Does anyone school in a jump saddle?

AShetlandBitMeOnce

AShetlandBitMeOnce

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So after serious saddle woes this year with two that haven't fit, and thankfully trusting my gut and stopping riding in them quick sharp, had an alternate saddler out on Thursday and we found the best fitting saddle was an Ideal T&T Jump which looks like this:

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I am just quite nervous that I am going to regret buying a jump saddle when we will mostly be hacking, some low level schooling and the odd fun ride - both from a comfort point of view, and the view that I was always told that jump saddles aren't designed to be on the horse for extended periods of time (although not sure if this is outdated info). I don't actually plan to jump him until he's 5. The saddle is pretty comfy, although I have only sat in it for 10 mins at a time as Dex had had 8 weeks off due to no saddle - but despite being horrendous at the fitting, yesterday he was back to the quiet, willing youngster I had before these issues and I could honestly have cried I was so happy.

It's a lot of money for me at the moment as I have been out of work since January, so I really need to not make a mistake!
 
Everyone who intends to jump should school and ride in a jump saddle.
It’s builds strength and muscle memory .
Hunting is a challenge in the fitting of jump saddles as it goes on so long and the horse changes size as they loose fluid .
But I use my jump saddles every day they hack I use dressage saddles not a lot at the moment .
My horses have two jump saddles one that fits us girls and one for the men that ride them.
 
I would be worried that relatively soon in his path to maturity you will find the set forward stirrup bars on a jump saddle make it difficult for you to stay in good balance with him and have your heel in line with your hip and shoulder. They're an advantage on very young horses, and for fast work and jumping, not so much so on older ones at the times when you aren't doing fast work.
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ycbm said:
I would be worried that relatively soon in his path to maturity you will find the set forward stirrup bars on a jump saddle make it difficult for you to stay in good balance with him and have your heel in line with your hip and shoulder. They're an advantage on very young horses, and for fast work and jumping, not so much so on older ones at the times when you aren't doing fast work.
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That’s where doing using one for schooling comes in you can’t develop the core strength and muscle memory you need without riding in a jump saddle .
You of course need to training your body to do it right .
Practise makes permanent not perfect , do the wrong things and that’s what you will do for ever .
 
Goldenstar said:
you can’t develop the core strength and muscle memory you need without riding in a jump saddle
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I think there are plenty of people who have never ridden in a jump saddle who could show that isn't true. I don't see why riding in a saddle that deliberately makes hip shoulder heel alignment difficult would be a good thing.

I learned that way for 15 years when all saddles had the bars set forwards, and it took me another 10 to finally get properly in balance and overcome that bad muscle memory. The rider should not be making an effort to keep the heel beneath them, it's exercising the wrong muscles.
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Yes , we ride all of ours in equipe synergy saddles .
We do have a dressage saddle , that gets dusted off and used once in a while .

My daughter uses the jump saddle when she does her eventing for all 3 phases . Never been a problem
 
Asha said:
Yes , we ride all of ours in equipe synergy saddles .
We do have a dressage saddle , that gets dusted off and used once in a while .

My daughter uses the jump saddle when she does her eventing for all 3 phases . Never been a problem
Click to expand...

I have a friend who rode all 3 phases of Badminton in a jump saddle.
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Fab, thanks everyone! I feel much better about it now. Not that he will be hunting any time soon, but I had forgotten people hunt all day in jump saddles, them not being meant for long term sitting in must be something of old now that we have such emergent designs/technology.

I usually lean towards dressage saddles, so have predominantly used those on my last two horses and tend to ride longer, and this saddle doesn't make me feel like I need to ride super short or put me in a chair seat but I will make sure to really take note of where I am sitting this PM.

Not that I wanted one, but saddle fitter said she doesn't like fitting dressage saddles to amateur youngsters as she said that they rely on the underlying musculature over the trapezius/topline area being there much more in order to fit and bear the pressure/weight which I thought was interesting.
 
Until recently, I only rode in a close contact. I always felt most comfortable and secure in a medium deep close contact however I've now discovered a few dressage saddles that give me a similar feel.
 
I only have jump saddles for my boys so they school, hack and compete dressage in them as well as jumping. I find them much more comfy than dressage saddles but more importantly, so do my horses
 
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Yes, I haven’t had a dressage saddle for about 17yrs. Do everything in a jump saddle on current horse and my late gelding too.
 
I think you’d be better this way round than the other- I do everything in dressage saddles, admittedly not much jumping, but as I’m older and more creaky it’s increasingly more challenging- considering getting a jumping saddle for our more athletic moments! I did everything in very forward cut saddles (or racing saddles!) when I evented.
 
My part-loan has a jump and a dressage saddle - I hack almost exclusively in the jump saddle for longer rides and he's never had an issue. My feet have, however, gone dead in it (they don't do that in the dressage saddle). I think from my own experience, and reading the other responses, it's going to be your comfort and way of going that is more likely to be compromised.
 
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