Comfort Elite Saddles, any experiences? Or jump saddles for cob?

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DirectorFury

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More specifically, the 'Elevation Mono-Flap Jump Saddle' (http://www.saddleexchange.com/catalogue/saddles/comfort-elite-elevation-mono-flap-jump-saddle/) and the 'Evolution GPX Forward Cut Gp Saddle' (http://www.saddleexchange.com/catalogue/saddles/comfort-elite-evolution-gpx-forward-cut-gp-saddle/).

Saddle is to be for a big shouldered Welsh D who has a wide Albion dressage saddle (SRS Kollection). I'm also looking at a wide Albion K2 Jump but don't think the tree would be flat enough. Tried a Thorowgood T8 jump saddle (with the square cantle) but the angle of the tree points is far too wide. I'll be getting any saddle properly fitted but I'm just looking for a starting point! Last saddler that came out had a K2 jump but only in medium - I sat in it and I <3 it but am not 100% sure it would fit the horse.
 
Use the search function to research the company "Saddle Exchange Saddling Solutions" or Woodward & Woodward Ltd who have them made and sell them, you'll find plenty.
 
sbloom said:
Use the search function to research the company "Saddle Exchange Saddling Solutions" or Woodward & Woodward Ltd who have them made and sell them, you'll find plenty.
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I would urge extreme caution if buying any of the saddles made by this company. My own experience with them was frankly horrendous, I won't go into all the details here but suffice it to say that they are only interested in flogging their brand new saddles to you; when you've then bought the saddle and run into a problem (mine developed a manufacturing defect which made it unusable after a very short period after purchase :( ) then they don't want to know, other than offering to "buy back" the saddle from you at a grossly reduced price - this in spite of them justifying their new purchase price by saying that because they are "quality saddles" they'll sell well on the second hand market!! They won't, frankly, because people associate a product (saddle) with the reputation of the company making them, and my experience is that they will NOT sell well when people find out the name on the stirrup plate!!

After-care is appalling: you will wait weeks nay months for an appointment, and take time off work to do so, then they will either cancel at the last minute and mess you around OR arrive at least four hours late and you will receive a very rushed and frantic saddle fitting, and still pay hugely for the privilege. Then you will look at the saddle they've flocked the next day, and you will notice to even the untrained eye that the panels are not looking the same, one side is different to the other side, uneven, as the flocking hasn't been put in evenly.

They will boast hugely about their "celebrity clients", particularly in the world of endurance; but in actual fact this may be more wishful thinking than current status - I know this because my trainer and my loan mare's owner is a Golden Horseshoe endurance rider and whilst some endurance riders may indeed have used them in the past, they then switched back to their normal saddlers quite quickly. Says it all I think.

I would urge caution therefore: especially as the saddle I bought developed a defect in the seat of it after just over a year's use (for hacking, nothing else). It started bagging where the rider's seatbone sat on one side, which made it impossible to ride in. When I made the company aware of the situation, they firstly promised to pay for the necessary repairs as they tentatively agreed it was a manufacturing issue, THEN said, after the saddle had been deposited with them for the repair, and after at least a month with them!, that it would cost me £100 plus VAT because the damage had occurred for one of two reasons (a) because it was the horse's uneven-ness and way of going; and/or (b) it was the rider's fault!! My horse has regular physio from a professional and she's never diagnosed any problem that could occur for this level of damage, and secondly, the only people that ride my horse are myself, and two other people, both of whom are/have been professional grooms, one is ex-groom to a big name in the eventing world! So methinks highly unlikely that the rider caused it! None of us is over 11 stone . In the end, I was forced to sell the saddle back to them for a pittance of what I originally gave for it. I couldn't ride in it, couldn't sell it, and was over a barrel basically with a useless saddle which I'd paid a helluva lot of money for.

OP I would, as "sbloom" has suggested, do your research, thoroughly, before you consider buying this saddle. There was a thread running on here only recently under "native pony saddles" or similar, and another one further ago, in the last month, about "reactor panel" saddles. Have a look through those as other people on here have shared their experiences with this company. Also feed in the key words to other horsey chat-sites and you will come up with plenty.

If you go onto the Andrea Hicks website, her saddles are specifically for native ponies etc and I'm sure there will be a jumping saddle on there which might suit you??? Or there are other jumping saddles on the market which you could also consider.
 
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sbloom said:
Use the search function to research the company "Saddle Exchange Saddling Solutions" or Woodward & Woodward Ltd who have them made and sell them, you'll find plenty.
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Oh dear! Yep, definitely don't want to deal with these people. Thanks for the heads-up.

MiJodsR2 - thanks for sharing your experience, I shall avoid like the plague based on your post and other experiences I've found. Very suspicious that they trade under 4+ names also. I quite like the look of one of the AH jump saddles so that's one to add to the list :). I notice they don't have any fitters covering West Wales (Carmarthen) though, which might be a problem.

Highlands - I'll look at them, thank you :).
 
I've got a Comfort Elite show saddle which I bought second hand a couple of years ago and it's lovely. Very good quality and hasn't weathered badly at all.
 
I had a bad experience, I wouldn't touch with a barge pole, totally agree about the rushed, botched fittings at highly inflated prices. I paid over £100 for a reflock on the £1100 saddle I purchased from them, apart from the fact they couldn't wait to get away for their lunch booking at Rick steins a photo taken the following day of me going over a jump showed a lift so bad on the back of the saddle you could have put a fist under it.
 
Rhodders said:
I had a bad experience, I wouldn't touch with a barge pole, totally agree about the rushed, botched fittings at highly inflated prices. I paid over £100 for a reflock on the £1100 saddle I purchased from them, apart from the fact they couldn't wait to get away for their lunch booking at Rick steins a photo taken the following day of me going over a jump showed a lift so bad on the back of the saddle you could have put a fist under it.
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Sorry, have been away and only just picked up this thread again.......... looks like we're a growing club then "Rhodders". I thought it was just me originally who was dis-satisfied! I'm a YO and between us, my livery and I bought four of their saddles - plus the resultant return visits for fittings etc. I did a rough estimate of that being worth about £4000 or so, if not more, to them.

When they came here they were always dashing off to Lucinda McAlpines place as its roughly in the local area; that was their local "celebrity client". We obviously were "Bargain Basement" but not at bargain basement prices unfortunately :(
 
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