Total contact saddle? Whos tried it?

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claribella

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Hiya guys, I just wondered who has tried one and what your thoughts and views were on it? Im not after a big debate about whther you love them or hate them but just experiences from people who have tried them. Thanks in advance
 
Yup I have one, I've used it on most of my horses, it has been borrowed by some well-respected trainers as an experiment to check, amongst other things, rider straightness and whether the saddle is affecting the performance.

My daughter turned up to a Pony Club rally with it on one of the horses and there was a lot of adverse comment but by the end of the rally when she was confidently jumping 3' the adverse comment had ceased.

I've also used it on horses lacking muscle over the back - muscle seems to build much faster without a saddle sitting on top of it.

Mostly I use it because I'm lazy and when I was riding three in quick succession I could get away with just the one "saddle".
 
I've not herd of these saddles so jsut did a quick google but images on thier website were a bit little, am i right in thinking this is a sort of roller with sttirups? trying to see the difference between using a bareback pad or this 'saddle' with a saddle pad of sorts. i love my bareback pad just for giving me a bit of comfort when riding bareback or for starting my youngsters but i dont put the sttirups on it. cna you compete in this total contact saddle? as looks like you ride almost bareback. Sorry if these questions seem a little silly but the pictures that came up just didnt demonstrate the saddle very well and give me a clear idea of its use
 
The main difference is that you can put stirrups on it without worrying about pressure. I wouldnt puit stirrups on my bareback pad because Id be worried that theres nothing to support them but I dont have that option anyway. Apparantly they have recently had proper tests done to check out pressure points and it came back with good results. Im pretty sure you can compete in it. I like this its a good compromise as I am lazy too and can never be bothered to tack up and I love riding bareback because I am more in tune with my girlie. I think the trial is worth going for. Nothing to loose really.

Dee o dorant thanks for your feedback. Bit of a stupid question but what happens when it rains, do you just get a wet bum and does it dry off quickly enough like for the next day. Is the pad detachable? Also what girth set up is it? dressage or normal?
 
claribella said:
The main difference is that you can put stirrups on it without worrying about pressure. I wouldnt puit stirrups on my bareback pad because Id be worried that theres nothing to support them but I dont have that option anyway. Apparantly they have recently had proper tests done to check out pressure points and it came back with good results. Im pretty sure you can compete in it. I like this its a good compromise as I am lazy too and can never be bothered to tack up and I love riding bareback because I am more in tune with my girlie. I think the trial is worth going for. Nothing to loose really.

Dee o dorant thanks for your feedback. Bit of a stupid question but what happens when it rains, do you just get a wet bum and does it dry off quickly enough like for the next day. Is the pad detachable? Also what girth set up is it? dressage or normal?
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I have had mine for must be six years or so now and I think the design has changed. I used mine with a gel pad, entirely separate from the "saddle". Your backside gets no wetter than with any other saddle IME. Mine had closed loops for stirrups so we always used peacock stirrups for safety. Girth is normal.
 
This sounds really intreting i will look into trying one out as i am a bareback ridng lover though now have a big western saddle and takes forever to rig it up lol
 
It does look interesting but I would be worried about pressure points etc. This statement taken from their website doesn't make me feel any better...
We know that our saddles don’t harm horses but this is anecdotal in nature and we want to get quantitative data to show this.
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No and no. I guess they might slip if you are unbalanced. Don't expect to put your foot in the stirrup and haul yourself on though. You need to cultivate the "spring lightly" from the old horsemanship manuals.
 
Beausmate said:
I'd love to try one.

Spring lightly? Find a handy wall/gate/tree stump/log you mean?:D
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Seeing people hauling themselves on from their chosen mounting block is a huge bugbear of mine. Fair enough they can't spring lightly from the ground but just because you're getting on from a height level with your stirrup does not mean that you should put your whole weight in the stirrup and heave your free leg over:( Watch a few people mounting and then imagine what would happen if their girth was undone or loose. It's really quite shocking.
 
PonyIAmNotFood said:
Wouldn't they force you to ride in a chair seat? The stirrup placement is so far forwards.
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I ride very long in mine and don't have it half up the horse's wither, I put it where I was shown when Stuart Attwood came out to demonstrate it, and no, I don't ride with a chair seat. Mine is an older version than the one currently marketed though.

It's a bit of a marmite device that can be argued back and forward. For what I want it does the job well, I use it to develop muscle (horse and me) hacking and schooling and because it's nice to ride nearly bareback with a bit of extra security. For "serious" work the horses have dressage and jump saddles.
 
