For 160 years now, the “kieffer“ name has stood for Bavarian craftsmanship. In 1848, the company was founded in Munich, and soon developed into one of the leading makers of riding saddles, horse-drawn carriages and harnesses. After a varied history, kieffer has now established an international reputation as a German premium saddle manufacturer. The experience and craftsmanship built up over 160 years of the company’s history are reflected in every aspect of kieffer’s innovative products. The product portfolio ranges from high-quality English dressage, jumping and general purpose saddles, to saddle accessories, snaffle and double bridles, riding apparel and miscellaneous paraphernalia. kieffer products are sold via a global sales network present on every continent, in collaboration with well over 1,500 qualified dealers.
 
Since World War II, the company’s premises at the Munich-Daglfing location have been a centre for top quality saddle production in Southern Germany. Starting with quality control of the leather, via cutting and subsequent processing of the material, to the expert assembly of the individual saddle components, all the work is done meticulously by hand.
 
 
The Munich Manufacture
 

	On its way to becoming a quality product, a kieffer saddle goes through a number of stages in the production process.     The incoming goods department is the cornerstone for the manufacture of a quality product. The leather goods supplied are checked with the utmost care for defects like scars or cracks.    After the hides have been checked on receipt, they are punched out or cut for their intended purpose.   The special purposes for which the individual sections are used require the most varied preparatory processes before the leather components can be stitched together by sewing machine in a manual process.   It requires great dexterity and familiarity with the sewing machine to sew leather parts like saddle panels and saddle skirts precisely by hand.		In a subsequent production stage, the saddle panels are flocked with synthetic wool. The main concern here is to flock the panel as evenly as possible. It takes decades of experience to achieve optimal padding of saddle panels.   After the saddle tree has been covered with leather and most of individual sections of the saddle have been assembled, the 100% rustproof fittings are mounted and the saddle completed.     Example of a finished quality product made by kieffer: Special jubilee edition dressage saddle "kieffer Limited 2008"  All saddles undergo final inspection before shipment, in order to ensure 100% quality control. Protected by a velvety-soft cloth, the saddle leave the company's premises in Munich.