Dressage saddle for people with short legs?

Casey76

Casey76

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Any recommendations for a dressage saddle for people with short legs? I'm only 5', and have an inside leg of 27"

I have a fabulous and gorgeous Prestige Venus K which is extremely comfortable to sit in, but not to ride in. The thigh block is just too long for my short leg :(

Both my horses (though the youngster isn't ridden yet) have very flat backs, and don't suit a wintec or thorowgood (and therefore, Bates or K&M) trees. I've never got on with Stuebben saddles - which is how I ended up with a Prestige in the first place.

As I'm in France, I don't really have a lot of choice in brands (also how I ended up with a Prestige), and I also have no access to a professional saddle fitter (though my osteopath will tell me if the saddle sits on my horse OK or not (and if I can use a thicker saddle cloth or just a thin one etc).

While I'm fine to ride in my mixed/event saddle, I'd like something a bit straighter cut for "proper" schooling and eventually for dressage parties.
 
I have exactly the same problem as you. Short legs and a horse who is difficult to fit as she is very flat backed.

I've just recently got an Albion Platinum Ultima with deeper rear gussets to help the panels stay flush at the back and it fits perfectly. It's also got the narrower than standard seat and has short flaps for little legs and to be honest it's been a total revelation to ride in something that's actually designed for someone of my height. It's suddenly really easy to stay sat up and use my legs properly and as a result my horse is going better than ever! Really do love it and would say it could be worth a try?
 
I'm slightly surprised people are recommending Albions for a straight backed horse?

We tried one (a short panel as well, which was like it made specifically for me as I'm a shorty too!) but it was way to curved for Topaz and so would never have fitted :(.
Was the one I tried not typical for the Albion tree's?

x x

ps. We ended up with the GFS Monarch saddle which was a good fit for both of us!
 
Prestige will make with shorter flaps. If you are completely happy with your current saddle, then maybe that would be a good option. Message me if you would like any more help :)
 
It all depends on the panel depth in relation to the tree - mine is so flat backed she needed deeper panels at the back as apposed to the standard albion panels to support the tree and voila - a balanced saddle which sits flush at the back and doesn't lift - if that makes sense, my saddler described it in a much more elequent way - this was the problem I'd been having with nearly every saddle I've had.

The next mission is to get a jump saddle sorted but I have a sneaky feeling I'm going to have to go semi custom for that for mine and the horses sake but after seeing the difference in a properly fitted saddle for the both of us I think it will be worth it.
 
Anything which would need alteration of the panels would be a no go (no saddlers), which is why saddles with latex/prolite/CAIR panels etc are common here.

The Strada saddles look interesting, and there is a distributor only about 3 hours away which would be possible to visit.

Thanks for the ideas :) I live in a world of Wintec, Norton and Stuebben unfortunately so it isn't very often I get to hear about other makes of saddle.
 
georgiegirl said:
It all depends on the panel depth in relation to the tree - mine is so flat backed she needed deeper panels at the back as apposed to the standard albion panels to support the tree and voila - a balanced saddle which sits flush at the back and doesn't lift - if that makes sense, my saddler described it in a much more elequent way - this was the problem I'd been having with nearly every saddle I've had.

The next mission is to get a jump saddle sorted but I have a sneaky feeling I'm going to have to go semi custom for that for mine and the horses sake but after seeing the difference in a properly fitted saddle for the both of us I think it will be worth it.
Click to expand...

Hi yes this is how I understand it too, but I was told that Albions tend to have a smaller panels and hence they wouldn't fit? Hmm maybe it was just because I was looking second hand?

Though for jump saddles, we were recommended the Ideal saddles for Topaz.

x x
 
Casey76 said:
Any recommendations for a dressage saddle for people with short legs? I'm only 5', and have an inside leg of 27"

I have a fabulous and gorgeous Prestige Venus K which is extremely comfortable to sit in, but not to ride in. The thigh block is just too long for my short leg :(

Both my horses (though the youngster isn't ridden yet) have very flat backs, and don't suit a wintec or thorowgood (and therefore, Bates or K&M) trees. I've never got on with Stuebben saddles - which is how I ended up with a Prestige in the first place.

As I'm in France, I don't really have a lot of choice in brands (also how I ended up with a Prestige), and I also have no access to a professional saddle fitter (though my osteopath will tell me if the saddle sits on my horse OK or not (and if I can use a thicker saddle cloth or just a thin one etc).

While I'm fine to ride in my mixed/event saddle, I'd like something a bit straighter cut for "proper" schooling and eventually for dressage parties.
Click to expand...


