Calling all Solution Saddle users

Pootleperkin you have made me think it will be worth a try if your girl is not a littlun either! Looove close contact!

I don't think the HM flexee is *that* new now really, there is a facebook group for them and they have moved on from the prototype that was real cheap, they came in certain widths, and now it is fully width adjustable with shoulder shims if needed and I believe the panels can Velcro off underneath to adjust the gullet width. People are used to wide gullets now but it needs to sit on the strong muscles either side of the spine!

The weight limit is 13st for the flexee but more for the phoenix and vogue :-)

I have trouble with treed saddle slipping anyway when getting on (fine when on, I'm not very good at it so maybe its my technique!) So I don't think it'll make much difference in that respect for me :-) I just walk until I can find a log or rock or something!
 
Horsewitterer said:
ShadowFlame I'm in a village called Clifton upon Teme (about 12 miles out of Worcester kind of North West of the city). Are you near ish to me?

Tedmunster, I have tried an HM saddle but just wasn't sure. One of the main reasons I couldn't decide on treeless the last time I considered it was because I cannot mount from the floor. Might sound a bit daft, but when you're on a hack and have to dismount because of a gate that's a bit tricky, how do you get back on if the saddle spins round? :) The HM saddle has no D rings so can't attach a breast plate (just thought that might help as regards slipping).

However, I much prefer the gullet width on the HM saddles - nice and wide. I did also find it comfy, and Heather obviously gets on well with them and has ridden in them for years and years. I've also read lots of good things about them, so I might re-consider them again.

Lots of you seem to get on very well with the Solutions though, especially the Freestyle it seems - the Freestyle's a dressage model isn't it?

Weird how Deoni had those issues though and I've always worried out the gullet width and it seems her issues were attributable to the more narrow gullet.

One thing for sure is I do want to change my saddle. I did wonder about the FlexEE but I really want a saddle that's been well tried and tested and has been used for a bit of everything. The FlexEE is so new that I'm not sure how well it will stand the test of time, although lots of people seem to like it.

Don't know what to do!! There seems to be good and bad :rolleyes:
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According to Google, about 30 miles out. We're very north west of Worcs :) If you'd like to see one "in the flesh", so to speak, you'd be welcome to (feel free to PM me). I would highly recommend having a rep out if you're seriously considering one though - they're brilliant.

For reference, I used a HM Fhoenix and a Smart Native Solution saddle on my heavy cob. HM regularly ended up under his stomach when attempting to get on from the ground - SS stayed solid. I didn't make a habit of doing it, but it was VERY helpful when having to get off out hacking. I didn't have to winch the girth up either to get that stability. It's worth noting that his treed saddle always slipped too, but the fit really wasn't the best.

Freestyle comes in GP and Dressage, from what I understand. My rep let me ride in both the Smart (Native GP) and the Freestyle (Dressage) before I made a decision. Both lovely saddles, very little difference between them, but Smart has more of a twist.

You hear good and bad about every saddle make, really. All you can do is try one and see what you think. As soon as I sat in a Solution, I wanted one :o Big difference to the first impression of a Fhoenix.
 
Amicus said:
Only use solution saddles now and I think they're brilliant well worth the investment, in my experience if you get them fitted right you won't go back.

I also met a lady from a SJ dealer who uses them for all there horses as they can get a good fit without having loads of different treed saddles.
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Once I started using Solution saddles I sold 8 treed saddles which we'd had to have in the tackroom in order to vaguely fit anything that came through the yard, and since then everything is ridden in the treeless saddles which I can then fit to all different shapes of horse. Also, a lot of the schoolers that come with "behavioural" problems are transformed simply by riding them in treeless as opposed to their ill-fitting treed saddles.
 
mandwhy said:
Pootleperkin you have made me think it will be worth a try if your girl is not a littlun either! Looove close contact!
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This is Pie-face trying her Smart Native dressage at home for the first time. She has changed shape a bit since then (lost and toned tummy) and it is fitting her better.



I used the saddle to do SFAS with my other horse, as I didn't have anything else suitable. It fine for a slightly narrower horse for the day, but I wouldn't have him in it for the long term - guess I would need a fitter to look at how to shim it, but unnecessary cost when his own dressage saddle fits perfectly.

I simply wasn't able to get anything else to fit this mare (trying two saddlers over a year and a half - there might have been something else out there, but how long and how many saddles do you buy and sell before it gets silly) as she has a huge lifting stride and twist. Anything fitting at rest didn't fit when she moved!
 
Thanks for posting a pic pootleperkin - she's lovely! The saddle looks like it gives you a pretty good shoulder/hip/heel alignment too.

