Solution Saddles

[Jazz18]

Does anyone have any experience of Solution saddles? Ive had huge problems with saddle fit on our irish horse. he came to us with atrophy in the wither pockets. He has a high shoulder and a flat back. Saddles begin by fitting and then after a time get low on the wither. saddle fitters have then narrowed the tree which has resulted in a horse with a very sore back. We've rested him for 3 months . He's had intensive physio and vet has said he's ok to start ridden work again. I'm very reluctant to buy yet another saddle so am going to trial the Solution saddle. However, I have been warned that they are hard to ride in.
I would be very interested to hear people's experience of these saddles. Are they easy to use and do they genuinely need little checking and adjusting?

 

[Jellymoon]

I started using them a few years ago when I had a very tricky horse who didn’t like any of the 70bn tree’d saddles I tried on her. She liked her Solution from the first ride, and still likes it several years later. I now have two of them and ride all 4 of my horses in them, just with different pads. I do everything in them, including hunting, show jumping, Eventing. I have the latest models - Smart Pro and Smart native, both forward cut jump saddles.
To answer your questions: yes, they are easy to use and they need the same level of fitting and checking as normal saddles. I get mine checked around every 6 months, or if the horse changes shape. However, as I get more confident and skilled, having watched and listened at the fittings, I start to do tweaks myself. Like one was looking a little low in front and the horse had started fidgeting a bit while tacking up, so I’ve tried another slim shim in the front, and she’s happy again.
As for them being difficult to ride in, I don’t find this to be the case, horse is much easier to ride now she’s not trying to buck me off all the time!. They do feel different at first as they have less of a twist, but I soon got used to this after a few rides. Having seen pics and vids of myself riding in them, I don’t look that much different, still as rubbish as ever!!!
You just need to make sure you get a good fitter as the balance of pads is crucial to success.

 

[webble]

Fitting fine correctly is fine but my God my poor poor arse did not like it one bit

 

[sbloom]

If you'd like a treed saddle it sounds like there's some evidence that the tree may have been too curvy or the panels not supportive enough.

How quickly were they getting too low in front? I'm sure you did get it looked at very regularly, certainly sounds like it, but if you miss the timing once, and the saddle then sits too low in front for some time, there is pressure on the front, stopping the horse's muscles working properly, and the shrink further. it's a vicious cycle and one of the best examples of why it's critical to either have the fitter out at least every 6 months if not three, but even better keep an eye on the fit yourself.

I would also have tried to work with padding to balance the saddle rather than narrowing and, if the horse still wasn't progressing then I'd have wanted to talk to a bodyworker and work together to make sure the thoracic sling is working, lifting and strengthening, a high shoulder can indicate a horse that's dropped through its shoulders. The prerequisite is that the saddle tree is definitely wide and flat enough in the rails to allow development and stability without having to narrow the front to prop it up.

Treeless in general can show pressure points at the bars and under seat bones, the Solution is definitely one of the preferred/recommended ones but to me the channel looks much too narrow for most horse's spines, the panels are very hard, and the quality is definitely not the definition of value for money.

 

[QuantockHills]

I loved my solution saddle and did everything from Dressage to endurance, hunting and eventing in it! bought it for £1000 10 years ago and just sold it for £800. Found it very comfortable and all the blocks underneath were velcro so very adjustable.

 

[MrsNorris]

I’ve had a solutions smart dressage for the last year on my hard to fit cob. I had had several treed saddles fitted by a qualified fitter before that, and my horse hated all of them. I got sick of the endless problems, the expensive call-outs, and my poor horse suffering the consequences. He was labelled as quirky by the fitter, he’s not at all, he was just in pain.
Anyway, since having the solutions he’s been brilliant, no more bucking, not even so much as a hump, and it’s the most comfortable saddle I’ve ever sat in too. I’ve never found it hard to ride in, given that he’s xxxw its much easier to sit in than most of the treed saddles we tried. I’d highly recommend you try one.

 

[Horsekaren]

I love mine, its the first saddle that doesn't need refitting every 6 weeks, my horse seems the best in it over the 5 other treed saddles i have tried. I think it is the comfiest thing ever, infact i popped my old thorrowgood treed saddle on for a few mins last month and i didn't feel connected with him at all. I rode in it at first with just a saddle cloth, then got a sheepskin half pad and also added a dorsal pad and even with all those underneath i could feel more than the TG saddle. I had a fitter out and she said some horses like the really close contact and others like a little more padding (the saddle fits a dream) but he prefers a bit of padding underneath so there are lots of things to try. A few other people have sat on my horse in it and all said it was nice to ride in. Good luck! i hope it works out great for you

 

[ElleSkywalker]

I've got one on trail at the min. My pony however was already having some issues sorting her legs out going into canter and has continued to have them in the solutions saddle. I have the vet coming out to see her later in the week but am fairly sure this isn't saddle related.

