air (Flair) flock or new WOW saddle?

[Eceni]

Hi All

so... my ghastly little Ideal VSD doesn't fit, despite the Ideal saddler coming out last week, taking a brief look, and saying that it did. The rubbing was due to my riding off-centre - which I may do, but given that he didn't see me ride, was kind of interesting.

So now had a new saddler out who cringed and wept (metaphorically) and is offereing

Either

to re-flock my Ideal with air (ie, a Flar flock) and change the girth points. (total cost £350, but no guarantee of success)

OR

sell me a WOW at £1600 for which she *might* stretch to the stirrup leathers, but not the girth.

for those of you who have had either or both...

a) is this a reasonably price for a WOW saddle or will I get better if I go to another saddler

b) is air flocking even remotely useful?

ta

E

 

[I_A_P]

my new wow saddle was not that much for the one complete saddle( i had one saddle and an extra set of flaps which amounted to about 1800 i think) stirrup leathers should come with anyway thats what it says on the wow website. compared to what other people have said on here 1600 is around about right for a new wow saddle...i think ours was cheaper as several of us bought them all together!

i would fo for the WOW

any extra info u want just pm me!

 

[Weezy]

I have just ordered a WOW - leathers DEFFO come in the package (I get 2 lots, 1 set for my jump and 1 for my dressage), girths are never included. The price is about right.

 

[I_A_P]

yep i got the same as weezy...i think for me i could either have the girth or a slight discount as loads of us were getting them at the same time....so went for the dicopunt

 

[Eceni]

Thanks, guys.... will make executive decisions about panels and seats tonight...

sigh

money

sigh

E

 

[air78]

I had to pay £70 for a 2nd set of leathers to go with my dressage flap...... I got ripped, I feel like ringing first thought!

 

[air78]

Just another thought, I don't know what other peoples experences are, but big lad has built up quite a bit of muscle under the flair pannals (thank god

). He will need it altering soon.
If you get the Ideal fitted with flair, and your horse changes shape alot, you will need a new saddle, where as with the wow you can just get a new head plate.
Does your neddy have much topline/ muscle at the moment?

 

[I_A_P]

air 78 it may well depend on the fitter as i think they are self-employed!

 

[Tierra]

My wows have both been cheaper than that including stirrup leathers.

The last one came direct from First Thought so if you do choose the wow saddle route, it may just be worth checking out other distributors.

 

[Eceni]

I emailed First Thought and they said £1585 so maybe prices have gone up in 2007?

Pony is v young (rising 5) and has no topline at all, also fairly unbalanced thanks to early backing regime (not by me) so all in all, a WOW is probably the answer - the useless ideal isn't going to fit for long, if at all and I could blow £350 and still not be any further forward.

rats

so where's the best place to sell a hardly-used Ideal VSD?

E

 

[Tierra]

Ooooch. Glad I bought mine when I did

Try ebay for the ideal... or can the saddler who is doing the wow advertise it or sell it for you?

 

[Eceni]

She offered £450 which is better than ebay by a long shot, so may take it. Nowhere near the buying price, of course...

thanks all

E

 

[seabiscuit]

Personally I think that saddle company saddles are light years better than WOW saddles...
They fit the horses incredibly well, the horses go superbly well in them, and they cost only £500 new. The saddle company fitters are excellent too.
My horse has tried WOW, Sue Carson, Amerigo, Jaguar, Devoucoux, Prestige, Isabell Werth,and Albion.
He had every make of each of these saddles individually made and fitted for him but without a doubt his favourite saddle was the saddle company one.

 

[dozzie]

The price has just gone up!! I was told this was going to happen last month. If you'd got in before the end of February....£1500
For £1600 you should be getting the leathers and saddle cover within the price. Ring WOW to confirm or ring another wow fitter.

The girth is separate and you will have to pay for it as an extra if you need it but you wont necessarily need it. But they are nice!!

£450 is a good offer as you dont have the hassle of selling it, she does!!

If you can afford it Id go for the wow as it has lots of other advantages. But lots of people arent comfy in them so you need to make sure you are happy first.

Ive never regretted buying mine!!

 

[flyingfeet]

£450 for your ideal is not bad

I'd go with a WOW - will probably be the last saddle you buy! Also excellent if you ride slightly crooked as you can make a lateral adjustment with air.

Plus with practise you can adjust the wow yourself, so helps if you horse tends to yo-yo in weight.

 

[Eceni]

Thanks

Someone else suggsted The Saddle Company, so may try them before I rush into spending a fortune...

just as well I didn't buy a horse box yet - will be cadging lifts for a while, I think

E

 

[evsj]

My horse is finally developing muscle over her shoulders since I had her albion converted before chrimbo. I think flair panels have been the best 250 quid i have spent in a while.

If i had the extra money i would definately buy a wow, they don't suit all but for my horse who tends to hollow and has never developed a great topline, they have made a world of difference already.

 

[tinker88]

i want one.... to expensive for me

 

[dressagecrazy]

Hi, im trialing a Wow dressage saddle atm & would defo go with a Wow saddle now. Its lovely im pretty sure i will be buying it. The price is £1,595 they have gone up a £100 this year, but i was looking at an Albion SLK Ultima so if i buy the Wow i will of saved some money, well a little bit any way.

Well worth getting out a Wow fitter & giving a Wow a go, would reccomend the Extra Deep seat with Conventional flaps if your used to deep seated dressage saddles. This is the one im trialing & have to say its as nice as the Albion but better because its so ajustable.

 

[BBs]

I had flair added to my GP saddle and was so pleased with it. Cost around £200 to be done and made a huge difference to the way my mare went.

Only changed it because it made my new already big striding bouncy horse even more BOUNCY!

 

[Eceni]

[ QUOTE ]
, would reccomend the Extra Deep seat with Conventional flaps if your used to deep seated dressage saddles. This is the one im trialing & have to say its as nice as the Albion but better because its so ajustable.

[/ QUOTE ]


FIrst off, can you tell me who let you trial it in this area? Would be very good indeed to trial one or two different seats.

I dearly want sports pony to be a dressage girl when she grows up. She thinks she's into jumping and we might do some cross country - so everyone's saying go for the shallower seat. I tried the deep dressage yesterday and it was heaven after the crappy Ideal one - I could sit straight and tall and felt my body come into alignment for the first time since I left Cambridge and used to sit on my instructor's £5k saddle (no idea what it was, just knew it cost more than my horse by a large margin)

so.... would like WOW, will try The Saddle Co just to see what happens but would very much like to 'Trial' another WOW for a while so new trainer can see it...

we rode Pony bareback today -she went almost as well as in the WOW - and a hundred times better than in the Ideal

sigh

saddles

E

 

[PaddyMonty]

I went for the deep (not extra deep) seat for eventing. I have found this is fine for dressage but doesn't interfere when jumping. I have the moveable knee blocks which make a big difference allowing me to move them right down the flap when riding long for dressage.