About Us

Saddlery Dresch offers premium quality, Made-to-Measure Saddles through a network of highly skilled Professional Saddle Fitters in the United States and Canada. The LLC is owned and operated by Sebastian Dresch and Julie Nelson, who began working together in 2012 after being introduced by a mutual client who recognized they shared very similar philosophies on Dressage Horses and Saddles. With over 25 years experience in the industry between them, Nelson is dedicated full time to Saddlery Dresch LLC and based out of their main office in Dublin, California. Dresch spends half of his time working in the US and Canada and the other half in his native Germany, serving Clients all over Europe for Sattlerei Dresch UG.

Sebastian Dresch grew up training and showing Dressage horses in his native Germany. After University he started up a successful business in the paper industry and continued riding as a hobby. Frustrated with the limitations he found in his own saddles and hoping simply to learn to make adjustments and modifications to them himself, Sebastian sought out and trained with Saddle Maker Masters in Germany. His talent for identifying the needs of each individual horse and ability to translate that into his tree and saddle designs, along with his leather working abilities and attention to detail can’t be overstated. Combined with his own riding experience, and deep love and understanding of horses made it a natural and inevitable progression into the Saddle Industry. After selling his paper business, he began selling and servicing saddles internationally for a Dutch Saddler. That evolved into developing his own brand in 2011, where he could influence every piece of the process.

Bitten early by the horse “bug”, Julie Nelson grew up trail riding and showing western pleasure and equitation in Northern California. After college at SDSU and 10 years living and working in San Diego, she returned to Northern California to pursue a career in Telecom Sales. In her spare time she took up Dressage to help rehabilitate Jake, one of her many furry and four legged “rescues”.  In 2000 she left Telecom to follow her passion, and began her second career and the journey that ultimately led to her partnership with Sebastian and Saddlery Dresch. She became Certified as an Equine Sports Massage Therapist (ESMTII) through Equitouch Colorado where she was introduced to the fundamentals of Saddles and Saddle Fitting.  Considering that no amount of therapeutic massage can make up for an ill fitting saddle, it did not take long before saddle consultations comprised the majority of her business and she realized she had found her calling. With more specialized training she expanded to servicing and repair on all brands of Dressage and Jump saddles in Northern California and Nevada, selling saddles for two well-known international Saddlers.

Julie is a Qualified Saddle Fitter, certified with the Society of Master Saddlers UK; the only internationally recognized and non-brand-specific certification available to Saddle Fitters worldwide.

“The Saddle industry as a whole is very young and lacking professional standards in North America. As business professionals, Sebastian and I learned as much from other Saddlers limitations as their successes, says Nelson. Sharing the same philosophies on saddles, horses and the challenges of our industry, we were able to combine that valuable experience into forming Saddlery Dresch. We feel we have not only the most skilled Saddle Fitters, but solutions in saddle design, business philosophy and customer service available in the industry. The result is a unique saddle for each horse that is exceptional in both quality and function, and proven to bring out the best in you and your horse. Along with a company and Saddle Fitters that stand firmly behind those saddles.”

What makes us different...
When developing new components, we work closely with our Saddle Fitters, Professional Riders, Trainers, Body Workers and Veterinarians. We study breeding trends and incorporate them into our designs to keep our offerings current for the horses we are seeing in the show ring today. New components are tested in design and function before going into production… or near your horses back. We are not limited by using pre-made models, every saddle is made according to each horse and rider’s individual needs, with attention to every detail. We don’t believe there is such thing as a successful “general fit” saddle or that horses and riders benefit from that business model. We prefer taking the care and time necessary and working with more selective riders, rather than making the necessary compromises to sell our saddles to the mass market.

Our business continues to grow at an astounding rate through our carefully selected, trained and highly skilled Saddle Fitters. We can’t say enough about how valuable our Fitters are to us as a Company, and to you as our Clients. Saddles are a combination of Art and Science, and there is no amount of theory that can take the place of hands-on experience, it takes many years to become proficient at our craft.

Along with riding in our saddles on our own horses whenever our schedule permits, we continue to learn from every horse and rider we meet and work with. And our growth has all taken place with no advertising to speak of and rare appearances at shows, all simply by word of mouth. We are very proud of that and feel it speaks highly of our work and our Clients appreciation of our philosophy; “Exceptional Saddles for Exceptional Horses, with no compromises”.

We offer you a very warm welcome if you are new to Saddlery Dresch and thank you for taking the time to look through our website. We look forward to meeting you and your horse, and all of the possibilities and opportunities in working with you both!

Sincerely,

Sebastian Dresch and Julie Nelson