Heather Moffat saddles. Advice/Experiences needed

[debsg]

Borrowed an old HM Flexion yesterday to try on my youngster and OMG! The difference in her was gobsmacking. She was really forward, swinging through her back, seeking the contact. Best she's EVER gone!!!
She has had all the usual physical checks - all ok - so the difference has GOT to be this saddle.
Would welcome advice/experiences of the different types ie Flexion, Fhoenix, Vogue. Looking to buy s/h as new is a bit beyond my finances atm. Not really interested in the FlexEE (sp?) as I think it's synthetic and I want a leather saddle.
Thank you xx

 

[sjp1]

Had the Vogue and sold it - wasn't for us. Nice enough saddle, but gave him an intermittent lump underneath the stirrups which meant I had to use a suber pad. This made me about 500 foot of his back as the panels on the Vogue are quite deep too.

I also found it put my leg too far back.

Fine if you just use it for dressage I guess, but for us, it wasn't very practical at all. And it slipped!

Gone back to treed and he seems happy.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I tried both the Vogue and the Phoenix out on my traddie cob.

Initially when I got on, I just felt totally insecure and like a numpty novice! I didn't feel I had enough support in front of my knees and wouldn't have liked to have cantered downhill in either saddle.

I liked the Phoenix the best (which is, I think, the more expensive - typical!) - but whilst I felt strange being pulled into a strange/unusual position in ridden work, it was nothing compared to the sheer agony I was in the next day!!! Luckily I'd managed to borrow these two saddles for the day in order to try them out, but I would have been well and truly up the creek if I'd bought one!!!

Personally, if sitting on something is causing me that much sheer pain, then my body is telling me there's something wrong. I know the purists will say well hey you weren't sitting properly in the first place and this saddle DID make you sit correctly, but I'm not a spring chicken anymore and don't want to be in this much pain from riding!!

Also; on flat-backed horses like mine, these saddles can be downright dangerous as without the tree they will slip easily. I certainly wouldn't have been able to mount from the ground with either of these saddles - as soon as I put my foot in the stirrup they started slipping around.

I think any sort of treeless saddle is a bit like Marmite: you hate it or you love it. But do know that they can cause as much, if not more, damage in the stirrup bar area than a treed saddle - in a treed saddle the stirrup bar area is supported by the whole tree throughout the saddle but with treeless it can cause very nasty pressure points.

Try here for the "feel" of a treeless but with all the safety, fit and comfort of a treed saddle. www.thepainfreehorse.co.uk I can't recommend them highly enough.

 

[maggiesmum]

I love my vogue, I did have a Fhoenix but I have tight hips and it made even my Tb feel wide. I put up with that simply because he went so much better in it than in a tree'd saddle - he has a policy of if it doesn't fit perfectly he doesn't move, but the vogue has more of a twist so feels like a tree'd saddle to ride in.
Some people do complain of feeling unstable or in a funny position but thats because you're no longer battling to keep the stirrups underneath your body and like anything it can take a few rides for your body to adjust to its new (usually more correct) position.

I've never had any problems with pressure points (the HM saddles have been pressure tested) and if it was putting excessive pressure anywhere I can guarantee my boy would make sure I (and probably the local A&E, he doesn't believe in suffering in silence) knew about it!

With regards to slipping, the key is in getting them fitted properly, people tend to think that you can just slap a treeless on and away you go but it may need shimming or a wither pad or a different girth/numnah combo, there are fitters who will come to you and if you contact Heather she will always try and help where she can.

 

[horsemad32]

Lots of threads on here about them. Do a search for the different types. From what I can remember a lot had issues with lumps under the stirrup bars or white hair there and some with muscle wastage. All those went beautifully in them initially.

 

[debsg]

I am used to treeless as Coblet is in a Freeform and has been for 7 years, I jump and x country in it. Have been riding Jas (TB) in the Freeform for a few months but decided to try the HM Flexion as I had ridden and jumped my friend's horse in it and was very impressed. She was just SO different in the Flexion! I loved it too and felt very stable.