Shadowflame, thanks for the offer of me coming to look at your saddle, that's very kind. It's just finding the time to pop up but if I ever get closer to deciding what to do for the best :rolleyes: I'll drop you a PM! A native Smart GP is potentially one of the ones I'd be interested in - did you try the ordinary smart too? What did you like better about the native?

Mandwhy, let me know if you do decide to try a Solution - we can compare notes!

Deoni - so it sounds like on one horse the saddle was actually sitting on the wither (so downward pressure)? On the other pressure either side of wither due to the amount of pads? Maybe your fitter wasn't that great.... did you complain to Solution saddles about the issues you experienced? If so, what did they say?

Thanks for all the really helpful replies - they're much appreciated. It seems there's quite a Solutions following on this forum!
 
Horsewittere - The native is just modeled for wider horses, so the rep recommended that to me over the standard smart. :-) hope that helps. They do sit low on the wither, as they are bound to really, they don't have a tree holding them up ( quite obviously!). Mine us pretty stable - if girthed well, I reckon I could get on from the floor, but I always find somewhere to jump in from - often the gate I have just shut :-)
 
Horsewitterer said:
Deoni - so it sounds like on one horse the saddle was actually sitting on the wither (so downward pressure)? On the other pressure either side of wither due to the amount of pads? Maybe your fitter wasn't that great.... did you complain to Solution saddles about the issues you experienced? If so, what did they say?
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Yes that is exactly what happened. The pads were there to get it off the high tb wither, so had to be there, but caused pressure. The fitter seemed knowledgable enough, I don;t know if there was another way to get it off the wither? I never complained as after I put it on facebook for advice and a few of people pm'd me with pics etc and what it did to my horses, I just wanted rid! Other people get on with them though, the dorsal pads just created lots of problems for me. They might not have been right though, as it put me in a very bad position too, so something wasn't right with the fit. I'm not very close to a fitter so it was an expensive fit and didn't want to keep paying to get them out either.
:)
 
Horsewitterer said:
Shadowflame, thanks for the offer of me coming to look at your saddle, that's very kind. It's just finding the time to pop up but if I ever get closer to deciding what to do for the best :rolleyes: I'll drop you a PM! A native Smart GP is potentially one of the ones I'd be interested in - did you try the ordinary smart too? What did you like better about the native?
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I didn't try the regular Smart - the rep took one look at Rodney's back and told me the Native was the one to go for. He was typical cob, very wide, very flat, but he did have a bit of wither. To ride in, it was very close contact which I liked. You can feel movement below you and you're right next to their back, but it's still secure and "saddle-like". I think the regular would probably have felt too perched on him, as the HM always made me feel horrifically perched.

This was Rods modelling ours - we did allsorts in it, very stable, very secure (I could comfortably fit my fist between him and the girth in the jumping pic - I never had to overtighten it), really fantastic saddle. It'll be going on the new boy once he's ready, until then it's sat gathering dust at home.



 
I am in exactly the same quandry at the moment!

I have an appt with a WOW fitter next Thursday but am a bit nervous about the wow due to having a problem with previous saddles (Sue Carson) also fitted with Flair.

Im waiting to hear back from a SS rep to get one on trial and am also wanting to try a HM dressage saddle. Ive got a horse with a bit of a roach & coupled with a high wither it means treed saddles just seem to bridge in the middle and also restrict the shoulder.

Its a complete nightmare, confused.com!!
 
Shadowflame - Rodney was a real stunner, I love coloured cobs and he models the saddle v well in those photos! So sorry to see that you no longer have him with you. My cob is not quite as heavy as Rodney was but she has a typical cob back - but does have a little bit of wither, not totally flat, but you said Rodney had a bit of wither so maybe the saddles would work out quite well.

sarahw4517 - I thought about Wows, but as my issue is the saddle getting shunted off sideways I kind of thought that the WoW still has a solid tree so the same thing will happen. Although they can adjust the air to cope with aysymmetry. They are supposed to be v good saddles. The other saddles I'm looking at are Reactor Panel, on the basis that if they are good enough for endurance riders then they are probably good enough for us. Just want to understand a bit more about how they are put together first.
 
Horsewitterer said:
Shadowflame - Rodney was a real stunner, I love coloured cobs and he models the saddle v well in those photos! So sorry to see that you no longer have him with you. My cob is not quite as heavy as Rodney was but she has a typical cob back - but does have a little bit of wither, not totally flat, but you said Rodney had a bit of wither so maybe the saddles would work out quite well.
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Thank you - he was my boy, it's not quite the same without him.

The native seems to work quite well providing there isn't too much wither - a bit / none is fine. Rod's wasn't massive, but it only just gave clearance.

Saddles are a minefield, to be honest. The only way I made a decision either way was to ride in one :)
 
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