Good points about it however is that it does not slip to one side like my usual saddle, it's also a lot closer contact which I like and I feel puts me in a better position. I also feel a lot happier riding down hills in it than my usual saddle.

Bad point is as mentioned before the leather isn't the best quality for the price.

I particularly like that for the trail they set you up with everything you need, so saddle, webbers, girth and saddle cloth so you get a good trail of it without forking out on new things you may or may not end up needing

 

[Jellymoon]

If you'd like a treed saddle it sounds like there's some evidence that the tree may have been too curvy or the panels not supportive enough.

How quickly were they getting too low in front? I'm sure you did get it looked at very regularly, certainly sounds like it, but if you miss the timing once, and the saddle then sits too low in front for some time, there is pressure on the front, stopping the horse's muscles working properly, and the shrink further. it's a vicious cycle and one of the best examples of why it's critical to either have the fitter out at least every 6 months if not three, but even better keep an eye on the fit yourself.

I would also have tried to work with padding to balance the saddle rather than narrowing and, if the horse still wasn't progressing then I'd have wanted to talk to a bodyworker and work together to make sure the thoracic sling is working, lifting and strengthening, a high shoulder can indicate a horse that's dropped through its shoulders. The prerequisite is that the saddle tree is definitely wide and flat enough in the rails to allow development and stability without having to narrow the front to prop it up.

Treeless in general can show pressure points at the bars and under seat bones, the Solution is definitely one of the preferred/recommended ones but to me the channel looks much too narrow for most horse's spines, the panels are very hard, and the quality is definitely not the definition of value for money.

Totally agree that the leather quality is not as high as you would expect for the price, which does grate, and I have told them! Customer service could also be better. But I guess when you find something that your horse likes when all other saddles had failed, you just put up with those things. Re. the channels being too narrow and the panels being hard, I hadn’t actually noticed that and after using them for 4 yrs with all the horses still being happy and comfortable, I think it’s working well for us. No evidence of any pressure points on any of mine either.
I have no agenda and I’m not associated with them in any way, but I do know the stress of endless saddles that don’t work, so I’m just relaying my experience to help the OP.

 

[Kat]

I bought a solution dressage saddle for my horse as a way of getting more space for the rider on a short back. It worked, horse went beautifully in it, much freer in her shoulder and husband was able to ride comfortably both in terms of having a large enough saddle (he's 6ft2 with long legs and had been coping with a 17" straight cut saddle!) and in terms of his bad back.

I did everything in it including jumping and hunting and found it comfy. A bit odd at first but you soon get used to it.

I then bought a very old jumping saddle which I used for a couple of years before I sold it for the same amount I paid for it. I replaced it with a smart eventer.

I find treed saddles really hard and uncomfortable now.

They are easy to balance yourself once you have been shown but get a fitter out first time so you can try the different types.

 

[Pascal96]

I love my Solution Freestyle and so does my horse. She is a warmblood with big shoulders and movement and she hated the treed saddles I tried on her - she just wouldn't go forward in them and became so much happier and forward from the first time she was ridden in the Solution. I also found it very comfortable to ride in and it really helped my bad back.

 

[cundlegreen]

Maybe I was unlucky, but I trialled one as I already had a barefoot cheyenne, and wanted a more conventional treeless. I rode in a lesson in it, and a treed saddle and noticed no difference in horses way of going. My instructor did notice the panels were different in size, so we were not impressed. I then hacked out on it, and was cramped up in my thighs within 30 minutes. I have a very long thigh, which may have not liked the width of the seat. I wouldn't have paid any money to have one, and have found a very comfortable Freedom Holistic GP which is great, and all the horses go well in it.

 

[Reacher]

I tried a couple of the smart saddles (current models) at a recent visit by the saddle fitter, as an experiment to see if it freed up the horse’s movement. Made no difference whatsoever. Also my lower legs felt very unstable. I only rode in them for a short time so maybe needed more time to get used to them.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I have the older style, GP and dressage and really like them. I struggled to find a treed saddle that suited the massive shouldered Draft mare, she went so much better in the Solution, immediately.