Saddles of today, what do you like/dislike

Kenzo

Kenzo

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Do you think that the type/make/quality etc of saddle used is a huge contributor to how well you ride and your overall position? (obviously not referring saddles designed specifically for a certain discipline i.e. dressage/jumping) I just mean in general, for example hacking/flat work and lets say when using a GP.

Or you do you think if your a good rider, with a good seat, lower leg, balance etc etc that you can ride well in any saddle? (providing it fits the horse and is the correct size for you).

The more money you spend on a saddle the more chance of improving your riding?

Are there certain makes of saddles that you just simply can't get on with and make you ride like your on dire needs of lessons and vice visa, are there others that seem to magically transform your position...well you get what I'm saying, do some saddles hinder your position or assist it?

Have saddles really improved that much in the last lets say 15 years to the point where not only are they more comfortable and better designed for the horses but also help us riders? for example where the stirrup bar is located, certain knee rolls/balance points/types of tree/deaper seats

Just wondered what your thoughts were.
 
Gawd K, it's early in the day for sooooooooooo many questions, no matter how good they are
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I bought an expensive Albion. Two riders, who are heaps better than me, both said it throws them forward.

Friend had saddle made-to-measure by Morris and Nolan. It cost about half what mine did. It is lovely to ride in! So comfortable! Ar$e is where is should be, knees tuck in nicely, etc. etc. etc.

So, in answer to your question, or at least one of them, no idea hun
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I would say that theoretically, a good rider should be able to ride in any saddle. However, most of us don't ride like Carl Hester or one of the great masters, so I don't see a problem with having a saddle for a certain discipline. I have a dressage saddle for schooling (and dressage, obviously
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) and it helps my position out but then I am a crap rider generally, so need all the help I can get
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I do find that different saddles help or hinder as well. My horse came with a Frank Baines GP that was quite forward cut which was great to jump in but crap for flatwork. It's now gone back to his owners and I've been jumping in an old Wintec GP I had lying around. I feel like my jumping has gone back 20 steps and I was jumping better last year in the FB saddle. I am not secure at all in the Wintec so am now on the look out for a bargain jumping or forward cut GP / Event saddle. I don't care if everyone thinks it's totally pretentious, having 2 specialist saddles when I don't do either discipline particularly well, but being in a jumping saddle really does help my position and make me safer.

As for makes of saddles, I can't get on with Stubben at all. I find them hard and uncomfortable, and they put me in a weird position (have tried their dressage and jumping saddles, didn't like either). I love Ideal, currently have a Harry Dabbs dressage saddle which I also like, and can safely say I loathe anything Wintec
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Not sure if this means anything but the best saddle I've ever ridden in, for me, was an old Ideal I used to have. I sold it with the horse it fitted but it must be easily 10 years old now - it was far better than anything I've sat in recently!
 
Hate all the padding of saddles from about the late 1970's to pretty much today.
Love my Albion Selecta, old now so the padding has been squashed when it was remoulded to present horse.
Prior to that old Stubbens. a fab pigskin seated Eldonian that was old 1977, and a narrow Giddens jumping saddle with pigskin knee rolls, that was circa 1977 as well..
Where are all of the cut back headed saddles designed to fit big shouldered, high withered TBs?
Like the flat seats of the so-called close contact saddles and monoflaps.
 
Certainly there are saddles out there that hinder your position. Having spent much of my riding career on riding schoolhorses I have ridden on some of the worst!

Rode an instructors horse in her dressage saddle a few weeks back and fell in love with the saddle.

Basically if the stirrup bars are too far forward you will sit like you are in an armchair and find it difficult to get a good position. There are soooooo many saddles like that. Then there are the ones where you are permanently perched forward on the pommel, the ones with no knee rolls so jumping position becomes impossible, the ones with a cantle so high that it jabs you on landing after a fence, the big huge ones that feel like sitting in a boat and so on.
 
