Saddle company saddles, any comments?

W

wench

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 December 2005
Messages
10,260
Visit site
Just wondering if anyone has any comments on these...

I will be after a cheapish dressage saddle in the future, and wondering if one of these might do the job!
 
I have a GP that my older mare hacks and schools in with a suede seat which is very comfy and she is also a very sensitive mare when it comes to her back and she has always been very happy in it, i also have an event saddle which i event my younger horse in which i just love and so does she, i used to have a dressage one too. to get to the point i have always really liked mine and never had a problem, i know some other people have had issues with them but i think they are a brilliant affordable option, and i like how light they are. The problem in our area is we no longer have a fitter for them and the local saddlers are very snobby towards them
 
I had one and it was the worst saddle i have ever owned. It was cheap nasty leather and very slippery. Fitted ok but would never buy another. A better affordable option might be the Kent and Masters Saddles?
 
This is my first time venturing in here, and i'm not a comp rider so feel like a bit of a fraud! Love all the pics and reports though :)

I've got a saddle company saddle and love it, my mare is extremely wide and the first few times i rode in it I wasn't sure it was the same horse - she actually walked out. Didn't know she could do that! Love the fact they're adjustable (I struggle with her weight, goddamn good doer!), and I find it really really comfy. Knee rolls aren't massive and my instructor has suggested I get the bigger ones (they velcro on) for when we start jumping more than crosspoles about a matchsticks height off the floor........
 
I've had a few - great for the horse, really adjustable, everything has gone well in them. Lousy for the rider, don't put you in a useful position, fine for RC/low level/happy hacking, total waste of time above prelim dressage and 3ft+ jumping. That said, I'd def have one again if I was backing and bringing on a youngster, with a view to changing it once the horse was in proper work.
 
I'd concur with SC - horses seem to like them but I've ridden in a few now and found them very difficult to ride well in for a number of reasons. It depends on what you want it for, of course, and how it fits you personally.
 
SpottedCat said:
I've had a few - great for the horse, really adjustable, everything has gone well in them. Lousy for the rider, don't put you in a useful position, fine for RC/low level/happy hacking, total waste of time above prelim dressage and 3ft+ jumping. That said, I'd def have one again if I was backing and bringing on a youngster, with a view to changing it once the horse was in proper work.
Click to expand...

This is very interesting; I've ridden in one a few times and loved it, but of course I didn't get the chance to do much in it. Is there anything about them specifically you can pinpoint? Perhaps I'm very easy to please as my own saddle has a very flat seat and virtually no knee rolls so if you're not used to it you slip around like a sausage on a plate ;)
 
Pachamama said:
This is very interesting; I've ridden in one a few times and loved it, but of course I didn't get the chance to do much in it. Is there anything about them specifically you can pinpoint? Perhaps I'm very easy to please as my own saddle has a very flat seat and virtually no knee rolls so if you're not used to it you slip around like a sausage on a plate ;)
Click to expand...

I really liked riding in them, but as I was asking for higher level work, I just could not get my lower leg in the right place (in the dressage saddle) and the GP/jump one I had, well, over 3ft I got jumped right out of the plate, on a horse whom I wouldn't describe as anything other than economical over a fence (don't get me wrong, he has scope, just doesn't balloon his fences!).

I used the dressage on 3 different horses - and because I knew no better did really like it at first. But as I progressed with my riding, I was fighting the saddle to try and keep a good position. I can't really be more specific I'm afraid.
 
SpottedCat said:
I really liked riding in them, but as I was asking for higher level work, I just could not get my lower leg in the right place (in the dressage saddle) and the GP/jump one I had, well, over 3ft I got jumped right out of the plate, on a horse whom I wouldn't describe as anything other than economical over a fence (don't get me wrong, he has scope, just doesn't balloon his fences!).

I used the dressage on 3 different horses - and because I knew no better did really like it at first. But as I progressed with my riding, I was fighting the saddle to try and keep a good position. I can't really be more specific I'm afraid.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that :) Will bear it in mind :)
 
Pachamama said:
This is very interesting; I've ridden in one a few times and loved it, but of course I didn't get the chance to do much in it. Is there anything about them specifically you can pinpoint? Perhaps I'm very easy to please as my own saddle has a very flat seat and virtually no knee rolls so if you're not used to it you slip around like a sausage on a plate ;)
Click to expand...

