Saddles Again!!!

[eahotson]

Right. The newbie needs a new saddle within about 8 weeks at the most as current one is on the cusp of being a bit too tight over withers.I am obsessional as she is lovely and loose and has a lovely walk.I know the damage that badly fitting saddles can bring.Have Crewe saddlery coming out in a fortnight.They are about the nearest to me and I have used them before with good results.
Trouble is they really don't have a great selection.I don't think it is just them.There is a supply chain issue I think Someone says there is a weight of 12 weeks for a new Wintec.Possibilities are Bates/Monarch/GFS or Fairfax classic.Newbie is young and still growing/developing.Can't make up my mind about the different saddles, providing they fit of course but I am wondering if it isn't better to get a cheaper one, so long as it fits of course and using it as a stop gap until I find something else.
I should stop reading about them really as peoples opinions on the different brands vary so much but there is a brand I wouldn't mind having a look at with a different fitter if I can get hold of them.

 

[Barton Bounty]

I would get a cheap one personally until your satisfied that they are not going to change shape much, its really costly going from saddle to saddle, the important thing is that it fits properly ?

 

[eahotson]

I would get a cheap one personally until your satisfied that they are not going to change shape much, its really costly going from saddle to saddle, the important thing is that it fits properly ?

Thank you.That makes a lot of sense.

 

[Barton Bounty]

I have a cheaper wintec, for breaking, generally fits everything at first, wont break the bank if it breaks. I have an ideal deal for my horse, and a thorowgood, i had a nightmare with saddle when I got him, just because we weren’t doing a lot of work and he was super fit from being off the track so the kent and masters brand new saddle had to be swapped for a bates and then that ended up impinging his shoulder and now he is ridden every day , same routine , thorowgood in summer with wide gullet and ideal in winter with fixed medium wide-wide , worked for me now for 6 years.

 

[sbloom]

I would ask for advice on what you could buy used, it's what I do for one of the brands I fit, from photos and a detailed booking form and conversation. ALL brands are really up against it, some are just about keeping to old time scales, others are really long, I know a fitter that waited 8 months for some Wintecs last year.

 

[NSD]

Saddles Direct in Burnley have an abundance of brand new Wintecs, Arenas and Bates in stock, i know because i have just purchased one.

 

[Polos Mum]

For a young horse in any market I would be really tempted to buy a quality but second hand saddle that fitted well. For a £500/£600 budget you could have a replacement saddle every 6-9 months that keeps fitting and just cost you fitting each time. A good brand quality saddle won't change in value much with 6-9 months careful use.

A new saddle (IMHO) is a bit of a waste until they are 8 y/o or more as they will grow and change shape massively until then. I know plenty of made to measure new saddles fitted to 5 y/o then being sold as useless 2 years later.

 

[eahotson]

Thank you.

 

[eahotson]

Saddles Direct in Burnley have an abundance of brand new Wintecs, Arenas and Bates in stock, i know because i have just purchased one.

Thank you.

 

[Fieldlife]

I would ask for advice on what you could buy used, it's what I do for one of the brands I fit, from photos and a detailed booking form and conversation. ALL brands are really up against it, some are just about keeping to old time scales, others are really long, I know a fitter that waited 8 months for some Wintecs last year.

Good grief, when you can buy one online and have it delivered within a week. Would obviously still need fitting.

 

[Quigleyandme]

I’m not posting from an experienced or even particularly informed stance, just passing on what I‘ve been told by somebody whose opinion I value and which I am seriously considering for my two youngsters. On 7 June I was thrown from my 17.2 ID during a saddle fitting and sustained six pelvic fractures. The horse might have thrown the lad who is riding for me last week but he stuck it out and brought the horse back under control. The common denominator is that we had both leaned forward in the saddle. Our assumption is this nice young horse is very sore probably arising from the one-size-fits-all breaker’s saddle. There isn’t a culture of saddle fitting in ROI and very few practitioners. So I’m thinking of buying a Solutions Smart saddle which is treeless and fitted to the horse using shims. One saddle for both horses. This goes against all my very firmly held prejudices against treeless saddles and shimming saddles to fit but having looked at their website I am being turned. If I do buy I will opt for a model with a lower cantle so I can jump. OP has the option to try before buy at a very reasonable cost so very little to lose really and there is a Facebook group that post available second hand saddles and accessories.

 

[eahotson]

I’m not posting from an experienced or even particularly informed stance, just passing on what I‘ve been told by somebody whose opinion I value and which I am seriously considering for my two youngsters. On 7 June I was thrown from my 17.2 ID during a saddle fitting and sustained six pelvic fractures. The horse might have thrown the lad who is riding for me last week but he stuck it out and brought the horse back under control. The common denominator is that we had both leaned forward in the saddle. Our assumption is this nice young horse is very sore probably arising from the one-size-fits-all breaker’s saddle. There isn’t a culture of saddle fitting in ROI and very few practitioners. So I’m thinking of buying a Solutions Smart saddle which is treeless and fitted to the horse using shims. One saddle for both horses. This goes against all my very firmly held prejudices against treeless saddles and shimming saddles to fit but having looked at their website I am being turned. If I do buy I will opt for a model with a lower cantle so I can jump. OP has the option to try before buy at a very reasonable cost so very little to lose really and there is a Facebook group that post available second hand saddles and accessories.

