Saddles- Dressage and Jumping

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Tasha11

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Hi
I have an Antares single flap saddle which I am absolutely in love with. I had It fitted to my new horse last week along with his Ideal Jessica dressage saddle which he came with. Saddle fitter said the antares fitted very well but the dressage saddle did not. That was fine as I was looking for a new dressage saddle anyway.
My horse is an eventer who in the 4 months which I have had him has never had a jumping fault. Then on Monday I was having a lesson and although he started jumping wel he soon started running out and rearing. He was obviously in pain so we cut the lesson short.
Gave him tuesday off in the hope that he had just tweaked something. When I got on him on Wed I could tell he still was not right so I got the vet out.
The vet says that he is sore across his withers so suggested getting the antares saddle fitted again. Different saddle fitter coming today and I do suspect that my saddle may not fit so although I love my saddle I think I will be looking for a new one (or two).
Can anyone suggest jumping and dressage saddle which will suit me who is very fussy about saddles and my horse who has quite a lot of wither?
If have read this far thank you and well done!
 
what saddle were you jumping him in before.? sounds to me like that is the one he prefers and personally, i would put my horses comfort over my preference saddle wise anyday.!
 
The antares is the one that I have jumped him all of the time. It is on its third fitting now to make sure that it definately fits so I am making sure that his comfort comes first.
 
sorry, i must have misread your post - "I had It fitted to my new horse last week along with his Ideal Jessica dressage saddle which he came with." i thought you had only just had the saddle fitted, hence me asking which saddle you had used previously..
perhaps it is not the right saddle for him if it's on the 3rd fitting.?
 
I recently purchased a Wintec Isabel dressage saddle. Although it is plastic(!!) it is absolutely great & I would recommend to everyone. It fits my averagely shaped young horse a treat with the medium gullet in & then fits my oddly shaped high withered advanced event horse with the med/narrow gullet in. It also cost a fraction of the price of a posh leather one. maybe useful if you have 2 new saddles to buy
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I too have a wintec isabell and i love it to pieces, my horse is high withered, my saddle had previously been fitted in a narrow but she wasnt going right and iv finally now got it fitting in a WIDE (with the front raised with inserts)! she has to have a prolite under but she is going much better and i get to keep my precious saddle! it is important to get a saddle that your horse likes but if you arent comfortable then that wont work either!
 
I also have the Wintec Isobell Werth which fits my Shire X on one gullet and my IDx on another. It has saved numerous lives and your bottom doesnt move
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If you have a higher budget then I can highly recommend the Sue Carson Harmony saddle which suits me and my girl perfectly (felt I had died and gone to heaven when I tried it). Cant help with the jumping saddle - we only do 'the dark side' stuff
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That's ok I had forgotten to say that I had it fitted when I first got him. It was my last horses saddle and is only about 6 months old so I would love to keep it if I can but obiviously I wasnt the best saddle for my horse. The reason I had it fitted the second time was because he was building up with work so it was just to make sure. When that saddler said it was a perfect fit I thought great but I am now having doubts due to his sore back. It could of been his ill-fitting dressage saddle that caused the pain. Personally I feel this is more likely as I use it every day for hacking and schooling and only really use my jumping one for competing and the odd jumping lesson. Or his bad back could have been caused by something different completly but we are trying to rule out the obvious first.
 
I had a wintec isabell for my last horse and sold it along with my Bates close contact to by the Antares which cost a fortune! I did like the saddle very much but my only dislike was the fact it was synthetic and I am very much a leather fan! Obviously though if it is the saddle which is going to fit best then I will put my plastic hatred aside and get it!
Thanks for your help
 
Ideal Impala jump and Ideal Susannah dr, both for high-withered very very sensitive tb mare, both serge-lined wool flocked to make them very easy for saddler to adjust. had them made for her this spring, delighted with both.
i wouldn't go for a close-contact on a horse as sensitive as yours sounds, tbh. just not enough displacement of weight and pressure across the panels.
 
Ideals for me too - springbok and roella though - roella is narrow in the twist for small people, and I coudl not ride in the impala and think you will find the springbok closer to the anteres than the impala. Springbok is wool flocked so not a true close contact, though it is single flap. I'd steer clear of albions.

I would also suggest a chiropractor visit for your horse might be useful too.....
 
Thanks for your suggestions.
Can I ask about the saddles you mentioned?
I'm a bit bias against Ideal saddles due to experiences that I've had with them in the past. I had a Grandee (sp?) on a mare I had last year and hated it. The only reason I kept it was because it fitted her perfectly. My boy had a Jessica until the last week and quite a few of the horses I ride at work have them too.
My problem with them is that I find the leather very slippy and also I feel that there is a lot of bulk undr my leg. However I would be willing to try the Susannah in particular as I really like the look of it. Have you found any of these problems?
I understand what you are saying about the close contact saddles. I would never use one for any length of time (eg. to hack in) as I do not feel it can be overly comfortable for the horse for this.
 
I don't have either of those problems and in fact having been through four different makes of dressage saddle would class the roella as the most comfortable one I've owned.

The springbok really isn't bulky as it is single flap, and not slippy as mine is calf skin!
 
I like the look of the Springbok, thanks. I much prefer single flap jumping saddles but I do think that wool flocking is better.
I've heard to many bad things about albions to go anywhere near them!
Yeah my vet is arranging for a back guy to come out next week.
 
Agree re. the springbok, isnt as "pretty" as the Antares, but the horses seem to be truly comfortable in them, and I love mine for me! Also, being wool flocked you can use it as a saddle instead of just on occasions with the true close contacts. The single flap is great though
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I have the Wintec Isabell and think its fantastic too.

I have to ask though - what are people's bad experiences/opinons of Albions? I have an Albion jump saddle on loan from my saddler at the moment while my own is being made and I love it. I'm quite worried now - please do tell!!!
 
Thanks again!
That's what I thought. Devoucoux and Butet's do look lovely but I've never ridden in one so I don't really know what they are like.
I have ridden in a couple of Amerigos. Liked the dressage one but did't really think wow when I rode in the jumping ones
 
The Amerigo jump saddle is HARD! But then a friend has a Equipe one which is lovely. Butets are gorgeous
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Have sat in a devoucoux and loved it, but they are apparently very much riders saddles....
 
This is only what I have heard so don't quote me on it. Albions went though a bad phase were they were not made properly and I have known people to have lots of problems with the flocking ect. Although they may have got better recently. I had a dressage one about 5 years ago and it was very comfortable though.
 
That's what I though about the Amerigo's. Took a horse to do hill work in one last week and ended up bruised!
Have you heard anything about the Antares? I know not so many people have them in Britain so I don't really hear much bout people's opinions of them.
 
TBH theyre not one I have come across much before! I know they are similar quality etc as the Devoucoux and Butets, but as far as the tree design (and so comfort for the horse!) I dont know alot... sorry!!
 
That's ok. I just saw the stand at Blair last year and thought that they looked lovely so bought one! They have a slightly more cut back head than the devoucoux but that is the only real difference that I can see
 
Antares - two factories one in france one in morocco, make all saddles on two trees (yes only two different trees obviously in different width fittings) Beautiful saddles beautifully made but IMHO don't fit majority if any horses.

I would recomend Ideal saddles - but then i would be bias!!
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I'd recommend an Albion K2 Jumping Saddle and Albion SLK Ultima - use both on high withered horses and they fit really well.
 
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