Kent & Masters Saddles ??

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Carlosmum

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Saddle filler has just left & has advised a Kent & Masters GP for my 4yr NF. she is sorting the saddle to fit the same as the one we tried today over the W/e for me to collect next week. I'd be grateful for any coments +ve or -ve about these saddles before I pickup.:)
 
Love my kent and masters saddle. Have the gp for my MW cob, we do everything in it and it is such a good fit, very good value for what it is!
 
My daughter has just bought a K&M jump saddle for her TB as the one he came with was not the best fit despite our efforts, she absolutely loves it, and I have to say the horse seems to as well, even for flatwork, she plans to do dressage in it too (only unaffiliated stuff)
 
I have one for my roly-poly cob and another for my teeny tiny pony. Both fit well and are comfortable for horse and rider. And the great thing about them is that you can change the gullet (I think they're about £20). The leather isn't the best quality in the world, and I have heard reports that the dye can rub out, but I put some leather conditioner on both mine before use and haven't had any such problems.
 
NFs can be VERY flat so just ensure that, with the correct width at the front that the back doesn't lift at all. If your pony isn't too flat then it might work but for natives bear in mind many fitters are just going for what is the closest fit that they can lay their hands on - some natives just will not fit regular saddles.
 
Two people at our yard have/had K & M saddles - both hated them. Mind you, one was 'fitted' so badly by a so-called qualified saddle fitter that it fitted neither the pony nor the rider.
 
sbloom said:
NFs can be VERY flat so just ensure that, with the correct width at the front that the back doesn't lift at all. If your pony isn't too flat then it might work but for natives bear in mind many fitters are just going for what is the closest fit that they can lay their hands on - some natives just will not fit regular saddles.
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Agree with this and do bear in mind horses can continue to grow up to and past 6 years of age changing shape completely so what may fit him this month may not fit him in 6 months time.
I always advise to try find a GOOD second hand saddle or a interchangble gulleted saddle that fits well IF you can, so you can either change the saddle or the gullet plate if the horse changes considerably over time with out too much expense or disruption to the horse.
Oz :)
 
Thank all for the feedback. I chose the K & M cos it has interchangeable gullet & tree. I also liked the look of it more than the Thoroughgood synthetic I'm not too keen on the 'suede' seat.
 
not a fan of changeable gullet saddles at all -much rather a good quality leather secondhand one ,ive gone through 4 on my flat backed D and hes only 6 ,hes not just changed shape at the wither hes changed shape all over so just changing a gullet would have been no good and he bucks like crazy if he not just right so we always know when hes changed shape again.lol!:D
 
I've had a K&M GP Cob for 2 1/2 years and really like it.
There have been reports of them being spoiled by rain though. There are threads elsewhere from a couple of dissatisfied customers.
Mine has been fine. I guess there is a dodgy batch of leather out there somewhere.
 
I'm not quite such a fan of the interchangeable gullets as Oz *blush*. Obviously they don't fit all horses just like any specific tree and adjusting the front of the tree is not always enough. The other thing I see is that the synthetic trees are just not as stable as a wooden tree on wider horses and ponies - we use our very flattest most rigid tree on the flat NFs. Please don't be panicked, if you have a good fitter I'm sure it's fine, but just posting for information. And as I say, some fitters think a little lift at the back of the saddle is okay, I don't, so recommend that you double check that aspect of the fit. I've seen the damage it can cause which people start to call "fat pads". They aren't, the bits around the "hole" are firm, the bits in the holes are soft:

Backdamagecloseup.jpg
 
I have had one for my last tb and NOTHING else would fit. I love it amazing value brand new very easy to clean and fits my new horse too so all round success would look at their saddles before anything else in future!!
 
Quote sbloom:I'm not quite such a fan of the interchangeable gullets as Oz *blush*. Obviously they don't fit all horses just like any specific tree and adjusting the front of the tree is not always enough. The other thing I see is that the synthetic trees are just not as stable as a wooden tree on wider horses and ponies - we use our very flattest most rigid tree on the flat NFs. Please don't be panicked, if you have a good fitter I'm sure it's fine, but just posting for information. And as I say, some fitters think a little lift at the back of the saddle is okay, I don't, so recommend that you double check that aspect of the fit. I've seen the damage it can cause which people start to call "fat pads". They aren't, the bits around the "hole" are firm, the bits in the holes are soft:


No, I wouldn't say I'm a fan of them, I'm old school trained on laminated beechwood trees which I prefer and I am always trying to drum into people that interchangable gullet saddles are ok IF they fit and it's not just the head that has to fit but as you know as a fellow saddle fitter it often falls on deaf ears!
Oz :)
 
And they do work well for some horses and riders, like all saddles :). And I would like to emphasise that the picture I posted above is simply to show that a lifting saddle can cause a lot of damage, not that this brand will cause that kind of damage. Like any sadde, it must fit, that is all :cool:

And :D to Oz!
 
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Backdamagecloseup.jpg
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" Ouch"

I'd have to admit I would rather have a wooden tree but can't afford new & really didn't know where to start without having loads of visits from various fitters. Used the one who came out to my other gelding, a few year or 2 ago, saddle in question has been fine since.... yes i know it probably needs checking again but 1 horse at a time. lol
 
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