somewhere in the boonies) discussing edits, copy, and changes. The pictures all needed
credits and permission and captions, and every statement in the book needed verification. It was a LOT of work! (and don’t let anyone ever tell you oth- erwise!) Truly a difficult birth…and now we can’t wait to see the final result! BF: And does the DVD complement the book somehow? JS: The DVD is a completely separate project, based some- what on the Youtube video sad- dle fit tips that we made over the years, but going much fur- ther in detail and discussion about the main issues. We worked together with a videogra- pher (Padma Video) who filmed me a couple of years ago for my Saddlefit4life educational presen- tations – although she was work- ing from California, it was an amazing collaboration and I am really proud of the result. We will be sending the DVD to some of our clients to get some feedback in the next couple of weeks as well. BF: As I said before, you certainly are one busy man. Thank you for your time – we are all looking for- ward to seeing both the DVD and the book (once it’s in English!) – perhaps I can do a book review for it when it’s available here! JS: that would be great, Barry – thank you also! BF: “Beyond the 9 Points of Saddle Fit” is available for $24.95 and “The Silent Killer – The Painful Truth of Saddle Fit and Why it Doesn’t Work” (German Title: ”The Silent Killer – Sattelanpassung nur für den Moment?!”) will be available for $39.95 at
www.saddlefit4life.com in November.
ANNOUNCEMENT From Intercity Insurance Services Inc.
Ask yourself this question: Do I need to be a member, or do I just want to have the best insurance I can get at the lowest cost - designed and delivered by a trusted source? If you answered YES! Then read on…. We are now offering a wide range of specialized insurance products to the Ontario equine industry on a DIRECT basis. And the good news is…
*NO MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED*
$5,000,000 Personal Liability insurance that covers any horse owned, leased, borrowed that is for personal use. This broad coverage is in force 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and covers YOU, OUR CLIENT anywhere in the world. This policy was designed specifically for the entire Ontario equine community.
$50,000 Accident, Death and Dismemberment for injuries sustained by YOU, OUR CLIENT related to horses, including coverage when you are en route to and from an equine activity in a vehicle. This policy will pay regardless of any other insurance that may be in force at the time of the incident.
Other products available at reduced rates: • Horse Mortality • Tack Insurance • Travel Insurance
For additional information,
we encourage you to contact our office, ‘like’ us on Facebook visit:
www.intercityinsurance.com Phone Toll Free 1-888-394-3330 or email us at
info@intercityinsurance.com
Working directly with YOU, OUR CLIENT
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76