The Saddle Company Saddles - any information?

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lacey111

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I am considering a Saddle Company saddle for both my horses, a 16.1hh fairly high withered TB (wanting the event saddle) and a 15hh meduim/widish standardbred gelding with a flat back (wanting the GP saddle)

Does anyone have any info on these saddles? how good are they or any bad points? and what sort of prices would i be looking at?

Many thanks
 
Hia,
i dont have any bad points! i have one for my TB and one for my fat pony and they both move beautifully in them.
deffinatly worth the investment x
 
There are 5 of us at my yard who have them.

Lovely saddles, mine fitted nicely at first but has had to be constantly adjusted and there is no fitter in our area so I need to wait for one who kindly travels up from down South but means waiting for up to 9 weeks for a check.

I'm not happy with the fit of mine at the moment but said saddler is coming back up to try and rectify the problem.

I know lots of people who love theirs and others who have hated them but I think that is the case for all saddles!
 
They are great if you're not a serious rider doing competitions. The dressage one I had put me in a terrible position (and I am not the only person to have had this problem that I know of), and the GP one was no good fro jumping over 3' in - rider position issue too. That said, they are superb for the horses, and if you're sticking to low level stuff (hacking, prelim or at a push novice unaff dressage, jumping up to 3') then they are fantastic and I'd have another one like a shot.
 
I have one but I am going to have to change as it is making my horse have pressure points where the waist is at it too narrow there, weight bearing wise (does that make sense).

My back lady says she sees alot of horses with this problem as most SC saddles are narrow at the waist.
 
I had problems with my SC saddles which were down to the fitment. With no other fitters in Scotland and after 5 attempts at trying to get them to fit I gave up wasting my money and put them up for sale.

I did have the dressage saddle and I do agree with what was said above I did not like the position it gave.
 
Oh so how did your dressage saddle affect you?

I have a SC dressage, which was one up on using my jumping saddles, but I find it extremely uncomfortable (though thats dressage in general!) and often tended to loose my balance and be tilted forward.

However I don't really 'do' dressage and this is my first dressage saddle.
 
I have a SC dressage and event saddle - and I fit saddles for the SC. I have never found a problem with either of them (and I had a SC saddle before I became a SC fitter!)

I find my position is good in my dressage - it is very standard in that the seat is deep, but not super deep and the bars further back but not extremely far back. Compare it with something like the Isabel Werth which really does force your leg back and the seat is very deep or Albions which I find very deep.

Like any saddle, it really does depend on the fitter. For example, 3 of the people who have replied on this thread actually have the same fitter and they have different experiences (and of course their horses are different types). I think a lot of them would agree that their horses went well initially in the saddle but after being "adjusted" by that particular saddle fitter on numerous occasions, the saddles no longer fitted and it became impossible to get the fitter out to rectify the problem. That does not mean to say that SC saddles themselves are bad but the particular saddler is prolific and therefore a lot of negative stories are actually about the fitter rather than the saddles themselves.

It also makes a difference if you have a SC made to measure or if you are buying one second hand and having it templated. In my experience the second hand ones dont tend to fit as well because the panels need to be reflocked for the horse and of course there is no accounting for how the saddle was treated. Because the panels are serge, you need to be careful that the saddle is only reflocked by the SC factory as they use a different type of wool to most saddlers. Once serge is stretched out with tradition white flocking the panels are bent out of shape and there goes the saddle. Thats mostly why serge is only available with a few saddle makes.

I also agree that SC sadldes do not suit every horse and every rider. Which is why when I fit a new saddle, I rarely take one off the shelf. I always go through every point with the rider - girth straps, flaps, panels, seats, stirrup bars etc are all chosen to suit the rider and the horse and the panels are flocked to suit the horse shape.

I think SC are good for horses prone to changing shape e.g. youngsters, or horses with muscle atrophy. However there have been occasions when I have told the owner that a SC would not suit and that they would be better off with something else or that once the horse has matured they might consider a different make.

As for quality, I do think there is a big difference between the models. I have the genoa (all leather versions) which I think wear well. The verona ones do tend to show wear more.
 
I have to say that I could not have done a 20 mile ride in any other saddle, bar an endurance/western type, as I did on Sunday. I've used these saddles on 2 totally different horses (type and size) and have been extremely pleased with both.
 
See, its all about the fitter!

Well done - just seen your post in CR about doing the 20 mile! I am so jealous and I love all the ear shots - Berry is such a sweety. I can just imagine him pinging along until you let him gallop!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Like any saddle, it really does depend on the fitter. For example, 3 of the people who have replied on this thread actually have the same fitter and they have different experiences (and of course their horses are different types). I think a lot of them would agree that their horses went well initially in the saddle but after being "adjusted" by that particular saddle fitter on numerous occasions, the saddles no longer fitted and it became impossible to get the fitter out to rectify the problem. That does not mean to say that SC saddles themselves are bad but the particular saddler is prolific and therefore a lot of negative stories are actually about the fitter rather than the saddles themselves.