I like my albion K2 for jumping and fast hacking. It is not comfortable for a mostly walking ride (esp on long striding yet lazy horse!). I thought for ages that I was sitting wrong as was getting a sore back out hacking, then I got myself a dressage saddle and realised just how much the jumping saddle tips me forward
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I then bought a dressage model of a barefoot treeless saddle (shock horror
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) and now use that for schooling, dressage and slower hacks and is is miles more comfortable, no sore back for me anymore
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I think a great rider can ride anything with anything, but I have a non-horsey job, and will only ever be an amateur, so don't think its a crime if I buy saddles for a purpose.

I love both my saddles, and my horse seems equally happy in both of them. The treeless is mega comfy and something I can really sit in for flatwork and the albion I would not be without for jumping, the knee rolls have saved me many a graceful front door dismount
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Yep.
I had a wintec VSD initially. The stirrup bars were too far forward, throwing position out of line, making my seat very insecure (not good on a horse who would like to test the boundaries
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Quickly sold it off and had one of my saddlers own saddles. Couldn't fault it, my leg position and seat security is as good as I think it probably ever will be (minus hours of no stirrup schooling anyway!)
So yes, I do think the way the saddle is designed, where the stirrup bars are positioned, the knee rolls etc do make a huge difference. That said I've never tried any posh expensive saddles and am going off experience of years of ancient and miscellaneous saddles!
 
I love my chestnut horse's L & R saddles. They're made with waxy buffalo leather and they stick to leather seated jods so they really mean the difference between falling off and staying on at times.
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My grey horse has an ideal VSD which is very comfy but nowhere near as secure.
 
I just don't get on with Thoroughgood saddles; I always feel like they make me perch and don't give me any stability whatsoever.

I now have (I say now, it was back in June) a custom made Black Country event saddle for Kia. Long story short, she couldn't cope with a 17 inch and I needed a 17 inch, so we have a "big" 16.5 which is small enough for her but big enough for me. I am absolutrly head over heels for this saddle and have been since I first sat in it. It is like riding in the comfiest chair going; I can hack out all day in it, jump in it, etc etc. It is probably the best money I have ever spent, and my aim is eventually to get the boys one each too. It wasn't horrifically expensive considering it fits the two of us like a glove - you can buy many other saddles for a huge amount more than I did.

Going to be a long saving process!
 
See, my jumping instructor freelances and rides ponies from 12 hands to 17 hand warmbloods and he WILL NOT ride in a saddle other than his pesso. Ever. He can ride in others, of course..but he prefers not to. To be fair I've only seen him ride without his once, and he looked fine. But I think he feels he rides better in his..fair enough.

I ride horses in whatever saddle comes...I only find I have a problem when I ride small ponies in 15 inch saddles or something similar and I'm too big for the saddle, and my knees come past the flaps and all that..otherwise, I don't think it affects you too much.

Though I do agree that riding in say, a dressage saddle gives a lovely leg position..or at least makes it easier to achieve vs a GP saddle..but I don't find that particular fancy dressage saddles make much more difference than any other type..
 
Thanks everyone for you input.

Hmm thats interesting actually F&D, because Mr M is very short too, he's a strange shape and can only just take a 17'' and is very flat backed too, I've looked at Black County saddles on ebay/saddles direct and I think my local saddler has a few in, often wondered if there were decent saddles or not.
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I used a Frank Baines Balance saddle on him which fitted him lovely but it just needed to be a bit smaller, as that was a 17.5, can't seem find the same model that I used before. I really like that saddle, the bars seemed further back and certainly use to put you in better position, the saddle I'm using now is the one that came with PY and its a TG saddle, my instructor hates them with a passion, I just make do but people do tend to say that TG's don't do your position any favours.
 
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See, my jumping instructor freelances and rides ponies from 12 hands to 17 hand warmbloods and he WILL NOT ride in a saddle other than his pesso. Ever. He can ride in others, of course..but he prefers not to.

