Sitting pretty

Stripped back to reveal the innovative features and craftsmanship at its core, the new Selle Rouge from Hermès offers a masterclass in luxury saddle-making

Words by Susanne Madsen

Simply extraordinary: each Hermès Selle Rouge saddle is made entirely by a single artisan

Like the finest horsemanship, the art of saddle-making lies somewhere between skill and divine “feel” (to use the equestrian terminology). The right saddle is a crucial interface between horse and rider: choose the wrong one and it’s comparable to having a pristine engine in your 1958 Jaguar XK150, but a failing transmission. At Hermès, where the saddle has been studied, revered and advanced for 185 years, the latest embodiment is the culmination of the French artisanal saddlery’s unparalleled craftsmanship, its cutting-edge understanding of biomechanics and a close collaboration with one of its partner riders, Belgian Olympic showjumper Jérôme Guéry.

Named the Selle Rouge, Hermès’s new showjumping and flatwork saddle sees a return to nature’s ultimate recyclable performance material. “After three years of tests, we have established that wood remains the best option for the saddle tree,” says Ly Lallier, director of Hermès’s equestrian métier, explaining the decision not to go with carbon fibre for the core of the saddle. “The suppleness of beech is used for shock absorbency as well as for comfort, as it moulds perfectly to the horse’s anatomy and offers the right resistance.” Incredibly light, the wood imbues the saddle with an almost “living” structure.

While the Selle Rouge facilitates the jump position with an ideal centre of gravity and balance, it also borrows from the classical deep dressage seat to allow the rider to really sit and ride the horse comfortably between obstacles – the latter a request from Guéry. “With the Selle Rouge, he feels very close to his horse, almost like there is no saddle,” Lallier says of the technical sophistication of the deep yet open seat, which, she notes, “stabilises the pelvis and improves the perception of the horse’s movement”.

Aesthetically, the Selle Rouge strips everything back to deliberately highlight its construction. The wooden tree is exposed at the cantle, the canvas straps are visible underneath, the curve of the streamlined fil-au-trait single seam proudly outlined. “Because of all the innovations brought to this saddle, it felt right to display the intricate work that went into its making,” Lallier says of Hermès’s latest creation, where every part is produced locally and each saddle is made by a single artisan from start to finish. “It’s a way to show the beauty of the artisan’s knowhow.”