I have a second-hand Butet dressage saddle for sale with the flap and blocks designed for smaller people. ( I am 5ft4 and i find it slightly too short for me hence sale) PM me for details it is in excellent condition
 
You need to talk to Amerigo saddles. They have different models for different horse shapes/ withers. Send a pic of your horses back & they will advise you on what model will fit them & they are reasonably easy to source second hand ( look on ebay & preloved website)
The amerigo dressage saddles are fab to ride in& super comfty! Make sure you get one with a short flap then your legs should fit better ( I'm short fat legged too so I totally know the issues your going through!!)
 
I struggled massively as I have very short chunky thighs but need an 18" saddle. I ended up going down made to measure. I am getting an All Saddle Solutions pone made for £1790, can't wait!
 
would be interested to hear how you get on with it batgirl as their jump saddles look lovely. Its the flair that puts me off a little. I've never had one but you hear so many conflicting reports about it I don't know wether to go for it or not. Its such a stress buying saddles - generally the 30mins or so you get to try one isn't enough to decide wether its really the one for you and your horse.
 
AlexHyde - I was very lucky that my lovely saddle fitter fitted the the non standard panels to my horse then wrote down everything I needed to go and look for second hand. I was willing to compromise on fit for me but not for the horse. I just struck very very lucky in finding one second hand with the right panels and the right seat and flap size for myself.
 
quite happy to do a report, I have a friend who has their event saddle and loves it. I certainly really liked it when I tried it so will try to remember to do a report when I have had it a while (getting it 2nd week in Aug)

I think the thing with Flair is that it is as good as the saddle fitter because the balance etc needs to be just right. Some saddlers overfill them and they feel like you are riding on a baloon!
 
Georgiegirl, gosh I'm jealous ;).

My saddler also wrote down everything I needed but I could not find for love nor money the exact saddle needed second-hand and couldn't afford it new :(. Recommended for us was the Ideal Suzannah but with Harry Dabbs tree I think, and not only are the Suzannah's not that common second hand but def not in a 17" and then with the special tree and other tweaks needed we were fighting a loosing battle so ended up with the Monarch, which is a lovely saddle and a bargain price so no complaints really!

x x
 
well Im in yorkshire too so if your fitter for the flair is good then I will be all ears! Its the monoflap of theirs which looks luuuuusssshhhhh especially if it can be fitted to my stumpy pins!
 
cool, well I'll tell you what she is doing for me:
18" seat (with some body scooped out of the cantle to accomodate my large arse)
17" Panels which bring the blocks a bit higher
the blocks are being trimmed so they are the right length that my knee sits under them comfortably
Blocks being made 'taller' (i.e. stick out further) to accommodate my chunkier thighs.
The tree is going to be a bit wide for his current shape with a bit extra air to start to give him room to develop him muscle into it.
Nubuck seat for a little extra grip :)

Claire is fab, you can have a no nonsense chat with no obligation to buy (I asked tonnes of questions before we even broached a fitting). When I did the fitting I was allowed to play around for ages on the saddles too (she was there for 2 hours).
 
Dont be too jealous AlexHyde - for the budget I had there were LOADS of basically pristine ones but didnt have the right panel depth. I had to go slightly above and beyond the budget I had set myself (which wasnt set in stone as I am jump saddle shopping soon so Ive used a bit of money from that) and Ive ended up paying slightly more for a slightly older one with a little bit of fading to the back panels and cantle - Im so so glad I stuck with what I wanted though, other than the fading from being stored in sunlight its basically pristine and Im sure its nothing a little car seat blackening ointment cant fix if I were to be really fussy. All I can say is the difference its made in my horse is astounding. We went out the other week and got 77% (and I went wrong!) and got our first ever ten. This is something like our 4th ever competition after a 15th month break due to injury.

I guess all I'im trying to say is its so so important to get the fit right for you and your horse. Ive 'made do' with my jump saddle in the past but known deep down it wasn't really right for me and the horse. Sounds like you have done well with the monarch. They are lovely saddles :)
 
Batgirl can I ask you to pm me to name and number of your saddler as I'm moving to the York area soon and will need a saddle fitter out to my ned. Cheers!
 
AlexHyde said:
Hi yes this is how I understand it too, but I was told that Albions tend to have a smaller panels and hence they wouldn't fit? Hmm maybe it was just because I was looking second hand?

Though for jump saddles, we were recommended the Ideal saddles for Topaz.

x x
Click to expand...

If you buy a new Albion, they measure the horse to find the true drop, therefore that panel size will be perfect for that horse. Albion insist all there approved stockists do this. Hope this helps a little.
 
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