Lavinia Mitchell Saddles

[dixie]

Any experiences please.

She may be coming to our yard to see another horse and I am deliberating whether to have her too.
I have had my saddles fitted by a local saddler to my horse and I was happy with them. However I had a new jump instructor recently and twice he has torn to shreds my jumping saddle and its fit & although it seems fine to me I now have my doubts. I don't want to be pressurised into buying yet another saddle but..........

 

[soloequestrian]

I have Balance saddles for my horses - Lavinia trained with Balance and now designs and markets her own range of saddles which are along the same lines. I would definitely try her saddles, but have a look at the Balance range too if you like the concept.

 

[dixie]

Anyone else?

 

[staffylover]

I have a LM GP saddle and just LOVE it. They have a very wide gullet so virtually eliminating the chance of pressure on the spine. I find it blissfully comfortable, and so apparently do the two horses I have had it fitted to. The pony I first had it fitted to went much better and more freely immediately. You can get the numnah with adjustable shims, to go with it, which can be adjusted as the horse changes shape. If you have Lavinia herself to fit it, I reckon that is an added bonus. They aren't cheap, though!

 

[sheepdog]

I have a LM VSD. I bought it 18 months ago. I love it, my trad cob goes very well in it and I will never use a saddle with a bell shaped tree again. If you take a look at the LM website you will see photos from case studies where muscle wasteage has been caused by saddles which are too narrow. The 'after' photos are astonishing.

 

[Orangehorse]

Lavinia is very nice. Years and years ago I bought a Balance saddle through her, but couldn't get on with it, so she sold it for me and I got more money that I was expecting so I was quite pleased about that. She does her own range now.
So my experience was positive.

 

[Pinkvboots]

I bought a Lavinia Mitchell Dressage saddlle about 18 months ago and I love it, my horse had muscle wastage from a saddle that was too narrow, although two master saddlers tolld me it was too wide! Without her saddle and the shim numnah I would never have found a comfortable soloution for him to be ridden, his back is now recovering and he is going great best money ever spent.

 

[criso]

I have one and love it, more to the point my horse does.

She spent a long time with us and fitted a wider saddle to my rapidly changing youngster with a pad and shims so his back can develop.

One word of caution to the original poster, your jump instructor may not be on board with her approach and her make of saddles and may be trying to push you towards a more traditional brand so think about whether you want to go against him or not.

 

[dixie]

I have one and love it, more to the point my horse does.

She spent a long time with us and fitted a wider saddle to my rapidly changing youngster with a pad and shims so his back can develop.

One word of caution to the original poster, your jump instructor may not be on board with her approach and her make of saddles and may be trying to push you towards a more traditional brand so think about whether you want to go against him or not.

Thanks everyone for the positive replies.
The saddle I have now is a traditional saddle but I thought I would take the opportunity of seeing LM as she is coming to the yard anyway. I just don't want to be pushed into buying yet another saddle or get involved with a pushy saleswoman !

 

[criso]

She's definitely not a pushy saleswoman and if she thinks your current saddle will work she'll tell you but she does fit slightly differently (wider) than other saddle fitters so you will get a different opinion. If you read her website and like the sound of her approach then definitely go for it.

 

[Sam_J]

I had Lavinia out to fit a saddle for my daughter's pony. I agree with Criso that she is definitely not a pushy saleswoman and IMHO she genuinely has the best interests of the horse at heart. She did a great job for us, and I would definitely have her out again.

 

[dixie]

I had Lavinia out to fit a saddle for my daughter's pony. I agree with Criso that she is definitely not a pushy saleswoman and IMHO she genuinely has the best interests of the horse at heart. She did a great job for us, and I would definitely have her out again.

Great, that's good to know.

 

[Lippyx]

I will watch this thread with interest. I have been told about her saddles by a friend and I love the concept. I currently have a synthetic, but would love a posh leather dressage saddle one day, and would consider one of hers.... well, I did save money by buying a synthetic first

 

[Elfen]

I started to use Lavinia last year after my little tb was fitted with a narrow gullet in a thorowgood saddle by a master saddler. She came out, fitted him with extra wide gullet and oh my goodness what a difference!! She was happy to fit my saddle and was so lovely answering questions etc. I'm having an LM dressage saddle for my young horse - and am even able to hire one before buying to ensure I'm comfortable with the wider twist - I've had a hip replacement. I'm now using one of her fitters who is closer to me and she's fabulous! The dressage saddles are beautiful.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Any experiences please.