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What a silly attitude he has! It is impossible for one saddle to fit such a diverse range of types
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If i was a customer i certainly wouldnt put up with that! Poor horses
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Well, actually, i wouldnt be a customer if someone thought that was acceptable!
 
a professionial could probably get away with it as they would know how to pad up the saddle so it would fit. Its why you see so many top competitors with a lot of padding under their saddle. Our YO can get her stubben SJ saddle onto pretty much anything in the yard because she knows how to make it fit but I would only see that as a temporary measure.

I had a problem fitting my current horse as he is wide with a big shoulder - ended up having to sell my really lovely SJ saddle and ended up with a K2 jumping as it was the only one that we could find that didn't restrict his shoulder - on him it looks almost like a GP - on another horse, it shows its a SJ saddle. He also didn't fit my albion SLK (again which I loved) and we went through to an SL (he liked, i didn't) then a made to measure to accomodate both of us.

So with saddles, I work up with what fits my horses and then see what choices I am left with. I also had a previous dressage instructor who was, lets say very honest (!) about my body shape so I know what I need to look out for that would suit me (length of thigh bone versus length of calve)
 
A professional should know the damage that can be done to the horse by riding in a saddle that doesnt fit! In short, they should know better. Padding doesnt make a saddle fit, it just re-distributes pressure from one place to another. i.e. it may solve one problem but creates another. Apart from the width the same length saddle CANNOT fit a 12hh and a 17hh horse. How many 12 hh ponies have the same back shape as 17hh warmbloods? err.... None!

Even for one ride you cannot expect a horse to learn and be trained in a saddle that doesnt fit. Thats like asking a runner to train in a pair of clogs. 'Stick another pair of socks on that'll be ok'.

Professionals with that attitude are not professionals at all in my eyes. They are quick fixers.
 
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Thanks everyone for you input.

Hmm thats interesting actually F&D, because Mr M is very short too, he's a strange shape and can only just take a 17'' and is very flat backed too, I've looked at Black County saddles on ebay/saddles direct and I think my local saddler has a few in, often wondered if there were decent saddles or not.
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I used a Frank Baines Balance saddle on him which fitted him lovely but it just needed to be a bit smaller, as that was a 17.5, can't seem find the same model that I used before. I really like that saddle, the bars seemed further back and certainly use to put you in better position, the saddle I'm using now is the one that came with PY and its a TG saddle, my instructor hates them with a passion, I just make do but people do tend to say that TG's don't do your position any favours.

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As I said, I would recommend a Black Country any day. I have ridden in them prior to Kia having one, and I liked them a lot. I adore mine, I just love it. It is deep enough to support me and I am sitting in it, and not perched on it. It has knee and thigh rolls too. Kia is short backed, high withered with a an "arab barrel" (for want of another description!) and my saddler was honest and said we would struggle to find anything standard to fit her and me properly. This was the best solution and I am so glad I did it. It also has an inter changeable head so as she changes shape, we can change the head in the saddle
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The saddler who did mine wouldn't come out as far as you, but I could always give you his details and see who he recommends in that area who would do the same thing for you?

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Well, I HATE my Albion GP. I paid £1400 for it 6 months ago and I prefer my oldies, and would use them if they fitted my new horse. Saddle fitter tells me it would be unwise to change as the fit couldn't be more perfect for my horse (and they are an albion dealer anyway)

It tips me forward and I can only ride in it, by wearing full seat suede or clarino jodhs, they seem to have used extra slippery leather, even on the knee rolls. My horse is a very sharp TB and this is not a good combination! Other people who have sat on it agree with me and don't like the saddle either.

Grrr...I've never had a saddle problem before, so when I bought it I thought I'd get used to it and didn't take much notice of how I felt and was concentrating on making sure it was right for the horse. I'd lose so much money if I chopped in it now, as I've been using it for 6 months. I'm saving up and am going to get another saddle next spring, so I might see if I can get rid of this one then.
Loved my old horse's Cliff Barnsby GP, and I had a fabulous Black Country GP, which made me feel secure despite the horse being very spooky and sharp. My friend has an Ideal GP, which is great too.
Moral of the story...get a saddle fitter who is not tied to any one particular brand !
 
