Heather Moffett Phoenix saddle

S

shadowboy

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 May 2006
Messages
4,754
Visit site
Reviews please good or bad. Any good for round ponies with no wither? Fellow livery has one for sale. Thought could try as a second saddle? But ponio has some muscle wastage (atrophy) behind wither from poorly fitted saddle- could the phoenix cause further problems?
 
Spell it Fhoenix...
My round pony who lacks wither is the only one of mine where I have stablity problems with my Fhoenix Vogue. I have all the right pads, and the recommended girth, and still between us we manage to get the saddle askew.
For a pony that needs a more stable saddle, if you want a treeless or soft treed saddle, I'd go for an original Freeform. Going treeless, with the right saddle, could well help your pony to redevelop that wasted wither.
I can link you to photos of my Freeform in use if you want. And the HM for that matter.
 
Used one for several years but sadly have to say I wouldn't again.

Gave me back ache and problems with my hip, caused soreness and damage along my horse's back and as above, despite the recommended girth and various grip pads, lateral stability was a big issue.

Great idea behind them I thought but in practice, very dissapointed :(
 
Thanks for your responses. I've not decided to got treeless particularly I just wondered if it would help. So I can rule that saddle out now :( just got to find something that will work
 
Have you thought about a FlexEE .... They are Heathers new budget saddles, i`ve just got mine and it is fantastic !!!!
 
Sometimes people here are willing to meet up and let others try saddles. It might be worth mentioning roughly where you are? I've taken my saddles to visit a few times.
You could also look at Better Saddles, who do a range of treed and treeless saddles and have a hire service. They visit for fittings as well.
 
Hated my HM Fhoenix. Pone was happy enough in it (wide cob with low withers), but I felt perched, found it tipped me forward and it was highly unstable (both in terms of slippage and my position). After two rather nasty falls (that I should've sat to), I sold up. We've since had a treed, given up on that (fitting issues & muscle wastage), now have a Solution saddle and haven't looked back :)
 
I must admit, I love riding my Arab in my Vogue. It suits my riding position and I find it really comfortable. He seems happy as well. I don't have stability problems with him, just with the flat-backed roly poly pony.
 
ShadowFlame said:
Hated my HM Fhoenix. Pone was happy enough in it (wide cob with low withers), but I felt perched, found it tipped me forward and it was highly unstable (both in terms of slippage and my position). After two rather nasty falls (that I should've sat to), I sold up. We've since had a treed, given up on that (fitting issues & muscle wastage), now have a Solution saddle and haven't looked back :)
Click to expand...

I did the same but my first Treeless wasn't an HM. However, I do have a solution saddle now and love it... never felt so safe in it :)
 
Chellebean said:
I did the same but my first Treeless wasn't an HM. However, I do have a solution saddle now and love it... never felt so safe in it :)
Click to expand...

Love, love, love my Solution, and I've sat some interesting manoeuvres in it! I debating trying the Flexee, but the Fhoenix (and all the recalling) put me off.
 
daisysp8 said:
Have you thought about a FlexEE .... They are Heathers new budget saddles, i`ve just got mine and it is fantastic !!!!
Click to expand...

I have sat in a friend's one of these and wasn't sure I liked it (it gives a very weird ride!) but was even more put off by all the problems they've had with them. There was a product safety recall a few weeks back as I understand it and there doesn't actually seem to be a fully launched product out there yet that is fully proven/tested. It certainly hasn't been pliance tested which all in all, was enough to put me off. Shame really as again, until then I loved the idea but in practice, it doesn't seem to have worked.
 
I tried both the Vogue and the Phoenix for my traddie cob: he's got a flat back and virtually no wither.

As soon as I sat in the damn thing I thought no way can I deal with this - it forced me into a position which was probably technically correct, but was blimmin uncomfortable - and I felt that I could pitch out in front any minute. I only did walk and trot in it, and just didn't feel confident to do anything else TBH. The next day after riding in it I was in sheer agony from riding in it and so that was the big no-no for me.

Also on my horse the whole thing slipped around like a turd on a dungheap.
 
PortuguesePony said:
I have sat in a friend's one of these and wasn't sure I liked it (it gives a very weird ride!) but was even more put off by all the problems they've had with them. There was a product safety recall a few weeks back as I understand it and there doesn't actually seem to be a fully launched product out there yet that is fully proven/tested. It certainly hasn't been pliance tested which all in all, was enough to put me off. Shame really as again, until then I loved the idea but in practice, it doesn't seem to have worked.
Click to expand...

