Bates Saddles

[Kenzo]

I tried a brand new Bates Caprilli saddle at the weekend (along with several other makes) question for those that use them, are these saddles on the large side? because I was given a 16.5'' to try (all labled and stickered etc) baring in mind I'm 5'6 (size 8/10) however she's a small mare and said to the saddler are you sure that's only a 16.5'' as I was expecting it look quite smaller in comparission to what I usually ride in which are 17'' or 17.5'', saddler insisted that it was ok fair enough I thought, told me to bob on the dummy horse/saddle wrack and try it for size as he thought that it may be a bit small for me, to his suprise there also there was bags of room!!, got it home to try and it looked huge on her it was the same size as a 17.5'' and actually bigger than some of the 17'' saddles that I was trying.

Oh the wonders of saddles eh

 

[galaxy]

Have you stuck a tape measure on it?

Could it just be that it has a flatter seat than the others so looks longer?

 

[Beausmate]

I have a 17.5" Caprilli, one of the old ones. I wouldn't say it was any bigger than my 17.5" Thorowgood and it definitely feels bigger than my 17" Wintec. Could it have been mis-labelled?