Showing - dressage saddle?

[diluteherd]

Hello,

Just looking for a little advice? I have been looking at saddles and a Thorowgood saddle shape fits my mare perfectly and I already have a GP T8 which I love to bits. I have competed in dressage and in-hand showing with past horses but never a ridden show but would really like to get my mare doing both as she has done so well with in-hand showing and I think she seems to enjoy the dressage we do at home so would like to get her out competing (It would be so nice she is 8 and I've had her since 11 months and feel she has so much to give but we have only scratched the surface.. what with injuries to both me and her! To do a ridden competition would really bring a big cheesy grin to my face!! )

Anyway.. without numbing minds too much I was looking at dressage saddles and wondered how judges look upon showing in a brown dressage saddle? We arent talking HOYS qualifiers but local shows and the slightly bigger country shows.. perhaps an odd county level in a couple of years time - when pigs fly and horses talk and so forth..

Also - What are the thoughts of using brown saddles in dressage? I know the usual is black, however in my mind if it was such a no-no they wouldnt make brown dressage saddles. I also think with her being a gorgeous golden-dappled Palomino she would look quite beautiful in brown tack.

Sorry of rambles! Many thanks for any feed back!!

 

[spacefaer]

Although the current fashion for is for black leather (dressage tack in particular ), traditionally, it was always the colour of driving tack.

I think brown tack looks smarter on almost any colour horse tbh and is much more "correct" in the show ring. I can't think of a single major show producer who would have black tack in the normal course of things (Unless perhaps on a black horse)

I have shown in a dressage saddle - on the flat and also workers - it was a close contact devoucoux though and quite unobstrusive. Some of the larger saddles with big knee rolls are very intrusive on the eye and I think detract more from the horse's shape than a more conservatively shaped forward cut jump saddle.

At local level, most judges don't ride, so it's not so important what saddle you have. As you go up the levels, you will get ride judges sitting on her. Most traditional judges will not appreciate a very straight cut saddle, especially not one with big knee rolls!

She sounds lovely - can we have some pictures?

 

[diluteherd]

Thank you, I always have had a soft spot for brown although not so much for the tan and bright caramel coloured tack they do now.. not a big fan of that! lol

The T8 dressage saddle doesnt seem to be too big from the pictures, Im going to have a word with the guy at the saddlers see what he thinks of it, but the it doesnt seem too big and bold and has a more rounded cantle..

Here she is, this was her approx 3 years ago, she's a got a lot darker and more dapply now over the past couple of years before the sun got to her and bleached her coat as I left her naked due to my injury and then the summer after her injury.. (sorry for a the giant picture)

Also included a picture of the T8 so you can see what I mean about it not being to bold..

 

[dafthoss]

I'm fairly sure they have removable knee blocks so you could just take them out for showing. I do dressage in a brown dressage saddle, all my tack is brown and I have never had a problem with it.

 

[sbloom]

Why not have a WH saddle with decent sized knee rolls? I have clients riding up to medium dressage in some WH models. It is "less" saddle so looks better in the show ring but still offers enough support for dressage. You can generally choose all leather or part suede, which also gives more security.

 

[diluteherd]

hmmm I could do sbloom, its so difficult what to go for, finances are not bottomless being at uni and having 4 horses at home I need something that will be diverse and I also think I may concentrate on the dressage more than the showing - I also think with a more forward cut saddle the only time I will need it in showing is for WHs and with her being 14.3hh and me being 24, Im not sure on what restrictions are in place for age of rider and horse/pony heights

The thorowgood range do a gdp that is more like WH cut. I do apologise for keep mentioning the Thorowgood, its because they fit my girl so well and have the changeable gullet and fish system that means I can alter with her shape or change to fit my youngsters when they are ready to be broken.

However I am gutted to see that TGood dont do the dressage in brown, so have dropped them an email see if they can do me a special in brown.... fingers crossed for me!!

 

[sbloom]

I hear you about budget, adjustability etc, but if you do decide to go the WH route, there are certainly nice straight cut WH saddles available, all the ones I fit for adults are straight cut.

 

[BlackRider]

Your horse is lovely

I've read a lot about dressage saddles shouldn't be used for showing, but I used my Albion K2 dressage saddle, when I was doing affiliated and county shows, and as we were very successful, I don't think it was an issue, and it was black too, but as my horse is a grey it looked better.