I tried one an equisimulator first, and have since tried mine (briefly) on my lad, and i love it. Last year there was an issue a single piece of steel strapping that holds the stirrup bar, and Heather (quite rightly in my opinion) did a product recall. The cause was a weak bit of metal, which can happen to anything made anywhere at anytime just one of those things, i`m sure we`ve all had faulty things from time to time ;) . She took that as an opportunity to make a couple of design changes.

The product was launched at YHL ...... I don`t think it will be long until you can order one, may actually be already (?). Heather had to replace all the recalled ones from April/May time last year onwards (!) as well as having new ones made for new orders, so she decided to put new orders on hold until all her outstanding customers had their replacements. I now have mine, and my order was June last year .... But well worth the wait.

The problem with the 1 steel strap occurred in late July and the saddle recalls started then. :)



:D
 
I really like my Freeform saddle, it is more stable on the fatty than the Vogue, and I've added extra memory foam shims along the gullet of the Christ Lamfelle pad for peace of mind. However I'm in a dilemma about that one at the moment, because the saddle that suits the pony best seems to be the Dartmoor Treefree, and I'll have to sell Freeform to buy one. Decisions, decisions!
I used a Dartmoor Treefree when starting my young Arab and it stayed rock solid during the most amazing set of athletics from her. (Sadly due to pain that the vets had failed to find). You do have to be very careful about fitting any of the saddles with solid pommel and cantle though, because they will cause pressure problems under the pommel if it's too tight, or the cantle if you're too big for the saddle, or if you sit in an armchair seat resting back. Some also have stirrups attached to the end of a single strip of webbing across the horse's back, but the Treefree uses a "web" of webbing to distribute pressure.
When treeless I like to have some memory foam under the saddle, and I've purchased some for modifying pads. I can put my hand on the floor, the foam on top, and have someone in boots stand on my hand like that and it's amazing how it distributes the pressure.
 
Ridden in quite a few models. Disliked all of them and unimpresses with the fit on most horses.

The gullet channel is too narrow all the way along. When the saddle softens it folds inwards and the usually square edged panels pinch the spine. The pics of the damaged back shows that clearly on one side.

The panels at the back are too shallow and square for anything but totally flat loined horses. Because of the half tree the back doesn't bend, get the panels are completely flat with no slope to them. They therefore float at the back and only the inside edge makes contact. The gullet width at the back is far too narrow (two fingers width max) so if it slip even an inch sideways (which they do. A lot) the panels sit on the spine. The gullet is so shallow it often collapses onto the spine anyways.

The front panels are oddly small and a very odd wedge shape to them. On anything but very wide flat horses they don't fold down enough so , like at the back, only the inside edge of the panel sits against the horse. They fit poorly on the sport horse types with an A frame for that reason.

Basically the saddles are too ridged, meaning they need to be fitted like a treed saddle (i.e unlike most treeless saddles they don't mould very well) but they've not been designed like a treed saddle and consequently they don't fit many horses well. The only thing i assume is they've been tested on one very specific shape of horse (id guess very broad but with come withers Iberians) and designed for them.

Plus the stirrups are too far back on many. Fine if all you do is ponce about on a flat smooth surface but incredibly unstable if you go out hacking or jump. The very very thick seat doesn't help with the perched feeling either.

They also slip badly because, like the cause of most slipping in treed saddles, they just don't fit. The ones that don't slip are the lucky few whom the saddle does fit.
 
Last edited:
Horses for courses as usual - not all saddles suit all horses or all people.

The vogues are hands down the comfiest thing to ride on - what people struggle with is the stirrup bar positioning, often because they are used to riding in a chair seat from when they first began to ride so find it hard to adapt.

Kallibear there are a lot of discrepancies in your post - first you say they're too soft as they fold in, then that theyre too rigid etc etc wondering what grudge you have?!

They tend to suit hi withered types better IME, but most certainly not exclusively and there are many people with rounder horses who do v well in them.

That comment on craftsman ship is outrageous - the leather is absolutely gorgeous, so soft and supple, unlike the majority churned out by india - and at least the vogues are made in the UK!!!
 
The back is ride and doesn't mould. The panels at the from are odd shape so the saddle has to practically bend in half to sit well. And then the saddle folds (which it does to some extent, esp in the middle) the the gullet is so narrow it pinches the spine.

The comment on poor quality I think was the new cheap FlexEE, which isn't leather at all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top