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Dr. Gail Williams

Dr. Gail Williams, originally trained as an equine lawyer, has transitioned into a practicing physiotherapist with a special focus on equine behavioural disorders and remedial training programs.

As an Equine Physiotherapist, Dr. Williams undertakes a diverse range of tasks. She collaborates with injured horses, often referred to her by veterinary surgeons, to aid in their recovery and prepare them for a return to competitive activities. On the other end of the spectrum, Dr. Williams works closely with horse and rider teams, aiming to unlock their full performance potential.

One noteworthy observation from Dr. Williams is that approximately 90% of the horses she encounters exhibit saddle-related damage to their backs. This makes addressing saddle-related issues a top priority in her work to develop performance.

Dr. Williams became intrigued by the concept of an Air Cushion and felt compelled to carry out independent testing to evaluate its performance. To achieve this, she conducted two comprehensive case studies to gain a deeper understanding of the potential benefits of this innovative technology.

Case Study 1

Kudi was a dressage horse stuck at advanced medium level and having problems with tempi changes. In particular Kudi was having problems going from the left canter half pass into the left-hand canter and the flying change then onto the correct lead for the right-hand canter.

Kudi had very large blocked shoulders on which a vase of flowers could have been placed either side. He had a very expensive saddle that had been made specifically for him by a master saddler. Upon assessing the saddle I was horrified to see that the tree point on the left-hand side of the saddles was 3cm further forward than the point on the right-hand side. When Kudi had to bend to the right during his flying change this abnormally advanced point on the lefthand side of the saddle would slip between his shoulder blade and the thorax, obviously causing him pain. This was the cause of Kudi’s refusal to do the flying change and his resulting dangerous behavioural problems.

I gave Kudi some treatment to relieve the bruising to his back, caused by the saddle, and then put him in a Wintec Isabell Saddle with the CAIR® Cushion System. Within a week Kudi was performing perfect flying changes without any problems whatsoever and his behavioural problems were diminishing. When Kudi started competing that season he was never out of the rosettes and, in fact, he qualified for the Regional Finals and he is now working at Prix St George level. All we needed to do with Kudi was change his saddle, treat some bruising to his back and all of a sudden he has become a Grand Prix horse in the making.

Case Study 2

Milly was a showjumping horse purchased for ‘meat money’, after being deemed unrideable and completely mad. Upon assessing the horse Dr. Williams found two massive areas of scarring underneath where the points of her saddle would sit. Movement of the shoulder blade is just as important in a Show Jumping horse as with a Dressage Horse. If the scapula can not rotate backward to allow the horse to snatch their forelegs up they tend to knock the top bar off with their forelegs. You can imagine the pain the horse endured as the entire weight of the rider bore down on the two points of the saddle in landing. 

Dr. Williams treated Milly for six weeks to treat the scarring on her back and get her more comfortable. Then fitted the horse with a Bates Caprilli All Purpose Saddle with the CAIR® Cushion System and she never refused a jump again.

“I have used these saddles for both performance development of sport horses and to restore muscle to the backs of horses who had previously sustained significant chronic saddle damage. Not only have I observed improvement to movement in the sport horses but I have been impressed as to the ease of adjustment as the damaged horses regain lost muscle” (Dr. Gail Williams).

Dr Williams is so convinced by the superior performance of saddles with the CAIR® Cushion System that she includes a saddle with CAIR® in the cost of treating all horses that come to her. The fact that the CAIR® Cushion System does not allow pressure points to form means that blood is allowed to flow more freely to where it’s needed and this encourages atrophied, or underdeveloped muscles to redevelop.