Very interesting and thank you for that.Sorry you were so badly hurt.

 

[SEL]

I’m not posting from an experienced or even particularly informed stance, just passing on what I‘ve been told by somebody whose opinion I value and which I am seriously considering for my two youngsters. On 7 June I was thrown from my 17.2 ID during a saddle fitting and sustained six pelvic fractures. The horse might have thrown the lad who is riding for me last week but he stuck it out and brought the horse back under control. The common denominator is that we had both leaned forward in the saddle. Our assumption is this nice young horse is very sore probably arising from the one-size-fits-all breaker’s saddle. There isn’t a culture of saddle fitting in ROI and very few practitioners. So I’m thinking of buying a Solutions Smart saddle which is treeless and fitted to the horse using shims. One saddle for both horses. This goes against all my very firmly held prejudices against treeless saddles and shimming saddles to fit but having looked at their website I am being turned. If I do buy I will opt for a model with a lower cantle so I can jump. OP has the option to try before buy at a very reasonable cost so very little to lose really and there is a Facebook group that post available second hand saddles and accessories.

Please, please trial one first. I had one for a fortnight and the pony it was on (a saint) got more and more tetchy. My YO watched me practising a dressage test and said all credit to my balance because the saddle really wasn't helping. Their head office tried numerous options to make it fit but in the end I had a pony with a very sore back so I returned it. I also developed a very sore lower back

There's a bodyworker local to me who swears every horse she treats who is ridden in one short strides in front.

They are marmite!

 

[Hackback]

I had a Solution saddle and loved it but it still needed fitting properly. For a start there are several different models with different bases, some of which my horse really didn't like. Then the shimming turned out to be pretty technical and precise. The fitter came out every 6-12 months and checked the balance. I could tell when it needed doing because the saddle didn't feel so comfortable and the fitter made a few tweaks (often involving scissors and one of my existing pads and me covering my eyes) to get it back to perfect. Finally my (ageing, Cushings) horse's withers became too prominent for shimming to be able to clear them and I've had to go back to treed. I've kept the saddle as I'm hoping it will eventually come in for my 2 year old.

I loved mine, but not suitable for all horses and just as hard to fit as a treed in my experience. It was much less costly to adjust the shimming than buying a new saddle each time though!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I’m not posting from an experienced or even particularly informed stance, just passing on what I‘ve been told by somebody whose opinion I value and which I am seriously considering for my two youngsters. On 7 June I was thrown from my 17.2 ID during a saddle fitting and sustained six pelvic fractures. The horse might have thrown the lad who is riding for me last week but he stuck it out and brought the horse back under control. The common denominator is that we had both leaned forward in the saddle. Our assumption is this nice young horse is very sore probably arising from the one-size-fits-all breaker’s saddle. There isn’t a culture of saddle fitting in ROI and very few practitioners. So I’m thinking of buying a Solutions Smart saddle which is treeless and fitted to the horse using shims. One saddle for both horses. This goes against all my very firmly held prejudices against treeless saddles and shimming saddles to fit but having looked at their website I am being turned. If I do buy I will opt for a model with a lower cantle so I can jump. OP has the option to try before buy at a very reasonable cost so very little to lose really and there is a Facebook group that post available second hand saddles and accessories.

I had a horse that had muscle damage from a saddle I ended up with a Lavinia Mitchell saddle and it really was the best thing I ever did, they are fitted wider with a shim numnah to allow the back to muscle up and recover.

 

[Red-1]

My horse has had 2 saddles I had from before he was bought, then one new dressage, then a refit of one of the old ones, now a new jump...

Young horses are the pits with saddles.

I did try a Solution but it didn't give enough support and needed much shimming. I didn't want to compromise...

I would get a decent second hand one. One of mine from a previous horse was a nearly new Childeric, bought for £1,800 and sold for 2K. Cheapest saddle ever: it paid me to own it for 2 years! Whereas a nearly new smaller brand, but beautiful leather (wide wool flocked panels), dressage was £1,000, seemed like a bargain as was hardly used and would have been £1,800 new... That sold for £700, so not such a bargain but a £300 loss isn't insurmountable and would be at least that and more on a new Wintec or similar.

My new jump one is a Stride Free, bought second hand and I would expect I would get the money back more or less if I sold while it is still in excellent condition. The Stride Free ones are a different type of tree, without points. They are, apparently, very adjustable. It is quite expensive but, if I get the money back, doesn't work out expensive in the long run.