Student saddles up for award

A 22-YEAR-OLD Wexford student could be set to alter the future of horseriding with his design of a revolutionary reduced weight saddle.

Martin Ryan, a final year student at the National College of Art and Design, won the prestigious 2005 Dyson Student Design Award for coming up with a prototype which mimics the movement of a horse.

The saddle also incorporates a new seat to help reduce the impact between horse and rider, while the stirrups have been updated to increase safety.

Martin said he hopes to change the future of horseriding with his design.

“I believe so much in this idea that I have covered the expense, from my somewhat small funds, to have it patented,” he said.

Martin, who has won many titles in eventing, showjumping and dressage, decided to completely re-evaluate the saddle and approached experts in veterinary medicine and horseriding while researching the project.

“Through my experience of riding horses, I was never satisfied with the existing saddles,” he said.

“Saddles are dated and stuck in the past, but I saw that other sports had moved on and I realised there was real scope for improvement.

“This initial design is targeted at endurance riding, and I am working on refining the model to suit other horseriding sports.”

Martin’s winning design has already sparked huge enthusiasm among experts in the equestrian world and Ireland’s leading event rider and two-time Olympian Sue Shortt paid tribute to the design.

“It’s great to see this innovation in equestrian equipment in Ireland, especially as a lot of equipment gets imported from abroad,” she said.

Martin will receive a cheque for €2,000 and go on to represent Ireland in the 2006 International James Dyson Award, competing against young designers from 14 other countries.

The James Dyson Award is an opportunity for aspiring design engineers to compete on an international platform for a total prize fund of more than €14,900, plus the opportunity to interact with the Dyson research team.