Saddle Ergonomic Chair

A saddle chair is a seat you sit astride rather than in. The seat is shaped like a riding saddle, which drops the thighs away from the hips and puts the sitter in a posture partway between sitting and standing. It is the standard answer for dental and clinical work, lab benches, and detail work at a bench or counter, anywhere the job demands leaning forward and reaching across a work surface all day.

The thing that matters about a saddle seat is the hip angle. Conventional task seating holds the thighs roughly horizontal, which rotates the pelvis backward and flattens the lumbar curve, the reason slouching is the default after an hour. Straddling a saddle opens that angle well past 90 degrees, so the pelvis stays upright and the spine keeps its natural curve without the sitter having to think about it. The consequence is that the chair needs no backrest, which is exactly why it works at a bench: nothing behind the sitter to stop them leaning in and reaching. The corollary is that it is not a chair for sitting back and reading. Saddle seating is for active, forward work, and people generally need a week or two to adapt to it.

Key features

• Saddle-shaped seat for an open hip angle and upright, active posture
• Backless design allows unobstructed forward reach across a bench or work surface
• Height-adjustable to suit the working surface
• Compact footprint that tucks under benches and counters
• Pairs well with sit-stand desks, lab benches and clinical workstations

Specification and options

This chair is built to order, so seat height range, upholstery and base are set when we specify it rather than chosen on this page. Tell us the working height you need to reach, bench, counter or sit-stand desk, and we will match the chair's height range to it, because a saddle chair set too low for the surface undoes most of what it is for. Upholstery, casters or glides, and a foot ring where the seat sits high are all specified at the same time.

Because it is built to order around your working height, this one is quoted rather than priced online. It is also a chair worth trying before committing to a floor's worth, tell us what the work involves and we will arrange a sample and a firm price. Get in touch and we will set it up.