Pros and cons of SMART saddles

[Hugobear]

Any one got any experience of SMART saddles especially on flat back cobs? TIA

 

[saddlesore]

I have a VSD native base for my cob. Love it, it’s so comfortable and he is noticeably freer through his shoulders

 

[planete]

Negative experience here, the saddle did not have a wide enough channel and became very uncomfortable for the pony after a few weeks in spite of being fitted by a Solution fitter. Think native x heavy cob with wide spine, a medium wither and top of shoulder blades far apart. The saddle also kept being shoved backwards by the movement of the shoulders. I did not find it very comfortable either.

 

[SEL]

I didn't have a good experience although I can't fault the company for trying. My little cob has no withers, sprung rib cage, forward girth groove and short backed

We tried many combos of pads and girths, but it wouldn't stabilise as soon as I came out of walk. Gave the pony a bad back so returned it within the 2 week trial.

She's now in a WOW which she's getting on really well with.

 

[catembi]

I had one on trial a few years ago but sent it back as I simply couldn't get the wretched thing to sit straight on the pads. No matter what I did, it was crooked. I really wanted it to work, but it really didn't!

 

[Tiddlypom]

When I was on the second hand Solution saddles FB selling group there were always a lot of ‘nearly new, hardly used ‘ smart saddles up for sale, which didn’t inspire confidence.

Having heard of the issue with the narrow channels I’m glad that I didn’t get one. Two of my mares have particularly wide spines, so that would never have worked for them.

 

[webble]

I found the leather to be poor quality for the price, that was about 8 years ago though so could have improved. I found that due to some lack of symmetry in my seat the whole saddle twisted after about 6 months.
I would warn against buying new as they don't hold their value in the second hand market

 

[ozpoz]

I love mine. So very comfortable and my horse has freedom of movement and his back is so well developed after 7 years in a smart saddle that every body worker and vet comments on it. There are native/ cob specific ones now to accommodate broader spines. I’d say a trial and fit from the manufacture s is essential- don’t pick up a second hand one and have it fitted by someone who isn’t brand specific trained fitter- they do fit differently from other saddles. Every horse I’ve ridden in one has loved it too but they are a bit marmite!

 

[ElleSkywalkingintheair]

I have two, the leather is noticeably better on the newer one. Love both and.hirse goes very well in them. She's a traditional cob but has a wither so she's actually in the elite ones rather than native saddles. Back checked every three months and no problems ever recorded. They used to hold their value very well, but not so much of late. However they are still holding their value better second hand than tree'd saddles. I also have a very old ansur saddle which is great for my barrel pony and she loves too.

 

[GoldenWillow]

I'm another who had a negative experience with them on my cob. Appointment with fitter and cob most definitely preferred native base, seemed to be happy in it and for the two week trial period so I purchased it. We did try another base which clearly didn't work as he bucked in it! A couple of months in he became less happy with it, head office were very helpful and actually sent out various pads etc in order to make it work, at no point did it appear not to fit or be out of balance. I'm sure the problem was the width of the channel, mine in particular compared to other native bases I'd seen looked narrower. I've also known another friend who had a similar problem, saddle worked for a while then horse became increasingly unhappy in it. I lost a lot of money on mine, it was eventually bought by a Smart saddles agent at well under half it's original cost despite having only been used for 4 or 5 months absolute maximum.

I've made sure cob is slim coming out of winter which means his saddle isn't quite right on him so I'm currently using my go to when I have saddle fitting issues which is a Christ Lamfelle pad. This has come out a good few times over the years and whilst I struggle with it causing a bit of pain in my hips as I have problems there cob is and has always been very happy in it, even when in a good amount of work which I find interesting as I've also tried a couple of other treeless saddles all of which haven't worked at all.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

My Draft mare went very well in her Native, it freed her massive shoulders and the shims accommodated her muscle loss from a previous saddle and allowed/encouraged the muscles to recover. I found it comfortable as well but the shims annoyed me because they had a tendency to slip. I had to add velcro to them to stop that happening.

 

[Red-1]

I liked the old Ansur type with the wider channel but when I bought a newer Smart one, with the narrower channel, it rubbed my gelding even though he'd been fine in the old one. It was simply too narrow and pinched.

They were very helpful though, and did take the saddle back.