Dressage saddle/Welsh cob. Do they go together?

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Helenabbey

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Hi, I recently bought an Albion Lux dressage saddle on Ebay and it doesnt fit my Welsh Cob. I don't mind as its a lovely saddle and I will be able to re sell it, but when I told someone else, they said that dressage saddles are made for dressage horses and I would probably have a hard job finding one for Star. I may buy a wintec one as he uses the medium gullet on his GP so it would be easy to fit.

Anyone know/have a Welsh cob with a recomendation for a saddle? I was going to sell him as he is, at 5 years old, an appalling jumper, but we had our first outing at restricted prelim and came 2nd with 63.6%. I know you don't NEED a dressage saddle at prelim but as a cob with a not particularly talented rider, I fell we need all the help we can get!
 
'Someone said that dressage saddles are made for dressage horses'

Sorry but what absolute codswallop! Completly NOT true! all breeds of horses come in all shapes and sizes! My Saddlers Wells thoroughbred has a back like a welsh cob, and she has a variety of options for dressage saddles for when I decide to get one for her.

Of course there are saddles out there that fit any shape of horse.
For a welsh cob I would reccomend trying a WOW dressage saddle, or a Saddle Company dressage saddle which are made to measure. Also Thoroughgood (I think it is thoroughgood)have these new dressage saddles literally just out which are fab and my saddler calls them 'the cheap WOWs' as they are very similar to WOW but all in plastic and without the flair.They look like the real thing and are £450 new,.

Or you could try a Barry Swain dressage saddle.
 
Thanks, I will have a look at some of those, I dont mind how much it costs as I will be keeping the horse, he is sweet despite the non-clearing of fences and it will be nice to do some dressage, everyone seemed nice and friendly at the comp I went to.
 
certain types of saddles do suit certain types of horse it is to do with the tree. I have found the new Ideal dressage saddle really exellent for the more 'barrel' type conformation that cobs genrally have. Its the new version of the Jessica and i think these are smashing saddles , good value for money and well made.
Other than them i obviously would recomend the WOW.
 
I too was told the same thing about my horse when I was trying to find a saddle for my horse. My saddler was getting frustrated as he didnt have one that fit (my WB) so he said my horse was the wrong shape for dressage
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Needless to say I went elsewhere.

Ideal saddles are good saddles and I know a few people who have the Jessica on their chunky horses. Could you not take your horse somewhere where they have loads to try? You could get an idea of what makes fit and then shop around for the best deal.
 
Well Im looking for a SJ saddle for my Welsh Cob with no luck at all, unless I want to have one made which costs a bomb! He's at XX Wide in his Wintec Cob saddle just now and SJ or Dressage saddles dont seem to come like that!

I have an Ideal saddle for my near-impossibe-to-fit TB x Luso. However, it certainly wouldnt fit my Welshie - too high in the pommel etc.
 
I have a welsh cob and I use a WOW with the VSD flaps for dressage. Very pleased with it. Will buy slightly smaller version for my Sec C (if I ever get round to backing her
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I would agree that some cobs can be difficult to fit but that's the nature of saddle fitting; some horses are easier than others
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My welsh cob was in a Wintec Isabell until my saddler came to fit it for me and said it didn't fit well. He then started to look for an ideal jessica as he thought the shape of them would be perfect for him. 4 months later we tried all kinds of nice dressage saddles and in the end he'd changed shape (move of yard/diet change/work change) and the jessica would never have fitted and we got a beautiful Jeffries Falcon Hawk dressage saddle.

I think it's horses for courses really and a good saddler will be able to find you something suitable
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Good luck
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I've had my Wintec 500 dressage for about 9 years, it goes on my cob, who takes an extra wide tree. It's my general hacking saddle, as Harley has a big shoulder that a normal GP covers over. The Wintec has been comfortable for us both, and looks 'right' on him.

Bad pic of OH on him - you can see he is big in front (the horse!)
JasonandHarley.jpg

And me and Harl at a show about 7 years ago
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The hacking pic in my siggy is the dressage too.
 
Don't worry there'll be a saddle out there to fit! I have a wide, witherless section C and was concerned about having the same problem but didn't - I have an Arabian dressage saddle (I believe they're made by Lovatt & Ricketts) which are designed for wide shoulders/flat backs.
 
Agree with all the others who recommended Ideal Jessica, I've got one for my Welsh X, she's 14hh & working well towards medium, so there!! to the person who said Welsh couldn't do dressage!!
 
I would love to know what the person meant when they said 'dressage saddles are made for dressage horses'. WHAT IS A DRESSAGE HORSE?? As far as I understand it ANY TYPE OF HORSE CAN DO DRESSAGE. Sorry to sound cross but I am, why shouldnt a dressage saddle fit a cob, or any other type of horse for that matter. I have an albion dressage saddle for my Irish Draught, it was measured to her and fits her perfectly!
 
used to ride a welsh d in the wintec dressage saddle and it fitted him really well. PLus was built like the proverbial outhouse
 
I have a Welsh D that I can only describe as having a body shape like a sausage roll! He has an Ideal dressage saddle but has the Roella which was made with shortened flaps and specially set blocks for me (I am not the tallest person on this planet!) Ideal are very helpful and made me a fantastic saddle that is a fab fit. Welshie's CAN do dressage, when I started affiliated dressage with mine he qualified for the regionals, first time out, so don't listen to those who say that they "can't do dressage" I also used to ride another section D for someone and an Ideal Jessica was a lovely fit on her, so my advice is find a qualified saddle fitter that stocks all of the models that Ideal make.
 
I'm yet another who had an Ideal Jessica dressage saddle for my Welsh cob (though again he was just a medium / medium-wide, not very broad at all). Had problem with the saddler, who gave me the saddle on a different tree from what had been fitted & ordered, took ages to correct it, and ended up giving me an 18" rather than the 17.5" .. but that's another story.

Much harder to fit him for a GP though, and no way would he suit a jumping saddle. Ended up with a very straight cut hunter saddle as a GP so didn't really need a dressage saddle at all.

My main advice would be to get a decent saddle fitter out and go with their recommendation rather than trying just one make of saddle.
 
I would argue that Welsh Cobs have such a big, active shoulder that they actually very much benefit from having a straight-cut saddle
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Mine has an old much-modified working hunter saddle that is pretty straight cut but not as extreme as a pure dressage saddle. You might have more luck looking for WH saddles, especially from places like the Native Pony Saddle Co.
 
To the poster who said they were having trouble finding a jump saddle to fit, I've got one made my excelle for my welsh X, my saddler fitted bigger blocks on it for me, fits me & Kizzy a treat. I did find a close contact which fitted, but sorry don't remember the make, didn't buy that one as I couldn't ride in it!!
 
My section D was a nightmare to fit a saddle too, so, I got a VSD as you can show/jump and do dressage in them. Get a saddler to come out and fit one as its difficult to fit a wide horse yourself. Ask for a hoop tree as these are better for flat backs.

My big boy should have been a pony but something happened and he ended up 16.2
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He's also in a VSD with hoop tree and we compete in dressage and showing so its multi purpose
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