Solution Saddles?

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dressagecrazy

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Ive had just about enough with my WB & saddles no matter what saddle we try he very rarely relaxes through his back.

If i ride Bareback he happily becomes soft to the contact & swings through, he's a very big mover & built super uphill. But despite the huge movement i can sit it easily even Medium trot when the saddle is removed. The frustration starts when the saddle is on. I wouldnt say he's a tough horse to fit a saddle but it does seem that all the troubles we had with a WOW saddle are still firmly set in his mind & he refuses to just let go when saddles Bareback he goes absolutely wonderful. I wish i could compete bareback as we would do brilliant.

So ideally for him & me we want something we can both really move in & have the Bareback feeling with a saddle so to speak. Ive been looking at Solution saddles, does anyone here have one? I want to know more before talking to them as they are rediculously expensive.
 
I have one, I love mine. Treeless saddles tend to be a bit marmite though, so Id try to borrow or trial one before you splash out
 
Thanks Jiggle, i will do that. I have done the treeless thing before just not with one so expensive or this particular horse.

I did try this horse in a HM Vogue a few years back & due to him being uphill it tended to slip back, I didnt have it fitted though i just borrowed it.
 
The Solution saddle fitter that came to my yard recently left a dressage saddle (and may have left a jump saddle too, not sure) for the yard owner to try over a period of at least a couple of weeks. I covet her dressage saddle, it looks lovely and not like a treeless saddle at all really. She really rates it on all the horses she has tried it on.
 
I tried the energist and freestyle, one has a gullet one doesnt. The one without the gullet feels wider and more 'bareback-y', I liked it. I also liked the gulleted one, which is the one I have, but purely as it came up on ebay in the right size and colour, Id have gone for either one.

Next on my list is the GP model ;)
 
Having previously been riding my horse in a treeless saddle I bit the bullet and I have just purchased a Strada saddle and OMG what a difference for me and my boy. Cannot recommend them enough. They are sooooo comfy and my boy is now going so much better. Ilga is amazing when she comes out to do the fitting. Have a peak at the website. Not sure what the price compares to the likes of the solution saddle, but I think they are fantastic
http://www.stradasaddles.co.uk/
 
I've got a Solution Saddle.... the "energist" (without the gullet). Most people that see it think it's an Anser (or is that Ansur) - apparently the guy that designed Ansers then went on to set up Solution Saddles or something like that :)

Anyway, I do really love mine - but agree they are like marmite - I have friends who have ridden in it who hate it. Good rule of thumb seems to be that if you like bareback (which I do), you'll like the energist.... basically it's not really a saddle that helps you out that much in terms of keeping your balance for you - it will actually show you up a bit if your balance is less than perfect. But actually it sounds like it might do you well :)

I've found them not so good for high withered horses (despite what they tell you about using the pads to relieve that.....), but for a well muscled warmblood I'd doubt that should be a problem.

They do let you loan the saddles (or at least they did last time I bought one), so maybe give that a go?
 
I have got the SMART dressage one and the SMART GP one for jumping. I love them both, they are comfy, secure (feel stuck to them like glue even when jumping!) and I can feel more what's going on underneath me - so good for dressage!!! My other half has got the SMART jump one and he does BE.
 
Have you looked at Balance saddles? They are fitted in a slightly different way to traditional saddles and horses love them. Balance did do a treeless version for a while, but they found that horses actually didn't like treeless as much as treed, so they stopped doing it. I would always worry that over time, a treeless saddle would collapse to a certain extent because there is no way to spread the weight of the rider. I had a Heather Moffett dressage for a bit, and while it was a lovely, comfy saddle, the horses went no better in it than they do in their Balance saddles, and I wouldn't have ridden in it for a long period of time, or wanted to jump in a treeless.
 
Thanks for all your replies so far, very interesting im open to any saddle tbh i just want the same relaxation i get with him Bareback when under saddle.

I find him so hard to sit under saddle it started when we had long term problems with a WOW saddle. He does just resist when saddled, it then makes him look stiff.

He's actually the most supple horse i have & will produce a mega swing through his back when he feels he can so much so you really do have to ride both side's of him or your off this is easily done though when he's relaxed & through.

I have a great saddle fitter so i will contact her first & see what she can come up with but i will try a Solution as i think it's worth it.

Im going to continue riding him Bareback for now as he's still not at his peak (been coming back from an injury). However yesterday he proved that he's definitely ready to go, we where able to produce wonderful very fluent swingy half passes & then we moved onto Half steps everything felt easy without the pesky saddle & he was definitely much happier.
 
I've got the Freestlye dressage and the jumper. Can't rate them highly enough. Horse goes fantastically well in them having objected to a few treed saddles.

We have a few at our yard too and everyone loves theirs.

I got both of mine second hand on Ebay (already tried a friends and had the SS fitter out to our yard) and got them for very good prices, especially the dressage.

This is me and Ruby http://www.solution-saddles.co.uk/sssolutionofthemonth.html#sue
 
I have the gulleted version, I didn't like the one without the gullet at all, but we both love the gulleted. I believe the new model (Smart?) rides a bit differently as well, so get a specialist solutions fitter out (I paid 50 pounds for the fitting but 4 years ago) and try them all out. You can then rent the one you like by the week (this used to be 50 pounds per week, but again 4 years ago).

When I first bought mine I had R's back checked every 3 months but in 2 years he only ever needed treatment once so I am back to six monthly checks. Four years on there are absolutely no signs of trouble from the saddle at all.

Having said that F hates it with a passion so despite the significant cost I can't use it on all my horses!
 
I have the Freestyle, was the only saddle that fitted my mare and that she was happy in (she hated the WOW despite my desire for one!). Mine was from ebay but had borrowed a friend's energist prior to that and she has always gone well in both. Its very secure (have hacked and jumped in it and she is quite athletic and will rear and spin - its never shifted once). Its good to have the fitter come out as they do still need fitting.

Have tried it on a few horses and most like it, but like everything some don't. I usually apologise to people who ride my mare about the saddle but actually everyone has complimented it and like it (most don't even realise its treeless).

the back problems I was getting when she was in a treed saddle have gone away (my physio would only recommend a couple of treeless saddles as some of the cheaper ones can cause more problems than treed saddles).
 
I have the jump one and i love it!

When the fitter comes out you can also rent a saddle for a week to see if you both get along with it.

I am a treeless convert, would put a treed saddle on my horse again!
 
A friend of mine is just about to purchase one (2nd hand) and says the difference in horse is unbelievable. From being almost impossible to get to canter in a school, is now jumping through into the canter and bending/flexing etc.
 
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