[/ QUOTE ]

yes for me it was down to the fitter – I had two horses fitted and both never worked out. One initially went well in hers until it was reflocked but my other horse never had a saddle from the start – fitted too wide and then over stuffed.
Our saddles had flocking added every visit so I find it interesting to read this maybe shouldn’t have happened?

The saddles were nice – but in the end were not for me or my horses due to the above. It turned my 5 just turning 6 year old very upset with anything to do with the saddle when he was very willing before hand.

Dressage saddle for me wasn’t deep enough in comparison to others I’ve had.
 
You were one of the people I was talking about!

And in a nutshell, no, flocking should not be added here and there - especially not to a new saddle. That will only create pressure points. Sometimes some second hand saddles will be very obviously one sided and then flocking can be added behind the old flocking but that is only to balance the saddle.

And a saddle shouldnt require refitting on a weekly basis. Even when my anglo was being brought back into work and went from a NM to an XW he only needed his saddle adjusted every 3 weeks or so and I certainly did not have to fiddle about with the flocking after it had bedded in.
 
I have two, a dressage saddle and the GP with the memory foam seat, I bought them both second hand. Yes they could both do with a tiny bit of tweaking (which I will do when I am feeling a bit less skint) but I am very happy with both of them - they are on Highland ponies, and I was struggling to find anything to fit them well.
 
I was a huge fan but now sadly dissillusioned....

I love riding in them, the gp was soooo comfy and I have an event too which really helps my position and I feel incredibly secure in, however the event was new and has always been looked after and looks really old and worn, and it seems to widen itself so I need to constantly have it adjusted, its not just the flocking settling the actual width of the front of the saddle increases. I'm gutted as I LOVE riding in the saddle but realistically I'll replace it when my mare stops growing....

I'd recommend the event one but get a good fitter!!!!
 
Lovely saddle. Just didnt fit my boy perfectly
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So Im now having to sell it and buy another saddle!
 
I had one that was made to fit my horse - really comfy and horse loved it but I used it a lot (every day for at least 1 half hours) and after a while (about 9 months) a hole got rubbed in the saddle flap where the stirrup leathers were in contact with it. I was really not happy and would not buy one again because of this.
 
That's really unusual. I have used my dressage almost every day for about 2 years and it still looks good. I have probably cleaned it about 5 times (with stubben hammanol) and it has been reflocked about 4 times in that time - I have his done every 6 months as he is quite a chubby thing and I found the flocking compressed very quickly with him. It has been adjusted a few times but only from W to X-W.

I ride minimum 1 hour and anything up to 4 hours at a time at least 4 or 5 times a week. My other one has been used for about an hour 4 times a week and still looks brand new after 12 months use. Hasnt even needed a reflock and it has been widened countless times from a NMedium-ish to an X-Wide-ish (I fit to the contour of the shoulder and not a specific size).

And I have used both synthetic stirrup leather (the Kieffer ones) and leather stirrup leathers on mine.

Perhaps ring the SC and see if they will change the flaps for you - they are normally very accommodating.
 
I have the verona event for my Horse (an Irish sports horse). I have also had the GP and close contact models on previous Horses. Always been the verona which is the half leather/synthetic one.
Of the 3, the event is by far the best IMO. The close contact was too flat, and the GP wasn't the most comfy. The event I think is brilliant and I do everything in it - with more of a tendancy to jumping One thing, get the suede seat and knees as the leather is rather slidy!!! Oh, and the square cantle if you jump. I've also ridden in the WH one and thought it was good.
As far as fitting goes, all mine were made to measure. Costs no extra anyway. I use a prolite with mine but had it fitted with this in mind. The serge panels make a big difference. The saddles were recommended to me by an equine bowen therapist.
I think for the price they are hard to beat. New they are around £500. They do pop up on ebay as well and you can get a major bargain. I do believe though that it'll never fit as well if it's 2nd hand. I'd expect to pay about £300 second hand.
My last Horse was very high withered....fitted him very well. They don't seem to be great on very wide Horses, but then most saddles aren't!
The quality of the leather I think is excellent. Mine is nearly 2 years old, I've cleaned it about 4 times, and the leather looks new. It gets well used in all weathers, and I use jaguar stirrup leathers (leather ones).
I've certainly had no back issues while using them, and my own Horses topline has improved no end since I've used it (though I wouldn't contribute all of that to the saddle, I'm sure it's helped). I like the fact that the event is forward cut, but not so much that it impedes shoulder movement. The first Horse I used it on had previously been in a badly fitting saddle and she had bad muscle atrophy. The saddle co saddle was great as it could be adjusted. There are no set adjustments either so you can adjust a tiny amount at a time if you need to.
 
I had a SC dressage saddle made to measure but have now sold it. Had to send it back to SC after 18 months as leather on flaps had stretched where stirrup leathers rubbed making the leather bulge out away from the synthetic under flap. They did replace the flaps though no problem. I had trouble with my position tho and now much happier in an albion. Agree that horse was initially very happy in saddle, just not for me! Am now a total albion convert!
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