saddle help please!!!

J

jack9

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ok so i just wrote al this out and got disconnected lol... anyhow!


my wintec i bought for my 4 year old mare is supposed to last her until next spring when she will have hopefully filled out enough for me to buy her a "grown up saddle"... cut alog story short im really not happy about the fit and need some professional help...!!

i want to do dressage...(low level!).. and a bit of jumping (again low level) until next spring, so the saddle i want to buy for now just has to last until then tbh.... having said that i wont make the same mistake twice and buy a duf.

treeless saddles.... educate me.... one size fits all?? less chance of a back injury?....can i do dressage and jump in this???

as for now.... would it be a rediculous idea to ride her in a bareback pad until i get a saddle sorted??? i used to do this with my old horse when i couldnt afford a saddle :o and i actually much prefered this to riding with a saddle (still would).... stupid idea??? (like i said - just until i have a saddle)!!!

i dont want to give her a couple of weeks off as shes going lovely... (she even popped her first crosspole today on the lunge).... as i want to continue flatwork and start jumping properly when shes 5. but from now introduce some mini jumps to her over winter.....

help??
 
Ehmm, personally I'd discard the Wintec. I've had two horses who've had back problems from Wintecs, tho' know some people on here think they're OK, I think the problem with anything with an adjustable gullet is that there's a mindset of "one size fits all" and with these kind of saddles they can easily cause a problem without the rider realising.

Re. treeless: apparently you have got to watch that the stirrup bars don't cause a pressure problem, as without a tree to give support, this is where you might get problems (which makes sense, with a tree - it takes the pressure all around the saddle whereas with no tree, the pressure has to go somewhere on the horse's back).

I'd personally be inclined to get an equine physio out to look at yours and then perhaps get an approved saddle fitter out to work alongside. Its ever to easy to have a problem and then the horse gets saddle-shy, especially with a youngster.

I don't have any experience of treeless; tho' am thinking of going this way with mine, so will be interested in what others have to say about this......
 
I'm not that knowledgeable about the treeless saddles so I might well be wrong on this but I don't think that it is a case of one size fits all but you can do dressage and jump in one. Have you thought about getting one of the saddles with the adjustable gullets?

I also love riding bareback and as long as the horse isn't a complete nutter then I would say go for it as it would be preferable to her having the time off, especially as you say she is improving so much at the moment.
 
thanks for the replies :)

im clueless about treeless saddles but i much prefer riding bareback :o however i do not think dressage comps would much appreciate me going in bareback lol!!!

i will get a bareback pad tomorow - its her day off monday so will try her in it tuesday - i cant see there being a problem there really - shes very chilled for 4!!



i do get about the bars thing though.... i hadnt thought of that.... how is that overcome withouth using pressure on the horse??

i had honestly just assumed it was like riding bareback but with a proper padding between my butt and the horses back!!!

im not a big girl i only weigh9.5 stone - and the mares 15.2... and i ride light, but i suppose even at that im still terrified of hurting her!!!

(hence why the saddle is now being dumped on ebay!)
 
I think with the treeless saddles the important thing is that you MUST have a pad underneath, and getting this bit right is vital or else you will have problems. It has to be the "right" pad for the saddle and the work the horse is in.

Some places offer a trial service for their treeless saddles. This ain't exactly cheap but it would give you a good chance to try one and see how it goes.

But for dressage, I think your choices of treeless might be a bit limited, and certainly you might need to go for one of the more "conventional" treeless saddles, if you see what I mean.

The other thing you'd need to be careful of is buying something second-hand off E-Bay. The prices might be very tempting, but the saddle/pad would have been worn by another horse and would have become moulded to their shape, which might cause problems when you plonk it on yours.

Personally I'd be inclined to play safe and get a saddle fitter out. Yours is young and you don't wanna spoil things. If you had a decent'ish second hand saddle fitted now, then perhaps you could change it out as and when necessary, which probably wouldn't cost you a great deal. Whatever you do the horse will change shape radically in the next couple of years anyway.
 
thanks :)

ive emailed village saddlry - im in cheshire so any reccomendations for one asap - please let me know!!

i have found a bareback pad at robinsons for £17.50 and i have leathers and stirrups - so for now that will do!.... i woul rather do that than give her time off.....

feel slightly bad now as she wouldnt stand this morning to let me on her... now i know why! shes not once kicked up a stink, that was the worse she did...

might get the saddlepad today and just put it on her tonight so she dosent associate ridden with bad things...!
 
I had a Heather Moffett treeless dressage saddle for a while - it was nice for dressage but I wouldn't want to jump in a treeless because you put so much pressure through the stirrup bars in a forward seat. I think for treeless generally, you have to spend a fair bit to get anything worth having. I am a huge fan of Balance saddles - horses love them and the pad system would mean that you could easily adjust the saddle as your horse changes shape.
 
thanks ^^

i have now bought a bareback pad - so will ride with that until i can get the saddler out... which apparantly can take weeks?!?! :o
 
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