Saddles for youngsters

kc100

kc100

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Before you all jump down my throat about even *thinking* of saddles when I have a 2 year old.....this is more of a budgeting situation rather than actually purchasing one any time soon!

So my plan at the moment (may change next summer depending on how he grows) is to back him once he's turned 3, get him going over the summer and then most likely turn away over the winter. What I wanted to know is those of you with youngsters/have had youngsters, what did you go for saddle wise? Obviously he is going to grow out of whatever he gets fairly quickly and when I come to get him going again when he's 4 he'll need re-fitting and maybe even another saddle. But I'm struggling to know where to start with saddles and what will be the best option for him.

I dont want to pay a small fortune for something he will grow out of, but equally dont want cheap tat that will cause problems. I also prefer riding in DR saddles as it puts me in a position I'm much more comfortable with, I've ridden in them for so long I feel like I'm tipping forwards in a GP and it puts my balance out, not ideal for a wobbly baby horse!

So any recommendations/what to avoid saddle wise for 3 year olds would be most welcome, and ideas of price would be great so I can start putting some pennies away now in preparation!
 
I always break in my jump saddle as I find I have more chance of staying on if they pratt around ! having said that, I've never had to test it out :)

I bought a cheaper but decent quality leather jump saddle, think I paid about £300 for a stubben which lasted her till she was 4 then sold it for not much less & bought another decent leather jump saddle which fit her from 4 to start of 6th year & just bought a wow this year when she was 6 as she changed again.

my 2 3 year olds, the wow fits the bigger 1 but I am just going to buy a thorowgood cob saddle for the connie as a "spare"
 
Personally I would pick up a 2nd wintec. It can be changed to suit him and it's lightweight.

My 3year old who is not back yet has inherited my lad's wintec GP that I purchased as it doesn't suit him, first one of our horses a wintec hasn't suited. It cost me £325 brand new. But you can get them for around £100.
 
I have my 3 yr old in one of my jumping saddles. It fits him well but sits a little low on his wither so I pad it out with a sheepskin pad and poly pad. He is only being ridden for 6 weeks before I turn him away again for the winter so I didn't see any point in getting something new for him now.
When her turns 4 and starts proper work, then I may start looking for something adjustable. I love the new pessoa monoflaps that can be adjusted like a wintec but they are very pricey at £2000 so maybe they will just stay a dream for a while until I can save up.
If you like dressage saddles then you can pick up bates adjustable dressage saddles for around £500 second hand, so that may be an idea as you could continue to use it while they change shape and then buy something else once they have stopped growing if you wanted.
 
I've backed mine in either a GP Wintec or a VSD Wintec. I like them because they are lightweight and not too expensive. I have warmbloods and the tree suits them.

A couple have never moved out of Wintecs and are now in the Isabell Werth dressage - competing at Inter 1 and medium.
 
I bought a TG T8 jump saddle secondhand recently on a bit of a whim. It's light, adjustable gullet and a fairly universal tree fit.
All the benefits of a synthetic but with a leather outer. It's a useful saddle and pretty comfy. They also do a dressage version.
It'll be a keeper for a variety of uses, including backing.
 
I bought a second hand Solution Freestyle dressage saddle. I tried a TG cob saddle on her and the tree was too curvy, so I had to think again and a good quality treeless seemed to be a good idea on talking to owners with the same breed. I very pleased with the saddle and she still has it.
 
I borrowed a Griffin gp, hated it but it did fit the young cob well, was light as a feather and she went nicely in it. She is now in an old Ideal GP. Eventually she will need a made to measure.

The other 4 year old was backed by a professional who used an ancient gp that felt like a saddle pad to me ! This horse was capable of throwing a hissy fit so I was not wanting to put a decent saddle on until he was reliable. He moved onto a Jaguar dressage saddle and won his first test in it, but when he came to me I did not feel safe in the dressage saddle. Interestingly, when the saddler came out to fit the horse for a new saddle he did say younger horses are better in GP's. The end result was my bonkers cart horse now possesses a new Farrington GP. He is very comfortable and I am broke.
 
AdorableAlice said:
I borrowed a Griffin gp, hated it but it did fit the young cob well, was light as a feather and she went nicely in it. She is now in an old Ideal GP. Eventually she will need a made to measure.

