Do wintec changable gullets really work?

ameeyal

ameeyal

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I have a wintec with a medium gullet in it, my youngster is wide, the red gullet is the wide one, but it doesnt look that wide in comparisan to my medium one, do they make a differance before i buy one .
 
Hi, yes they really do work, I have a bates elevator and a wintec the I agree that the gullets don't look to make an amazing difference but they do, the only caution that I would make is that changing the gullet of the saddle obviously doesnt change the back so for really wide or narrow horses they are perhaps not the best. I use med/med-wide and wide gullets with mine and find the slight alterations they make to the fit of the saddle are just right for the horses that I use them on
 
What Queenbee said. Yes, they make a big difference. But often the wintec saddles are unsuitable for wide horses due to the shape of the tree. They can fit well in front if you put a wide gullet in, but the back is often too narrow and so it perches, rather then fits wider flat backed horses, resulting in too much movement in the saddle.
 
Thank you for your replys, i will get one, but only if the saddle is sitting nice on his back, which i hadnt noticed as i was just looking at the withers.
 
I'm not the only fitter who isn't fond of the shape of the Wintec headplate:

http://saddlefitter.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/changeable-gullets-details.html

And YES to looking at the overall balance, the panel configuration, whether the saddle lifts at the back, there is SO much more to saddle fit than whether the gullet is the right width, I see way too many of these saddles incorrectly fitted, and that will never fit correctly:

http://saddlefitter.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/from-tree-up-sub-topic-adjustable-trees.html#more
 
Have had one for a while and yes I could make do with it on 2 different horses but it was never really 'right' on either. Very uncomfortable to ride in and I always felt perched. The gullet has a weird kink in it which affects the fitting as sbloom pointed out in a previous post. If i was using an adjustable again it wouldn't be Wintec :)
 
Echo the previous posts about there being more to a saddle fitting than the width. I feel thorowgood synthetics are better than wintec as they make specific shapes,high either,cob etc. having said that,I had a thorowgood before the gullets changed and you just had to use the fish system which I didn't like and it created pressure points.
Its better ti have a well fitting synthetic than a poorly fitted leather saddle.
I'd get the local saddler out to have a look. :-)
 
Couldn't do without mine, my mare when she was young was an extra wide and now goes between a medium to a wide, I need to change her gullet once a month.
 
my saddler refuses to fit those wintec interchangables, as has been mention, you can change the width of the gullet til the cows come home but it does not account for the overall balance of the saddle, panel width or tree shape against the horses back. Yes, they fit a few horses well but I dont see how making a saddle wider/narrower at the front can be a great fit as the tree itself is still the same width. Lots of people find the wintecs too banana shaped. Thorowgood tend to be a safer bet so I heard. Personally I dont like the changable ones but I can see why people have them.
 
I've used the Wintec/Bates changeable gullets for decades and never had a problem with them.

TBH I find the Bates/Wintec range seem to fit a wide range of horses. The Wintec - cloth version I have had the odd problem with the saddle slipping back on some horses but the BAtes I love - I have a 20yr old Bates Olympia that is so comfortable but unfortunately looking rather tatty now.

Currently I'm saving up to buy one of the Wintec wide range for my Clydie.
 
I love my wintec, fits my girl really well and she loves the cair panels. I borrowed a friends flocked saddle for a while (fit was checked and deemed fine) and she didn't go anywhere near as nicely. So short of saving up for a wow or sue Carson I will be using wintecs/ bates's on her forever I think.
 
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