Are T8 Jumping saddles any good??

warmbloodcrazy

warmbloodcrazy

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Hi all,

I am thinking of getting one of these for my boy for jumping in. I have a bates synthetic dressage saddle which is brilliant for hacking and flat work so this will be purely for jumping. I have tried a wintec close contact and it just felt like i was sitting on plastic i didn't like it at all. I do want a saddle ideally that is adjustable as my horse seems to change shape alot through the seasons as in winter his work load is cut down due to not being able to ride as much around work. I have looked into the T8 and it seems to fit the bill with the half leather half synthetic and the adjustable gullet and with the flocking as im not keen on cair but as they are fairly new saddles i havent heard alot of feed back on peoples experiences with them. So i am picking all you lovely peoples brains! Any feed back is much appreciated , thank you in advance!
 
We have a T8 GP which we are pleased with. It was one of the few (affordable) saddles which fitted our TB. It is extremely comfortable. We had a problem with one of the flaps (which is one of the synthetic parts on it) and Thorowgood replaced both flaps without quibbling. I am still of the old-fashioned "would prefer leather any day" brigade, but I cannot deny that this is a good saddle.
 
Stupid phone. Lol.
The saddle is lovely and comfortable and I really like it. Feel like I'm riding not pearched ontop. Again I'm one who loves a leather saddle but this is a compromise that I like as the seat and knee rolls are leather you do feel like its a leather saddle. Saddle looks good when we are out competing and people have said it doesn't look half and half.

I have also ridden in wintec saddle and I hated it. So like the t8.
 
I have one on order. Also an okkard shaped TB. Mine is a GP (not the GPD) and should be here next week. It's forward cut enough to hoik the stirrups up for jumping (baby horse) and still have saddle in front of the knees, but not too forward cut that it would compromise our schooling sessions. Nice seat (not as deep as my dressage saddle, but nevertheless comfortable).

Be warned, many companies are advertising them but very few have them in stock. Not sure this is the case for the jumping saddle but certainly was for the GP. My first saddler said 6-8 weeks, and I gulped. But he was quite rude, too, so I changed saddler. He didn't have any in stock, either, but said if I could find one, he'd fit it. He'd also use his contacts to look. So, I called 18 companies and by the time I got to Ayre thought I'd gone too far. Called up Thorowgood (Fairfax) who told me it would be 3 - 4 weeks as they were churning them out as fast as they could (10 per week) but had a backlog of orders.

Fortunately, Thorowgood did call my saddler to say they had a cancellation so mine gets here next week (fingers crossed - has been two and a bit weeks since ordering).
 
I managed to pick one up second hand and it's great! Horse goes well in it and I find it comfortable. Would obviously prefer a leather but it doesn't feel like a poor substitute and from a distance who can tell! Really good value for money.
 
joolie said:
I managed to pick one up second hand and it's great! Horse goes well in it and I find it comfortable. Would obviously prefer a leather but it doesn't feel like a poor substitute and from a distance who can tell! Really good value for money.
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The T8 is leather - it's a leather seat & knee rolls.

There do seem to be some problems with thorowgood getting these out the door and I've heard stories of people waiting months for them. I got lucky - ordered mine via saddler on the Tuesday and had it by Friday :)
 
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