Sowter Saddle?

[JRR]

To cut a long story short, someone wanted me to look at a saddle they had for sale because I rode 'English'. Bear in mind I live in The West. As in the Old West, Colorado not Cornwall.

Imagine my surprise to see a Sowter jumping saddle in terrific condition which looks as though it would definitely fit my narrow Trakehner mare.

Google doesn't turn up much info, but on the whole would you say they are good saddles? Worth buying? Comfy? Or ludicrously painful and suited only for the museum?

TIA

 

[sbloom]

Probably the latter . Those pics that Google turns up show very old fashioned saddles, from when narrow horses were fitted with narrow trees, narrow gullets, yadda yadda. Unless you know it has the right gullet all the way through to the back (and most horses need 3-4 fingers width) then I'd not touch it with a bargepole as it will sit on the spinal processes.

Also although you might be using the term "narrow" loosely, I've yet to see a horse that is geuninely a narrow fit - where the points sit they are usually wider, but a narrow tree is selected to give clearance instead of putting in deeper panels or using padding to alleviate muscle loss.

 

[JRR]

That's good to know, thanks. I'll pass, I think.

 

[bob]

Sadly, I must disagree, Sowter saddles were in the top echelon, especially the light weight spring tree model, I hunted on one of these for years, it fitted any horse. Whilst on that subject, the new phenomenon, the "Saddle Fitter" only appeared in the last few years, I first hunted over 50 years ago, and had the pleasure of hunting two horses on Monday and Friday with the Quorn, at change of horse, the same saddle went on to my second horse, I can't remember ever having a problem.