Bates or Albion?

Ive got a bates Jump saddle and an albion dressage sadlle, both are lovely, but Albions are reknown for having long points (except for th WB model) so be careful which design/tree shape you get as BAtes have short tree points! Leather on both is lovely.
 
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Albion Albion Albion - had Bates but just couldn't get it to fit and the Albion is mcuh more comfy.

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So you prefer the Albion then!!
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I've got an Isabell Werth leather dressage saddle which I bought for a young horse so that I could change the size. I am really pleased with it but the leather doesn't seem to have worn as well as I would have liked. The leather on the Bates saddle has faded slightly from black to a sort of green tinge.

I decided to buy an Albion K2 dressage sadle for my horse (and keep the Bates as a spare). I though I know what fitting he was and managed to buy a brand new one (used less than ten times) from ebay for £500! Unfortunately it doesn't fit him (he needs a medium fitting), but I am so impressed with the quality of it. I think the quality of the leather is better than the Bates. I think Bates are Autralian and Alboin are English leather. I need to sell the K2 that I currently have to buy a new one, but I'm definately going back for another Albion!
 
Depends what you like!! I personally like my flat seated saddle (ive got the momentum) and had a K2 on my pony that I loved, but hated on G cos it was too restrictive!!
 
Albion every time! I have had several Bates saddles and have to agree that the quality is not as good - my black saddle went 'green' as well! Have had 2 x K2's and they are fab but do get them fitted properly s they have quite a few variations.
 
I love my Albion K2 jumping saddle and I am secure int he saddle when my horse does dirty stops, rears or bucks
 
Both are lovely saddles but if you have a horse that is prone to changing shape according to the season then go for the Bates every time. They're a quality saddle & you can change the gullet size in minutes to fit your horse. With most others you will either have to have a saddler adjust it or put prolite pads etc under it to make it fit. Both will end up costing you far more than a replacement gullet at about £14.95.
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I love my Albion K2 jumping saddle and I am secure int he saddle when my horse does dirty stops, rears or bucks

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Thats what Im thinking of, coz Arch has a tendancy to buck after a fence and I just dont feel Ive got much infront of me with the Bates.
 
Ideal
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I used to be an albion fan but I recently changed to an ideal saddle. So glad I did and im now converted.
Ideal are reasonably priced saddles, they are far cheaper than the top of the range albions and are just as good if not better.

To answer your original question, I would go for the albion.
 
See that's what I thought but even with a qualified saddler changing the gullets to the right size my Bates just didn't fit, what fitted over the withers didn't fit at the back and vice versa. I had to get the physio out to fix all the problems it caused.
 
I've got two K2s - one GP and one jumping. I love them
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Would certainly recommend them
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I haven't tried a Bates though.
 
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