Dressage Sadles?

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Tharg

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I've always wondered about them. Are they worth it? I mean can they be hacked in.

Do the seat sizes in them change from a GP? say if your normal saddle had an 18 inch seat. How do the saddle flaps work, on some saddles they look very long, does a particular measurement have to be taken for them?

Just musing away!
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I've hacked in one. Very comfy and secure on the flat but difficult if you're going over lots of hilly terrain (i.e up and down steps like I do!) as it's harder to go into a 'hunt' seat. Also not great for galloping about in cos you can't really shorten your stirrups up if the knee rolls are huge.

I've also found the very deep seated ones feel small compared to their same-sized flatter-seated counterparts.
 
Great for flatwork, the did my lower leg position wonders (I have a dodgy left hip)
I personally hate hacking in them though. Last winter there was a dressage comp about a 30mins hack away so I thought it would be easier to hack there rather than take the trailer, never again, it was really uncomfy(if used for short periods ie up to 1hr they are very comfy though)!!
 
i've just got one - had a pure jumping saddle and it wasn't doing our flatwork much good (mainly my useless position fault
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and i love it
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really helping my position - think i'll stick to jumping saddle for hacking though as i mainly do hill trot and canter work
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ETA - seat size... i chose a semi open seat as i wanted to do local showing in it too - both saddles are 18" for horse (long backed looks daft in anything smaller) but 17.5 seat for me - you can really tell the difference between my flatish jumping saddle and the semi open dressage seat - and the difference in where the stirrup bars are set helps too for each stirrup length
 
Ive got one and i hack in it sometimes, its more comfy than my GP.
Mine is the same size as my GP aswell
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I think they really help your position aswell
 
i only have a dressage saddle and i've been for a gallop in mine this morning!!!!!

this one does have large knee rolls too.

the other one i have (selling!!) is swain holisitc saddle and has flattish open tree - and i think if you have one like that you can actually do more you dont feel as 'trapped' so to speak. some dressage saddles are more forward cut than others depending on make - you could also look at VSD - i had one for a while and i did jumping in it too! the flaps arent any longer than a gp - well unless you have really long legs and ask for longer flaps !!!
 
I hack out in mine if I don't intend to jump anything - It's actually quite comfortable to ride in for a couple of hours
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I do a lot of DI so it's a 'must' really... My new dressage saddle has large knee blocks and it does help my position slightly more than my previous one, which only had very slight knee blocks.

My GP, Jumping and dressage saddles all have the same seat size
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Everyone has a different prefence when it comes to how deep the seat should be, knee blocks etc. The best thing to do is try as many as you can! Holmestead have quite a good choice, and if you just pop down for a look without your horse first you could try a few out on their 'saddle horse'. It'll give you a rough idea of what you do and don't like.
 
I have a GP saddle (hardly ever used), cc jumping saddle (obviously used for jumping!) and a dressage saddle. All 17.5". Love my dressage saddle and use it all the time for hacking - have also popped 1.10 in it because the mood took me
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- but it doesn't have huge knee rolls so could hike the stirrups up a couple of holes.

I personally like the slightly more open seated and smaller knee rolled dressage saddles as I think that they are a bit more versatile and unless you are a serious dressage diva then I think that they are more value for money.
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I used to mainly hack in my jumping saddle but have been hacking in my Ideal dressage saddle and its really, really comfortable so yes i would say it was fine to ride in most of the time.
 
I only have dressage saddles. I hack, jump etc in mine. I suppose it's what you get used to but i go galloping round the countryside in mine!! I also put them on any horses i school for fola=k as feel alot safer. Think they are moulded to my bum!!!
 
Cheers kezimac.

Do the seat in dressage saddles tend to be harder than gp's or is it dependent on brand? The saddle I'm going by reference is a 7 series omega Barnsby gp, very comfy!
 
Yes thigh blocks and knee blocks are different. Knee blocks are where your knee goes and can ofter help to keep your leg in a correct position if your stirrups are the right lenght. Thigh blocks sit behind your thigh. Again thight blocks help to keep your leg in the correct postition ans well as keeping you more stable
 
depends on you really - mine has huge thigh rolls which i like - i also have a memory foam seat so my saddle is like sitting in an armchair - mine is a st merryns dressage saddle - they not made anymore but it is fantastic as so comfy.
some ppl dont get on with big thigh rolls - you have to ride in one to see what you think really
 
I hack out in my Thoroughgood dressage saddle. I have to have a VERY forward seat in canter as my boy bucks from excitement and he'd have me off if I didn't. BUT the knee rolls are not huge and the seat isn't too deep either. I think something like a Wintec Isabella would be a different story...Try a few and see what you think.
 
Looks nice enough, but is it in America? If so, much better to look for one in the UK/Ireland as you will have to pay a lot more for shipping and it might get damaged in transit.

If you don't want to spend a lot on a dressage saddle, why not consider a synthetic? Wintec do a range and Thorowgood do a dressage saddle too. Personally, I love (and own) the Wintec Isabell. It's got a lovely deep seat and rides as nicely as my old Albion Platinum SLK Ultima (which cost £1800 new!)

You will find loads of wintecs and thorowgoods on Ebay, Wintec Isabells too - they hold their value so usually come up for about £395 second hand.

HTH!
PS I only own a dressage saddle, so I school and hack in it and have even jumped tiny jumps in it too!
 
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