Another Saddle post but I am Desparate!

R

Resupgirl

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 December 2007
Messages
229
Visit site
I am at my wits end with saddles. I need a saddle with a thoroughbred panel in it to suit a sloping withered, narrow barrelled, with huge shoulders and movement currently in a ideal Jessica but too narrow. At 4 and 17hh I am not wanting to buy a new saddle thought I had cracked it with the Jessica but my back lady told me it was too narrow and she has been acting up on the corners when schooling.

So options.

Kent & Masters Hi Withered
Thorowgood Hi Withered
New Jessica in M/W

Or WOW (which is getting more tempting by the day) saddle for life or not?

But if I spent this amount money on a new one I think if it didn't fit I will sell the horse and buy a new horse to fit the saddle!

But it does seem to have all the panels etc I need for this gangly critter! Joking aside this mare is sensitive and needs to be comfortable and I also do quite like her really (never admit though she is a ratbag) loves to please but will kick off if not comfortable and can lift them gangly legs right over her ears
blush.gif
oo

Just fed up with youngsters at the moment they are all growing out of everything!
smirk.gif
 
You can send the Ideals back to the manufacturer and have them adjusted. Get a saddler to take a template of the mare, and send it along with the saddle.

May not be a long term solution if she changes again, but might see you thru this crisis.
 
I have a meadowcreek middleton which fits my tb really well -has the tb panel and is reasonably high withered . Picked mine up for £300 in the frogpool sale a couple of years ago and it has worn really well. Frogpool did have one in black but it has gone from their website so it may have sold
 
Absolutely no hesitation whatsoever - a WOW. I bought them for exactly that reason, that I have young horses who change all the time. I have saved an absolute fortune. They are not the most comfortable saddle in the world for all riders, but most horses adore the freedom of the jointed tree, that allows their shoulders to really move. Your horse is a great example of a horse who needs the panel of the saddle to sit behind the shoulder, while allowing the flap to come a bit more forward to fit your knee.

Get a pump kit too and you can adjust them yourself as she changes week by week. I strongly recommend that you try an extra deep seat and giant knee rolls before you buy if your mare is very big moving. I need them on my warmblood, they've made a huge difference.

And if your mare is sensitive, ride with a geleze or similar very thin gel pad, because some of them can feel the overlap between the front and back airbags.#

And I also recommend that you get a tabbed panel unless it is completely impossible to make it fit - they are MUCH more flexible with what horses they will fit than the non-tabbed panel that most fitters will try to sell you for a thoroughbred, and you sound as if you may change horses in the future and want it to fit another. Plus as a 17 hh TB at 4 she's going to change a heck of a lot herself!
 
I wouldnt go for a Wow, i've had bad experiances with both the company itself and the "fitter" in my area. A local yard had a Wow demo, and not a single person turned up!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
That's a shame charlimouse. A bad fitter is a real problem, which is why I got a pump kit of my own, that and the cost of calling them out. Fitting them isn't rocket science unless you have a very difficult shaped horse. It's much easier to get air to fit than flocking, because it moves to where the horse isn't. For most horses its find-the-right-size-gullet-plate and ask three simple questions - "is the panel short enough", "is the gullet wide enough" and "is it level front to back". I don't know about problems with the company because I usually buy off eBay to get the price I want.

Another note resupgirl, don't be too swayed by being able to change flaps and panels. New flaps and new panels each cost as much as a whole new cheap new saddle and more than a second hand quality one. And don't even think about changing gullets to use it daily on more than one horse, or flaps, or even flap position - it is FAR too fiddly to make that a really sensible idea, which is why I now have five of them!
 
i wouldn't recommend a WOW either, had 1 for my tb (high withered etc etc) and it is the only saddle she has ever bucked in.
i'd prob be looking at a Barrie Swaine, either a 2nd hand one (lots about, i have some if you want to try) or a Semiflex new.
 
I think wow is excellent- my high withered TB , 4 year old exracer absolutely loves it and has gone from strength to strength, muscled up a fair amount already in just a few weeks!
My exracer before that, who had a kissing spine op , wow was the only saddle he would go in , and he had every concievable saddle make under the sun made for him and he wouldnt move an inch in any of them!

Just had the one horse it did not work that well for- a very hot and anxious horse, who had a lot of complex physical an mental problems, it did not help things at all.

Of course not all horses like wow some hate them, some love them. The fitter has to be excellent, make sure you get a fitter with a good reputation
 
I love wow saddles but as with any saddle they need to be fitted properly! They get a bad press when someone has had a crap fitter who has got it wrong or when people think they can get away with a less than perfect fit (e.g. not checking it regularly). As with any saddle they need to be checked every 6 months, sometimes more. They are good value for money with youngsters because of the fine adjustments you can do on a regular basis, so you can prevent getting to the stage where a horse is complaining.

Because you can feel the horse much more in a wow compared to other saddles, it follows that the horse can also feel you more too. They also allow the horse to move more freely when correctly fitted. Because of this the horse sometimes needs a period of adjustment to a wow, it doesnt necessarily mean it doesnt fit.

One of my youngsters needed a different panel type after a couple of years because he chaged so much but he is VERY difficult to fit. But as a general rule one saddle should last for a long time and you can just change the panel on its own anyway, you can keep the rest of the saddle.

My second choice for the OP would be the kent and masters or thorowgood, they are well designed saddles for the money and adjustable to a certain extent. If you cant afford £1700 for a wow then i would get one of these.
 
I love marmite too!

After many unsuccessful saddles I had a WOW fitter come out and fit one. WOW - my horse hated it with a vengeance - went bucking round the school, most unlike him. He also had lots of problems with Sue Carson saddles so obviously doesn't like the air panels.

Agree with Kerilli. After spending thousands of pounds the only saddle which has worked has been the Barry Swain/Kay Humphries Mondial saddle. I also bought another one for my ever-growing Irish Draught and it's been highly successful. If ever I needed to replace them I would opt for Barry Swain Semiflex.
 
Going to have a look at these Barry Swain saddles not heard of them before. Thank you ladies. Got a saddle fitter coming out after many phone calls and picking of brains. I don't hold out much hope of the school being good enough to ride in though with all this weather on the way but makes me feel better having an appointment in the a diary it might brighten up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top