Synthetic side saddles - did they ever go into production?

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Doncella

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As post really.
I would like to take my boy out side saddle but cost and weight of saddle is putting me off.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not overweight but he is only 15.2 and I think his Albion Selecta is heavy enough.
 
There is one on ebay at the moment - I think a few were made as a trial but it was to expensive to make them or something - I could be wrong though!

I have no idea how they ride either

I have a hunting style champion and wilton side saddle on hire that is barely heavier than an astride saddle - it only suits petite riders, but there are nice lighter and old name saddles out there :)
 
Avoid the synthetic saddles - they are not terribly well made. Often they are made on astride tree with the heads added on. The side saddle tree is not equal like an astride tree and it is built like that for a reason.
 
Contact the Big Horse Shop - the lady who was involved, I think, with Tekna design, was at BETA last year with one, on the Big Horse Shop stand, and was certainly intending on putting it into production. I know nothing about them, and I'm not the biggest fan of synthetic trees in regular saddles, but if you'd like to find out more, they should be able to put you in touch with the designer.
 
Thorowgood produced a small run of them in conjunction with Roger Philpot about 12 years ago but the cost of manufacturing them was higher than Thorowgood anticipated and the material they used, stretched as the saddle was flocked up. They were only made for ponies and very wide cob types and in smallish seat sizes so not suitable for TB's or tall riders. They weren't made on astride trees but proper side saddle trees made out of synthetic materials. They are nice saddles when you can find them and a better choice to buy (provided they fit your horse) than any of those horrible Asian import saddles (the Elan sold by Marti Friddle in the USA is an exception for Indian saddles).

The Niedersuss side saddle (German) is made on a carbon fibre tree so it is lighter but is also about £3000+.

Side saddles, although heavy things, are made to spread the weight of the rider evenly (provided it is well made and flocked correctly). My TB is 15.3hh and I am 5'9", 13stone and she has no problems carrying me with my hunting weight Whippy side saddle. If saddle weight really is an issue with your horse, look for a "park" side saddle which were made for exactly what they were named for, riding in the park (think fashionable riding in Hyde Park when the rich ladies wanted to show off their latest horse or habit).

Park side saddles are not heavily reinforced for jumping and hunting and often have thinner panels for close contact (most often made of felt covered in leather although other variations are possible). Not being heavily reinforced for jumping and having thinner panels, they are a bit lighter than hunting side saddles. I am buying a Bartley "park" side saddle from the late 1890's and it will be an excellent dressage side saddle as it puts you in a good position for equitation. My off-side side saddle is also a "park" side saddle as it has thin leather lined panels and minimal reinforcing in the tree. My Whippy on the other hand, was a hunting side saddle with very thick flocked up panels and a tree reinforced to within an inch of it's life with iron.
 
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I contacted Winetc's UK office a couple of years ago to ask about synthetic side saddles and the official line then was that they hadn't made any and had no plans to do so.

As sidesaddelgirl points out, the origional side saddles were heavy because they had trees that were very well reinforced - and thank goodness they did as side saddles with their origional trees are still being used 100yrs+ later, mine dates back to about 1900 :)
 
mulledwhine said:
Wow, I love the history that goes with side saddle, and have always wanted to try it.

To have a saddle over a hundred years old , fantastic :)
Click to expand...

:) I keep wondering about all the ladies (and their horses) who rode in it before me. Some side saddle ladies have habits or even saddles that they inherited from their great-grandmothers, now that's *really* cool.
 
I'm lucky to know who was the original owner of my off-side side saddle (a park saddle so you can't jump in it but it is not as heavy as a jumping saddle). She was a Parisian countess who had an affair with a French politician (who in turn, dumped in her in 1911, for a lesbian actress and writer!!) and whose husband died of mental illness. You couldn't make this stuff up.

This is a photo of her...
pillet.jpg
 
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