Harry Dabbs Saddles

AlDestoor

AlDestoor

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Hi,

Looking for reviews on Harry Dabbs saddles on a really sensitive Chestnut TB.

He's had the KS ligament snip and is still cold backed and sensitive bless him. He's currently in a cavaletti which fits for now but as we progress, I would like one that is perfect. He has some slight atrophy behind his shoulder on his left side which we are building up slowly.

Are they worth the money at around £2k? I was also looking at CWD however the price tag of those really daunt me however, heard nothing but amazing things about them and how the horses have gone.
 
I have heard good things about them but haven't used them personally.

I have a Louisa Cuomo Saddle. She is based in Kent however she does travel far and wide (and I mean far!). Have a look on her website/ facebook pages. She is very much into the way a horse moves, getting them to work properly and correctly, she has dealt with lots of rehab cases, her saddles have a wide channel which allow the horse to lift up in them. My GP saddle for my cob cost £1500 but I look at it as an investment as if he is going to be able to work properly in it, and its not going to cause issues then surely its worth it?

Worth having a look at her pages/ blogs :)
 
My dressage horse had a bespoke Harry Dabbs Jaguar. Absolutely lovely saddle, gave me no choice but to sit in the correct place and ride properly. But - it was immensely heavy. The more modern ones might be lighter though.
 
AdorableAlice said:
My dressage horse had a bespoke Harry Dabbs Jaguar. Absolutely lovely saddle, gave me no choice but to sit in the correct place and ride properly. But - it was immensely heavy. The more modern ones might be lighter though.
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Yes I read somewhere else that they can be heavy which has put me off slightly with him being sensitive.

Dyllymoo said:
I have heard good things about them but haven't used them personally.

I have a Louisa Cuomo Saddle. She is based in Kent however she does travel far and wide (and I mean far!). Have a look on her website/ facebook pages. She is very much into the way a horse moves, getting them to work properly and correctly, she has dealt with lots of rehab cases, her saddles have a wide channel which allow the horse to lift up in them. My GP saddle for my cob cost £1500 but I look at it as an investment as if he is going to be able to work properly in it, and its not going to cause issues then surely its worth it?

Worth having a look at her pages/ blogs :)
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His cavaletti has the wider channels as well. I absolutely love it but I feel the panels underneath are too "pointy" is that makes sense. I feel I would like a flatter panel for him. I don't know whether this is because it's fairly new though?
 
AlDestoor said:
His cavaletti has the wider channels as well. I absolutely love it but I feel the panels underneath are too "pointy" is that makes sense. I feel I would like a flatter panel for him. I don't know whether this is because it's fairly new though?
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Ah that's interesting. Worth checking out Louisa's saddles, even if you message her I'm sure she would have lots of photos to send you to show the saddles etc. She is really very lovely and the horse is the top priority for her.
 
I had a HD saddle made for my horse nearly 5 years ago. It wasn't that expensive and has been worth every penny! I love it, horse loves it and we have done many miles and many long days with no problems at all. I imagine that much depends on your saddle fitter of course. :)
 
palo1 said:
I had a HD saddle made for my horse nearly 5 years ago. It wasn't that expensive and has been worth every penny! I love it, horse loves it and we have done many miles and many long days with no problems at all. I imagine that much depends on your saddle fitter of course. :)
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Is it heavy? I'm trying to keep his tack as light as possible as well with him being a sensitive soul.
 
I've ridden in an HD working hunter saddle a good few years ago. I liked it, didnt find it heavy particularly - although I've had lighter since.
It was a lot lighter and I found it much nicer to ride in than the same owners other jaguar saddle which I did not rate at all.
 
My newer Harry Dabbs was a lot lighter than the older style ones. Have had both dressage and jump styles, loved them both
 
I had a Hunter Variant GP half panel future tree performance panel, at least I think it was called that, made for my previous horse. It was lovely and very lightweight. It was however very straight for a GP saddle and for perfection I would have liked it more forward cut. Unfortunately it didn't fit C.
 
F needs a new saddle and these have been suggested as potentially a good fit. So it’s interesting to follow this. Seems like they have a wider tree (can’t remember the proper word) and The stirrup bars are placed in a way that looks like it would be more comfortable for the horse.
 
AlDestoor said:
Is it heavy? I'm trying to keep his tack as light as possible as well with him being a sensitive soul.
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I don't find it heavy at all tbh and I too like to keep weight to the minimum as I have a finer boned horse :) My horse likes it the very best of all the saddles I have tried with him (many!!) :)
 
I like my Harry Dabbs, it is a good fit for my horse. It is an older model. One thing I like is the wide gullet and broad weight bearing panels under the tree points (I think that was what the saddle fitter said when I first got it).

However surely with any saddle it depends on whether the tree is the right shape for your horse’s back - it doesn’t sound from your post like you had a fitter try one on your horse yet? Apologies if i’m misunderstanding.

Also you say he is still cold backed and sensitive - which makes it sound sound like his back is still sore?
 
I adored my Harry Dabbs saddle for my TB and nearly cried when I had to sell it as it didn’t suit my new horse! Fabulously comfortable, not heavy at all and it fitted me and the horse perfectly - I could not recommend more ?

My only caveat if you are looking to buy a second hand one is that they do three different types of tree in the saddles, and not one person I asked when I was searching could tell me which tree was in the saddle they were selling ? HD themselves were incredibly helpful and would tell me if I emailed them with the serial number!

I had a GP and was also looking for a dressage saddle, sadly I never found one with a TB tree in ?
 
Reacher said:
I like my Harry Dabbs, it is a good fit for my horse. It is an older model. One thing I like is the wide gullet and broad weight bearing panels under the tree points (I think that was what the saddle fitter said when I first got it).

However surely with any saddle it depends on whether the tree is the right shape for your horse’s back - it doesn’t sound from your post like you had a fitter try one on your horse yet? Apologies if i’m misunderstanding.

Also you say he is still cold backed and sensitive - which makes it sound sound like his back is still sore?
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Yes he had the fitter and we're riding away now. We have a cavaletti saddle which fits him perfectly but I'm seeing more and more people having Harry Dabbs.

He's had surgery and we're in the process of building him back up topline wise. No pain- he's not sore on palpating anymore, seen by physio every 3-4 weeks, massage pad and heat pad. He's just super sensitive (literally feels everything- such a mard) meaning I can't just get on and get going. He needs warming up first. This is quite common for those horses who have had this surgery as they also suffer from memory related pain. We are 29 weeks post op for KS ligament surgery. I wouldn't be riding him if he was sore.
 
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