The other 4 year old was backed by a professional who used an ancient gp that felt like a saddle pad to me ! This horse was capable of throwing a hissy fit so I was not wanting to put a decent saddle on until he was reliable. He moved onto a Jaguar dressage saddle and won his first test in it, but when he came to me I did not feel safe in the dressage saddle. Interestingly, when the saddler came out to fit the horse for a new saddle he did say younger horses are better in GP's. The end result was my bonkers cart horse now possesses a new Farrington GP. He is very comfortable and I am broke.
Click to expand...

That's interesting - what was the saddler's reasoning for why young horses go better in a GP?

My horse is a WB and will be mainly used for dressage (providing he actually enjoys it of course), whenever I've ridden horses with bigger than average movement I've always found the GP restricts them in the shoulder whereas the DR frees the shoulder, but then again perhaps there is an argument that you dont want to allow all that movement in something young and unbalanced? But then my argument would be the most important thing in balancing the young horse would be having a balanced rider, if the rider feels out of position and cant get their balance they have no hope in helping the young horse find its balance. Hence why I'm tending towards the DR saddle as my balance is noticeably better in them, plus I can sit to bucks/random outbursts better in a DR saddle!...but if there is a good argument for a GP then may consider it.
 
I bought a 2nd hand GFS event saddle for the backing process, I got a mw which was slightly wider than needed but it meant I could pad it up, which I think is good for young sensitive backs. Once I felt he was properly backed and confident I sold the event saddle & got what I paid for it and put my lad in a Kieffer dressage saddle with an adjustable gullet (comes with a key you can narrow or widen it yourself!). It goes from med thru to wide, and now he is 6 he has just outgrown it and now needs extra wide, so it has done me 2years (he was backed at 4)
 
I bought an Enlightened Equitation Flexee dressage saddle from ebay - it is very light, has a flexible leather tree and I'm able to use shims should I need to for the fit. It also has a 'sticky' seat and very big rolls for security... :) It's probably my favourite saddle. I also have a western saddle with a flex tree which fits her, and again is slightly more adjustable using pads with shims.
 
I'd rather be able to make minute adjustments whenever I need to given the speed at which youngsters can change shape. Each to their own though... :)
 
Have you no saddle at the moment at all suitable OP??

We backed my TB in the welshie's GP saddle (with the addition of a prolite pad) and bought her own when she was about 6 (it has fitted her ever since and she's 14 now).

Bought our ID mare a saddle as a 4yo (fortunately a Bates GP) and went through three gullet plates before she finally settled on a shape (again has fitted ever since and she's now 17).

Therefore I'd be loth to spend too much money on a saddle for a 4/5yo..

Fiona
 
Luckily we have a few saddles, so initially, they borrow saddles. My 3 yr old will come back in some time after Christmas, so around spring I will look for his own saddle unless he outgrows everything in the tack room before then!!!

I like a good jump saddle, I don't want to be sitting deep onto a baby.
 
Fiona said:
Have you no saddle at the moment at all suitable OP??

We backed my TB in the welshie's GP saddle (with the addition of a prolite pad) and bought her own when she was about 6 (it has fitted her ever since and she's 14 now).

Bought our ID mare a saddle as a 4yo (fortunately a Bates GP) and went through three gullet plates before she finally settled on a shape (again has fitted ever since and she's now 17).

Therefore I'd be loth to spend too much money on a saddle for a 4/5yo..

Fiona
Click to expand...

No saddle unfortunately - sold the last one as fit wasnt quite right for my last horse and now I only have my youngster so nothing to use next year, but giving myself plenty of time to get a bit of money together ahead of next year to buy something and get it fitted/adjusted (frequently!).

I'm not keen on spending loads either, definitely thinking second hand rather than something new - long term I'd like a fairfax for him as I love riding in them, but obviously they are way too expensive for a youngster. Hence looking for recommendations & ideas of price for saddles that are good value and easy to adjust.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone - very mixed bag it seems with what you are all using!

Having looked at the saddle company's website I quite like the look of those, seem to be easily adjustable and as I'm in the midlands they are pretty local to me so should have easy access to fitters & getting it adjusted. The FlexEE saddle also looks good and seems like they'd be good value second hand if they are only £650 new, will do a bit more investigation into them both next year!

Thanks again all!
 
Tbh I go for the saddle I want and then have the tree altered as they change - I don't mean an adjustable tree, my saddlers can adjust or replace the standard tree.
 
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