Predictor Game
Isabel Werth and Bates Saddles

Isabel Werth and Bates Saddles: Every Stride Tells a Story

08 November 2024
In partnership with Bates Saddles

When the Queen of Dressage celebrates her latest success, she’s doing so on a Bates saddle...

Bates Saddles and Isabell Werth are the perfect partnership. Bates have been making quality, comfortable saddles for 90 years, since 1934. Werth is quite simply a sporting legend.

 

The pair work well together; they’re on the same wavelength, always looking to improve, to enhance, to innovate, with the horse at the forefront of all they do. After more than three decades at the top of her sport, Werth is still achieving great things with her horses. When she punches the air after her latest success, she’s doing so on a Bates saddle.

 

Currently No.1 in the FEI World Rankings, Werth is a seven-time Olympian with 14 medals to her name. This makes her the most decorated Olympic equestrian, and most decorated German athlete of all time. Werth has won Team gold in all seven Olympics she has competed at, on five different, but no less special horses. Individually, she has won one gold medal and six silvers, the most recent being at Paris 2024.

Leaving a legacy

Werth and Bates have a long-term relationship. The saddlers have an outstanding reputation and like Werth, they are leaving a legacy – a long-lasting, positive impact on the sport they love.

 

Every stride tells a story, and Werth has a lifetime of strides and stories to tell. She has experience and knowledge in abundance, just like Bates, who are keen to always look forward, making progress in their designs and innovations. The benefit of the horse is at the forefront of all they do, always looking to increase the connection between horse and rider.

 

Bates know the power in collaboration. That’s why they work with vets, physios and saddle fitters to constantly better their own standards. Just like Werth, they are never complacent, and they never compromise, especially when it comes to comfort. Both want to give the horse every chance to shine.

 

Werth has been in a league of her own for many decades. The horse that took her to her first Olympics, Barcelona 1992, was the liver chestnut, Gigolo. Together he and Werth announced themselves on the world stage. Remarkably, not only did he win gold in Barcelona, but he also won in Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000.

 

Following Gigolo, bay gelding Satchmo helped her run of success continue, taking her to Beijing in 2008. Since then, it’s been mares who have carried Werth to Olympic legend status. Weihegold in Rio, her beloved Bella Rose in Tokyo and at Paris it was her new ride, Wendy, who rose to the challenge, helping deliver that latest Team gold and Individual silver.

 

Bates have been there with Werth and her horses every step of the way, stride by stride. Together they have worked hard to achieve cohesion, for the rider to work as one with the horse. Werth will forever look to improve her riding, and that motivation extends to the saddles she uses.

 

Horse and rider should operate in close partnership – Werth will never stop striving for this. As Bates approach their centenary, their passion for perfection remains just as high and that too will never change.

 

Bates Saddles has been driven by a philosophy of innovation focused on saddle performance and comfort for both horse and rider since 1934. When it comes to saddle fit and your horse’s comfort, Bates Saddles is the optimum choice.

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