Dressage Saddle Advice

Madam_max

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Can people tell me what dressage saddles they like? I am having a problem with my WB. He started off in a medium Ideal Jessica which kept slipping and he's now in my mares Albion SLK, which is better but not perfect.

The problem is he has huge paces and just moves the saddle.

I was thinking about getting one made to measure. Do Amerigo do this or any other suggestions would be great.
 

sbloom

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I would always recommend working with a great fitter - the brand of the saddle matters less than what will fit. M2M has its drawbacks, whoever makes the saddle (and most European saddles are made on production lines, so never truly M2M, even bench made English saddles are mostly tweaks to standard designs) and to be honest I've not met a horse yet that needed one, and I fit awkward bu**ers!

M2M means that you pay for at least some of a saddle upfront, and technically that money is not refundable, if it is it's because of the goodness of the company's heart. You get a saddle that you've never ridden in, and you have to buy it or make a loss to send it back. I always think it's better to trial a saddle and then buy it, the very same saddle.

Amerigo saddles will fit some horses, but not all, they have a particular fit, quite different to most UK made saddles.

If you get a saddle that truly fits it will not move. Huge paces are not an issue in themselves but they will show up the tiniest bit of instability, I had a ReactorPanel for my boy (still have the saddle but not the horse) who had huge paces and it worked a treat, but not all horses can wear them, same as anything.
 

MrsMozart

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Get a good saddle fitter.

I use Bridlepath International. They cover a fairly big geographical area.

When I want a new saddle, Laura brings out many, many saddles for us to try. She knows my horse well, so has an idea of what will fit her, but the horse is a bit quirky and even if a saddle 'fits' she might object, so we try more until we find one that Laura says fits and Dizz is happy with.

I've given up looking at saddles and choosing. It's up to the horse being comfortable, then me, then my bank account :cool:
 

eva

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ditto Mrs Mozart - get out a saddler who can bring out gazillions of saddles (to me gazillions is 7 or 8) and ride in them and feel what you like best! I have had Saddleworld for my new saddle, they have requested pics of my horse's back to establish what saddles to bring approximately, and came out with a range in which nearly all saddles fitted the horse, some fitted me, and one was perfect for us both :) they had both used and new saddles, sadly the one we likes was new, but hey ho, let's hope it fits us for ever and ever :)
 

MrsMozart

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Forgot to say ditto sbloom.

A properly well fitted saddle will not move, no matter how big the movement :D

When Dizz had her first saddle fitted by BI, Laura was explaining to D1 about points and shoulders and movement, commenting on how well Dizz was able to move in the saddle we were trying (admittedly I do remember what she was saying as the Dizz was shooting out of the school backwards at a greet rate of knots at the time, and it just struck me as quite funny lol :cool::eek::rolleyes::D:D).
 

blood_magik

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I have to say that I've had better luck with M2M saddles to be perfectly honest.
The Wintec was just a nightmare and the JW one I suspect wasn't a perfect fit in the first place - I suspect that there is a distinct lack of properly qualified saddle fitters in the middle east. If I remember correctly, someone would come out maybe twice a year and go round all the yards.
My first M2M was an Andrew Gould saddle and if I could get another one I would jump at the chance.

My current M2M dressage saddle is by APG equine. I took the template and had it checked by a fitter before I rode in it - it's really comfy and a good fit for my dumb-blood.

At the end of the day, it's up to you and what you can afford/are willing to pay :D
 
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millimoo

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Google Paul Fielder... Have a chat with him. My mum has one of his saddles. They are made to measure and designed for big loving, big shouldered warmbloods.
 

imr

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Tee hee

To go back to op though I would ditto others and say get a good fitter to bring you a few to try. I had a similar problem with my mare, most saddles shifted left to right and back again with every stride. Fitter must have brought about 20 saddles, we tried about 6 with me on top as the others weren't right, and went from there. The best was a black country eloquence which stayed dead still but fitter wanted a bit of extra gusset in the back to allow for more flocking and another half inch in length plus moving the point strap a little further forward so as to better hold it all in place, and I wanted the blocks a bit different. so ordered that from black country and came in about a week then fitter came out. Turned out great and not stupid expensive either. Each horse is different though but for problem you have would def suggest the fitter brings a black country to try, plus asmany others as poss.
 
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