I love Ideal - think they are fab. I also like my old Kieffer, its quite straight cut and has a cut back pommel for the high withered TB etc.. sadly it doesn't fit Meg, I miss it terribly and I need to sell it!! (note ..anyone??) Its slightly out of fashion now, and iam not sure if there is a market for those types, just a shame its sitting on the rack doing nothing. But, as I said - love Ideal!!
 
Have 2 x Ideal impala saddles they are so comfy and gr8 for jumping. Knee blocks keep u well fixed in the saddle even with young ones launchin over the jumps
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Rather than starting another thread about saddles, I just wondered if anyone has tried or knows anyone that has used the Mark Tood Calvari Close Contact Jumping Saddle?

any good? any ideas on what shape of horse they tend to suit, there only available in medium, I could try one but just wondered if they were worth trying, can't afford £1000's to spend as its for a loan horse that I've only got for 6 months so I don't want to go too mad if you see what I mean, my local saddler has one in reduced and not sure weather to try it or not.
 
Haaha, i'm exactly the same! I love my saddles, i have an old medium wide pessoa that fits everything and a lemetex alpina jump thats a bit narrower. The two f them go on everything I ride, no questions. I have a lot of different padding too. I also have a jeffries dressage saddle, which is fab, very comfy and also fits most horses. I think half of the roblem is that once your used to a pessoa type saddle which is very close contact, its very hard to change back, even though technically your prob more secure in something like an albion (I hate albions and think they are like sitting in a bucket).
 
Yes in short they can make a different to your riding, by the amount and type of padding they have, where the stirrup bars are, etc etc. I've got a Barnsby Xtreem jump saddle which I love, as it is so flexible for the horse they find it very comfortable, its flat so has nothing to get in my way, and the fact it has no real knee blocks is fab as it makes me have to use my lower leg correctly
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I LOVED my bates momentum to ride in, but it was crap for my positon, and I was sat on the back of the saddle all the time as it put me in an "armchair" position. Someone with longer legs would have been fine
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Dressage saddles are very much a case of some suit some people, and put them in the correct position, and some really dont.... again, the shape of the tree, where the stirrup bars are, the depth of the seat make a HUGE difference.

Even the best rider in the world wouldnt be able to be effective if the saddle is set in such a way it puts you out of balance.
 
Love my Devoucoux dressage saddle, but I wouldnt touch a jumping version with a bargepole. I had a Wow dressage saddle and hated it, i felt like I was sat about a foot above the horse! I had a Sue Carson jump saddle and hated it, as did my horse. I bought him a Albion K2 jump saddle yesterday, previously I have always found them uncomfortable, but i have got a 17" so hopefully it will fit me better than the ones i used to ride in, but it was the only saddle we could get to fit him, and my very difficult horse seemed to like it alot. so i'll really see what it's like tomorrow when I hack him in it. I have a black country jump saddle for my 4yo, which I love, keeps me really secure during the largest areobatic moves!
 
I don't get on with Ideal saddles, they just don't fit me. I had an Ideal dressage saddle years ago and just felt plain wrong in it, plus it had the most slippery seat of any saddle I have ever sat on, it was like glass and I HAD to use either full chaps or leather seated jods just to stay on yet alone sit properly. Sold it in the end.

Then my last horse came with a 17.5 inch ideal showing saddle and I was uncomfortable, plus my knees were literally black and blue from the small knee roll it had. Didn't matter how long I rode I couldn't escape banging my knees. Ended up riding so long I could barely reach the pedals! I am very long legged for my height and it clearly didn't suit my body shape. So sold that too.

I love my ancient saddle but know I have to fight against it to keep a good position - the stirrup bars are placed too forward.

Also had a saddle company one which was ok. Very comfy seat, but don't thing I would buy another.
 
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