Following on from dressage saddle help - saddle for WBxTB

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I was just wondering whether anyone coud recommend a type of dressage saddle for a WBxTB horse who takes a wide fitting? I have tried: Frank Baines, Ray Symmonds, Ideal and Black Country but they do not seem to suit her shape or do not suit me (like the one I am trying at the moment).

I am looking to try some more soon, and just trying to get as much advice as possible.

Thanks,

Rebecca x
 
Have you tried an Anky Competitor dressage saddle? My friends TBx has one and it is a very comfortable saddle and fits her horse who takes either a medium-wide or wide fitting very well!
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I also have a WB x TB. He has an Albion VSD saddle but this had to be altered to fit him (as saddle fitter said he is the hardest horse he has ever had to fit!). However when he had a jumping saddle fitted a few months later, the Prestige Sidney fitted him perfectly so I'd definitely recommend them (as their dressage saddles look lovely too!) My horse has very high withers and his back drops quite a bit which is why he is why a lot of saddles won't fit him at all.
 
Thanks... Grace seems to have quite a flat back and then high withers.

I didn't know Anky made saddles
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The ideal did not suit me for some reason, although maybe on template it would be completely different.
 
Hmmm... spoken to the other lady and she is going to bring some Albions and a Bates one too, and some others but can't remember what they were.
 
WOW saddle, you should get one of the wow fitters, just to try it out, i think you'll be VERY impressed. Especially to how much you'll see Grace change, even imediately. I think im going to get one (YAY!) as I've seen so many success stories with them. Friend got one for her dressage horse and i really can't describe how much better he is in it, its amazing.
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I have a WBxTB who hates his Ideal GP with a passion, the Wintec close contact is alittle busy under the cantle and I have a Lemetex Stylist to jump in which he and I love. I really want to ditch the GP, it serves no purpose really, and want a Wintec Isobell or a nice 2nd hand dressage saddle....
 
Have you thought of getting one made?
I tried lots of WH saddles on my wide girl, and the best fit was a sillouette one. Mine is 2nd hand, but had been made to measure for a huge ID stallion! Their new, off the shelf, saddles are about £550, and it's probably not a huge amount more to get one made.
It might be worth dropping them an email.

http://www.uk-saddlery.co.uk/index.html
 
Barnsby. HAve small tree points, and are on a flatter tree so suit "modern" flat backed high whithered horses. Som e Albions are good too...
 
Thanks everyone... if this lady does not come up with anything, I think I may try a WOW saddle, so am very interested in the comments on the other thread. Obviously it will be the dressage version of the saddle so if anyone has any comments on those I would love to hear.

_Claire_ any other comments on why your friend liked it so much or what type of horse she has?
 
Hi Becki,

Im trying to find some "naked" pictures of my horse to give you an idea of his shape but not having much luck.

Mine is WB x and measures in at 16.1hh. About 1.5 inch of that is nothing but wither. When we first got him, he had severe wastage just behind the wither from incorrectly fitting saddles, however, was still very very wide across his spine (and still is). In addition to this, he has very flashy movement which was being inhibited by seemingly every saddle and he's very short coupled (the wow guy commented that he'd never had a horse of his height with such a short back). Add to this that im 5ft 10 and a bit and you can perhaps start to see the mismatch.

I contacted a saddle from wow about january 2006 and she came out but I wasnt happy on what she fitted to my horse so ended up contacting First Thought directly. They were fabulous and invited me to Richard Davisons to have a saddle fitted by themselves while they were altering his.

I was there close on 4 hours with them making alterations to his saddle but the difference in him both immediatly but more so in the following months has been incredible. His flashy movement that can be seen on the lunge and in the field is now in his ridden work because the lateral rotation of the tree allows this rather than inhibiting it. The muscle wastage behind his withers has gone completly and the only thing that has needed altering there was the headplate sizes (which cost me £11 each time i think). His overall top line has increased drammatically because of the flair and even after settling in, the saddle has never dropped onto his withers or even close to despite their size.

I spoke to the guy at First Thought at length about other saddles and he said much of the problem with some makes is that while they alter the width of the front of the saddle, the gullet width remains quite standard. Indeed I compared the gullet width on my wow to a couple of standard albions (both medium and wide) and it's much much wider! They went to great lengths to explain the fitting process and to get to know my horse. When I first got on he was very spooky and working severely above the bit and they were delighted about this as it allowed them the chance to take into account his muscle shape when the head was raised as well as his shape when he was working more correctly.

I cant rate these guys enough. I still get emails from both Maggie and David at first thought asking how we're getting on and if the saddle is ok. The only alterations it has needed has been head plate changes (which are easy to do yourself and cheap to replace the head plates anyway... plus you start to develop quite a collection allowing you to alter the saddle yourself). I think its about ready for needing a teeny bit of air putting in it so will be having that looked at before i leave the country but Im also buying a flair pump from them and taking it with me so i can tweak it myself.

Its honestly worth looking at them at least particularly if you're having fitting issues.
 
My friends horse is an Andulusian and was a real pain to fit. Her Bates just didn't fit him. She sat on a wow at Burghley and she didn't want to get off, lol, she felt it put her in a great position and is very comfy as well.

Her horse can now really open his shoulder up, i could see the difference on the ground.

I'd really reccommend you to get a wow fitter out just to try it, the fitters are great as well.
 
BTW after she got the saddle she did a BD test and won, shes positive it was down to the WOW. It really has made a huge difference to his movement and way of going, hes also happier as hes comfortable.
 
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