Recommendations for a Flat Seated Dressage Saddle?

[Hollyanna]

Hi there,

I am looking for a flat seated dressage saddle for my flat backed warmblood. The deep seats are a no go, as it feels like I am sitting downhill and makes my horse cold backed. I have had everything checked, and tried numerous saddles and my saddler says my horse needs flatter style saddle. The close contact jump saddle is great, its just after two years of doing dressage in the jump saddle i really could do with some lower leg support!

Now, here's my problem, I can't seem to find a saddle that isn't either a butet or amerigo or equipe, which comes with a price tag far beyond my budget….. can anyone recommend a saddle / saddle maker, budget up to around £1000? I have tried looking for a second hand saddle (been looking for a year now) and they are either too long or the wrong width, seems these saddles rarely come up for sale in a wide fit!

I have looked at the kent and masters and thorowgood, however their cob saddles still have quite a bit of bulk.

Any ideas / suggestions most welcome and appreciated!!! thanks

 

[Llee94]

How flat is flat? The Jaguar saddles look like they have flattish seats - http://www.saddlesdirect.co.uk/jaguar-xkc-dressage-saddle-3409.html. You can pick them up on eBay for around £700 - £1000 mark. I have an old Keiffer Malmo which I would class as having a flat seat (no deeper than a GP) and is extremely comfortable and cost me £450 second hand although it does have a few marks on it. Only swapped to a different saddle as wanted external knee rolls.

 

[OwnedbyJoe]

Bates Maestro fits my flat backed horse and has a flat seat, and a wide gullet. They seem to be about 800 second hand.

 

[Mongoose11]

Have you seen the K&M cob dressage in the flesh because it is certainly the flattest seat I have ever seen. Get over to somewhere to have a look perhaps?

It was great for my flat backed SuperCob.

 

[Wheels]

Try AH saddles, they specialise in saddles for flat and wide horses although may be a little over budget but worth a try

 

[Herts05]

Look at Strada saddles http://www.stradasaddles.co.uk
Ilga is great and you can normally pick them up second hand via their forum.

 

[BraidedTail]

How's about a Wintec Icelandic? I've got one for my flat backed cob who has huge strides - flat seat, Y girth straps (leather), adjustable gullet (mine horse has the x wide in) very comfy; and there's one on ebay atm I think. If you don't mind a synthetic that is - well under budget!

 

[Jo1987]

Could you get away with a working hunter style saddle? My friend has a lovely Farrington WH saddle which has a nice flat seat, very smart and straight cut but also very supportive.

 

[sbloom]

On your budget you may be better looking for WH, if the bars are a little forwards (many aren't) then you can slip a little leather sleeve on them to keep your leathers back 1/2" or so, which can make a difference. There are plenty of specialist wide saddles out there that could work, but there will be more WH than dressage.