I had a couple of them - GP and event styles - and I loved them initially, they were great for bumbling about in, schooling, hacking and jumping some little fences but as I started asking for more I just couldn't get myself in the most effective position, jumping bigger fences got scarey, I became ineffecive in our flatwork and I started to loose confidence and think I was just crap! Thankfully my Instructor commented one day that the saddle wasnt helping me and after experimenting with a few other saddles I sold my SC ones and got 2 more 'traditional' saddles. It's hard to explain what was wrong other than I just didnt connect with the horse in it, it was like it muffled my leg and seat aids.

I was sad to see them go as they fitted well and the horses liked them, however I could ride better in the new ones and thus the horses did go better. I guess though no person fits perfectly in every saddle so you could say something similar about any make or style if its just the wrong fit for you.

I'd have another if I had a youngster just for the ease of fitting, but I'd be realistic about what I'd do in it and when it would be time to change it.
 
Scarlett said:
I had a couple of them - GP and event styles - and I loved them initially, they were great for bumbling about in, schooling, hacking and jumping some little fences but as I started asking for more I just couldn't get myself in the most effective position, jumping bigger fences got scarey, I became ineffecive in our flatwork and I started to loose confidence and think I was just crap! Thankfully my Instructor commented one day that the saddle wasnt helping me and after experimenting with a few other saddles I sold my SC ones and got 2 more 'traditional' saddles. It's hard to explain what was wrong other than I just didnt connect with the horse in it, it was like it muffled my leg and seat aids.

I was sad to see them go as they fitted well and the horses liked them, however I could ride better in the new ones and thus the horses did go better. I guess though no person fits perfectly in every saddle so you could say something similar about any make or style if its just the wrong fit for you.

I'd have another if I had a youngster just for the ease of fitting, but I'd be realistic about what I'd do in it and when it would be time to change it.
Click to expand...
It's funny how you just don't get on with some saddles, isn't it? Although there does seem to be a consistent theme with these. I had a saddle where I just couldn't keep my lower legs back, and it turned out the the girth buckles were affecting the way the stirrup leathers hung. I wonder if this is why dressage saddles have short girths?
 
Had an event version on my last lad, it literally started to fall apart! stitching came undone around the seat, leather rubbed 'raw' when the stirrup leathers go, rubbed my lads back, and I just didn't get on with it at all. All this happened within two weeks! I wasn't best impressed with them...
 
Last edited:
I have one for my new forest, he has a flat back and is very wide with virtually no withers and this style seems to be a good fit for him he is quite hard to fit but the template for the XW is just right. I don't compete at a high level though just RC.

I did do a dressage test where I failed to do the girth up properly and so one of the straps came undone and the saddle did not move at all managed to complete the test and 65% despite a jangling flapping girth strap!
 
I've got two SC dressage saddles and one event GP SC saddle sitting in my tack room. They were great for pootling around on, but I always found that I was fighting against them to get the right position, ie; shoulder, hip, heel alignment, I then realised that the stirrup bars were too far forward, so I would never get the right position (my riding needs all the help it can get lol!)

I then decided to get a saddler out to try different dressage saddles on my two geldings and ended up going for a second hand Ideal Susannah for one and an Albion Ultima Platinum for the other ( had to sell a few vital organs to afford them!). The difference in my position is huge and I feel so much more secure and balanced.

I do like the ethos behind SC saddles, ie injection moulded tree, serge underside etc, but in the end I needed a saddle that helped my riding, not hindered it.
 
Awful. I bought a made to measure dressage saddle from them for my last mare. Used it probably less than 20 times before she was sadly PTS. Kept it and had a saddle fitter try it on my new horse. The tree had already twisted! She said the saddles are too flexible. So now im stuck with a saddle which is twisted and cost me £650ish, hardly used and cant sell. I couldnt go back to saddle company because I hadnt used it for a long time and the guarentee ran out.

IMO dont touch with a barge pole.

I have since bought a Black Country saddle which is lovely!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top