I'm not sure why they think a chick riding in an orange bikini is ever going to encourage sales :p. I think it would be really interesting to get some pressure data from one, its easy enough to do these days and the sceptic in me presumes they have and it wasn't great so don't report it.
 
ester said:
I'm not sure why they think a chick riding in an orange bikini is ever going to encourage sales :p.
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I know, but thats very Italian! I used to work in Italy, and just kept thinking, "she must get a really sweaty backside in an italian summer!!" Close contact and g-strings don't go together IMO!
 
jemima*askin said:
Seeing people hauling themselves on from their chosen mounting block is a huge bugbear of mine. Fair enough they can't spring lightly from the ground but just because you're getting on from a height level with your stirrup does not mean that you should put your whole weight in the stirrup and heave your free leg over:( Watch a few people mounting and then imagine what would happen if their girth was undone or loose. It's really quite shocking.
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I cannot spring. Caused a few problems when I worked in a racing yard and had to be legged up! My chosen mounting block is usually high enough that I don't have to use the stirrup to get on at all. Horse prefers it and so does my dodgy knee. :p:D

I can't stand to see people hauling themselves up either. Especially those who seem to be able to pull the saddle down towards them, whilst hanging off the reins and digging their toe into the unfortunate horse's side. :eek: Said people seem to be on the larger side too. I once hung on to the offside stirrup whilst an example of the above was getting on-nearly got pulled up off my feet! Poor horse:(
 
I have one, its my main and only saddle, i do everything in it. Mare is quite sharp, has a good range of acrobatic moves that she performs on a regular basis, including the 2 legged and freestyle in air sort of moves :rolleyes:, i have no problems with staying on, if anything she's got better since being ridden in this because i can feel her better and prevent any tantrums before they happen. Like spotsrock said, we jump 1.10/1.20 courses in it with no problems, mare jumps better in this than any other saddle, she can move her back and shoulders freely and jumps lovely. We do XC in it too, as well as hacking, schooling and we also regularly compete in it in SJ, yes we do get comments ''omg why don't you have a saddle, why do you do that to your poor horse'' but when said ''poor horse'' jumps a lovely clear 1.10m round, with its ears pricked at all times and perfect stride to every jump, the comments stop :rolleyes: we do get some lovely people that make me giggle, one woman ran up to me with a piece of paper and a pen asking for the details of the saddle because 'you never know when it may come in handy' :D
As to pressure points, affect on their back etc, i think it very much depends on the way you ride too, if someone rides like a sack of potatoes, every time they sit they thump on the horses back or the rider themselves is wonky, then this will affect the horse a lot more, same if you are unbalanced, you'll find it more difficult to ride in this, yes it can slip so if you put a lot of pressure into one stirrup then the saddle will slip that way, so like someone else said, getting on using the stirrup is pretty much out of the question. However, my mctimony who has known my horse for 6 years and has treated her for 6 years, the time before last she said that next time she comes a little bit will need tweeking, then she came again, and was amazed at the change, she said ''i have never seen this horses back look and feel so good, nothing is out of line, and there is no tense muscle and no pressure point anywhere, amazing'' so the saddle works for me and my horse, but i think you'll have to try it to find out whether it will suit you or not, as it is very much a marmite saddle. And if you like it, it is competition legal so no problems there, but prepare yourself to get weird looks and comments from people, at the end of the day though, if you and horse are happy then nothing else matters :)
I love it :D
P.S Sorry for the long essay :)
 
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£175 + postage (postage about £5), this is for the one with normal girth straps, or you can get the one with dressage girth straps which is £185 + postage. they are made to order with italian leather, and are hand stitched. I've had mine for about a year now and despite it being used 5-6 times a week in aqll weathers, and going to pony club camp and used on 2-3 horses a day for 2 weeks there, it still looks brand new :)
 
I've just my first proper bareback lesson and loved it but I've a lot of practice yet to do in order to mount with any degree of dignity:o I love the idea of this saddle and PPP forwarded me the details last time it came up in a thread.
I've not ordered mine yet but intend to soon. I'm fed up getting a sore nether region from the current saddles on the two I ride. ASBO cob has had a few back issues recently so I'm hoping it'll help him build his back up a bit.
 
Joyous70 said:
This might be slightly off topic, are these any different to a felt/gymkhana saddle or racing saddle? :o
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Not off topic, but if you look at the links you'll see the difference, there is no integral "seat" your backside is on the horse's back unless you choose to anything else there.
 
jemima*askin said:
Not off topic, but if you look at the links you'll see the difference, there is no integral "seat" your backside is on the horse's back unless you choose to anything else there.
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yes sorry :o the racing saddles etc, have an integral seat, whereas the total contact does not, but looking at some of the pictures people are using quite thick saddle cloths with them, which made me wonder, if there is much difference between the two, obviously the racing pads would give you more padding for your rear than the total contact without, especially that lady in the bikini :eek:

Im quite interested in this, as i have a youngster who i hope to lightly back later this year, and was wondering if either a total contact or racing pad would be a suitable alternative for her until she's finished growing, would save me a fortune in several saddles between now and then. :)
 
I really like the look of this, but I don't quite understand how/ why you wouldn't have massive issues with pressure points where the stirrups are?
 
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