She may be coming to our yard to see another horse and I am deliberating whether to have her too.
I have had my saddles fitted by a local saddler to my horse and I was happy with them. However I had a new jump instructor recently and twice he has torn to shreds my jumping saddle and its fit & although it seems fine to me I now have my doubts. I don't want to be pressurised into buying yet another saddle but..........

Op did you have Lavinia look at your saddle?

 

[draftxfan]

Reviving this thread to ask, in what respects do Lavinia Mitchell's saddles differ from the Balance line? I own a couple of Balance saddles and like them very much, but I'm always curious about something new (or new to me, at least)!

 

[Pinkvboots]

They look like normal leather saddles and come in 5 widths and I think a 3 is like an xx wide so much wider than most other makes so similar to the balance in that respect, she has a shim numnah that has a front middle and back pockets so can adjust the fit according to your horses shape and help with any muscle wastage, have a look on her website there are pictures of the saddles.

 

[draftxfan]

Thanks, Pinkvboots! I wonder if there are other design differences beyond the (admittedly much neater-looking!) shim-and-pad arrangement.

 

[soloequestrian]

Reviving this thread to ask, in what respects do Lavinia Mitchell's saddles differ from the Balance line? I own a couple of Balance saddles and like them very much, but I'm always curious about something new (or new to me, at least)!

I asked the ladies at Balance this question! Lavinia worked for them as a rep for may years, so her saddles are firmly based on their philosophy. They said though that she was never really involved with design when she was with them, so the saddles she has now are kind of like theirs were in the past - they haven't necessarily got the same level of R&D. I think she is much better at marketing than Balance which is why so many more people have heard of her saddles, and when they first came out they were cheaper than Balance. Balance have now introduced a couple of economy lines to compete, but they don't seem to have got much better at marketing themselves.

 

[Old Bat]

Is the Lavinia Mitchell concept similar to Fairfax? The wording on her website would indicate so, but very few pictures to make an accurate comparison.

 

[Lucky788]

I had Lavinia out to me after seeing her at a demo and was so impressed with her work and was at my wits end as couldn't find a saddle to fit my awkward horse.
Brought the most amazing working hunter saddle which both me and my horse absolutely love!
She's lovely and very knowledgable and all her saddles are very well made highly recommend

 

[gmw]

All ours are in Balance International saddles. Though struggling with my tank of a mare she could do with a X9 !!!! They are lovely saddles and make a world of difference to the freedom of movement a horse has.

 

[sbloom]

Is the Lavinia Mitchell concept similar to Fairfax? The wording on her website would indicate so, but very few pictures to make an accurate comparison.

Fairfax make leather saddles on synthetic trees that are also, as far as I know, in Thorowgoods and K&M saddles, all part of the same stable,. They are fitted by regular tack shop saddle fitters with regular fitting techniques. Balance & LM saddles have their own fitters who fit deliberately wide and use specialist padding under the saddle and would not be fitted by most regular tack shop fitters. So no, not really similar. All saddles are trying to improve performance, it's just how it's done that differs.

 

[Old Bat]

Brilliant, many thanks for the insight!

 

[ITPersonnage]

I had a LM saddle fitted to my TB and after a week we decided not to keep it - we didn't get on with the fact that it was so wide & I felt it was unstable. Lavinia was lovely about it and I have just had a refund, the only thing I lost was the travel & consultation - very fair. Have also heard of her charging a loan fee of £50 a month so she is most definitely NOT a pushy sales women.

 

[soloequestrian]

All ours are in Balance International saddles. Though struggling with my tank of a mare she could do with a X9 !!!! They are lovely saddles and make a world of difference to the freedom of movement a horse has.

I think Balance do a 9X now. Mine all use a Horizon, which is the widest saddle they do. I love it and so do they!

 

[TheCurlyPony]

I asked the ladies at Balance this question! Lavinia worked for them as a rep for may years, so her saddles are firmly based on their philosophy. They said though that she was never really involved with design when she was with them, so the saddles she has now are kind of like theirs were in the past - they haven't necessarily got the same level of R&D. I think she is much better at marketing than Balance which is why so many more people have heard of her saddles, and when they first came out they were cheaper than Balance. Balance have now introduced a couple of economy lines to compete, but they don't seem to have got much better at marketing themselves.

A year or so ago some of her saddles where made by the saddle company