Thorowgood T8 or Kent & Masters?

Caramac71

Caramac71

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My daughter has a T4 dressage saddle for her horse. Mare is very sensitive to saddles and we major drama's after first saddler fitted her with a new T4 cob saddle, which she hated. Second saddler fitted our existing T4 dressage saddle (that first saddler said would never fit!) and horse approved.

Having spent the summer doing PC camp, jumping and xc in a GP saddle, daughter now wants a GP saddle. Saddler has advised either another T4, or T8, or a Kent and Masters.

I'm looking to buy second hand if I can, and just wondered if anyone had any advice / preferences on any of the above? I had heard from someone that the leather on the Kent and Masters marked easily, which made me wonder if we'd be better off with synthetic? We cant keep tack at our yard so saddle is in and out of the car or horsebox almost daily.
 
My Kent & Masters is great (and will soon be for sale :P), I have the Cob GP. Never had a problem with the leather marking, even when I first got it and was using synthetic stirrup leathers.
 
I have a Kent & Masters and it's amazing (the monoflap jump on a cob tree, sadly no longer made). The leather on mine is marked from stirrup leathers but I expect that from 3 year old saddle. If you're worried about marking the leather when it's in transit you can get covers that zip up with handles so easier to carry etc. Mine's in and out of my car every day and hasn't marked from that so far.

I'd say go for the K&M if you're buying second hand as they're much more likely to come up than the Thorowgood T8. I suspect this is because the T8 is relatively new.
 
Probably better re sale value with a K&M as they are getting a good reputation
Our local 'good' saddle fitter stocks them as his new mid budget range and he really likes them
 
Thanks all, it's a struggle to find anything secondhand in a 17" standard GP - if I wanted a 17.5 or a cob or a high wither I'd have tons of choice!

My choices seem to be a used T8 for around £300, a used K&M for about £420 or for about £480 I can get a brand new T8. Or can get a T4 GP for around £160 but I think I'd prefer leather or leather look as this saddle will potentially get more use than the dressage one. Glad to hear positive view on the K&M so I'll have a chat with my saddler and see what he thinks is best.
 
I have a K&M GP saddle, it was my late boy's, fortunately for me it fits my youngster very well has been flocked and checked.

Mine is 4 years old now and doesn't have any marks, even where the leathers go, i bought expensive passier leathers to stop the rub marks. Mine lives in the car, wearing the fleece cover it came with and a zip saddle bag, and so far has held up really well.
 
Caramac71 said:
Is there much difference in the weight of the saddles, do you know?
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Guessing the K&M is a bit heavier due to it being all leather. I have the T8 and it's reasonably light, the leather parts are the seat, knee rolls and girth straps, so the panels and underneath of the saddle are all synthetic, which does make it lighter. I had a choice between both and have to say I couldn't justify spending the extra £300 or whatever it is for the K&M just for the extra leather bits but guess that's personal opinion :)
 
xgemmax said:
Guessing the K&M is a bit heavier due to it being all leather. I have the T8 and it's reasonably light, the leather parts are the seat, knee rolls and girth straps, so the panels and underneath of the saddle are all synthetic, which does make it lighter. I had a choice between both and have to say I couldn't justify spending the extra £300 or whatever it is for the K&M just for the extra leather bits but guess that's personal opinion :)
Click to expand...

Looking at what I've found second hand I can get the K&M for about £100 more than the T8 which makes the K&M seem the better option. However, for not much more than the cost of the second hand K&M I can get a brand new T8!

I really cant decide on whether it's better to spend the money on a K&M saddle that's in excellent condition but 4 years old, or on a brand new T8 saddle.
 
K&M will hold its value better I think. You always lose money on a saddle from 'new'.

I have to say that my K&M is about average weight for a leather saddle, but is much heavier than the synthetic Wintec I had for a while. Worth the extra price and weight for the K&M imo.
 
When it comes to buying a saddle for my filly next Spring, I have decided to go for the T8, so long as the shape of the tree fits her of course.
 
Oh well saddler has narrowed the choice down as he doesn't recommend a new T8 for her, he said to go for the older model as we know she's happy in the older T4.

So now it's whether to pay approx £300 for a T8 or £400 for the K&M. K&M would probably be the better bargain, but the £100 difference in price more than pays for fitting and a new girth.
 
I called thorowgood/kent & masters who confirmed the t4,t8 and K&M are the same tree. so if the t4 fits, so should the t8. the difference between the t8 & KM is the amount of leather, and is lighter. looking at the t8 you cant tell its not all leather. Who is the main rider? - If a child i would go for t8 as easier to keep clean and lighter. im looking at the new t8 anotomic for one of my boys as like the extra shoulder room. they were only out this month so not widely available yet

ps - saw your comments on another post re saddlers - is yours AR?
 
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