Total contact saddle? Whos tried it?

do you tighten the girth like a standard saddle when you gett on or can you tighten from the ground? also what do you do then if you cant get on from the ground because of slippage?
 
lucindakay said:
are there any strict rules on competing in these? as my horse i feel my horse would do so well in this as i ride bareback alot to gain confidence and control beyond my normal aids
Click to expand...

No rules as far as i'm aware, nothing in the BS rules, and nothing in the BE rules, BD can be a bit funny but BS and BE are fine with it :) Unaffiliated, no problems either :)

Beausmate said:
I'm wondering about the girthing. Would the buckles on a standard girth dig in?
Click to expand...

I thought that at first but no they don't. What you can do though is get girth buckle guards and reverse them so that they are against the horse. But i have no problems with mine digging in so far.

HashRouge said:
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?
Click to expand...

I don't know, but we don't have any pressure points what so ever. And we do jump, hack, school etc in it, so especially with xc when i have to get off her back, i use the stirrups a lot, but no pressure points. I do however have a get lap undreneath the saddle :)

claribella said:
do you tighten the girth like a standard saddle when you gett on or can you tighten from the ground? also what do you do then if you cant get on from the ground because of slippage?
Click to expand...

Tighten girth like on any normal saddle :) you can get of from ground if you're really stuck, but you have to learn to spring more rather than haul yourself on using the stirrup, the saddle will slip but you just move it back once on. also you can get someone to hold other stirrup if you have to get on from ground. and if you fall off out hacking, then theres nearly always a fence, log, rocks, gates, higher ground, to get on from :)
 
Thanks for that PPP. Like the buckle guard idea. :cool:

Right, as soon as I've sold my Thorowgood I'm seriously looking into one of these. Can you trial them?

Ooo-got another question! :D:o:p Is it scary/weird/wobbly not having anything in front of your knees? I know it'll be a bit like bareback but I can't get my head around the bareback with stirrups bit!
 
I've been in touch with the guy because I heard he does a trial for sevent quid BUT unfortunately his saddler has been on hol for a couple of months a didn't return when expected so he has no stock to offer a trail with at the moment and since they are made to order and he has a runaway saddler, there's not a lot tht can be done! So here's hoping the saddler returns soon!
 
If anyone who wants to try is local to me and will give me a sensible amount of security money (sounds unkind but too many people on here have been caught out:( ) I will loan them mine. Mine is not the newest model but it gives a pretty good idea of what it's like. I'm on Norfolk / Cambridge border.
 
claribella said:
I've been in touch with the guy because I heard he does a trial for sevent quid BUT unfortunately his saddler has been on hol for a couple of months a didn't return when expected so he has no stock to offer a trail with at the moment and since they are made to order and he has a runaway saddler, there's not a lot tht can be done! So here's hoping the saddler returns soon!
Click to expand...

Bums. We need to hunt down the saddler and send him back to work :D

£70? Is that knocked off the price of the saddle if you go ahead with it?
 
Beausmate said:
Thanks for that PPP. Like the buckle guard idea. :cool:

Right, as soon as I've sold my Thorowgood I'm seriously looking into one of these. Can you trial them?

Ooo-got another question! :D:o:p Is it scary/weird/wobbly not having anything in front of your knees? I know it'll be a bit like bareback but I can't get my head around the bareback with stirrups bit!
Click to expand...

you can trial them for £70 but above poster said that not atm, so you might have to wait for saddler to come back lol :D

I'm not sure how to answer your other question because, i have very long legs, so whatever saddle i had, my knees would stick out anyway and the knee roll dug into the side of my knee, so i never had anything in front of my knee anyway, its just a lot more comfy now that there's nothing sticking into the side of my knee :rolleyes: at first though, you do feel a little bit strange because you start off riding as you would bareback and then gradually realise that you do have stirrups so you can actualy use those, and rising trot and jumping feels a bit weird at first, its like having to find your balance all over again, so you may sit or lean a bit too forwards or too backwards at first but i found my perefect middle in the first 30min. I rode 4-5 times a week bareback before i got this saddle, jumed and hacked bareback too, so i was never wobbly sideways, but using the stirrups and finding out how to move again, can be a bit wobbly at first, but once you get the hang of it, its amazing. you can feel your horse so much more and the connection is great. now schooling, i know that she has clearly got my message. horse is a lot more responsive to my seat, the slightest muscle twitch, or weight shift, and she responds, it literally now is just thinking what you want them to do, and you subconsciously move your body very slightly according to what you're thinking, but because you have so much more contact with horse, horse can feel the movement and respond :) it's great! I will try to get a video of me riding in it this weekend, and we're going jumping on sunday so i'll see whether i can get a photo too :)
I can now just ride with no reins and not using my legs, just purely off my seat :)
 
PPP did you have Stuart come out and demonstrate it and give you a lesson or did you find out by trial and experiment?
 
jemima*askin said:
If anyone who wants to try is local to me and will give me a sensible amount of security money (sounds unkind but too many people on here have been caught out:( ) I will loan them mine. Mine is not the newest model but it gives a pretty good idea of what it's like. I'm on Norfolk / Cambridge border.
Click to expand...

i'd say that they could borrow mine but this is my only and main saddle so i can't as i will have nothing to compete in :( BUT if anyone is in the area and wants to come out and try it, you're more than welcome to! I'm in Lincolnshire, Grantham/Melton Mowbray/Belton Horse Trials area.
 
jemima*askin said:
PPP did you have Stuart come out and demonstrate it and give you a lesson or did you find out by trial and experiment?
Click to expand...

trial and experiment :) he told me how to fit it by email, and sent me a few emails, i put it on horse the way i thought it looked right, got on and rode :D stuart is a bit far away from me and it'd cost me even more to have him out etc, and i'm still in full time education doing my A levels, so getting nearly £200 spare is a bit hard especially that i have to pay for horse myself :) so i couldn't afford to have him out :(
 
PingPongPony said:
No rules as far as i'm aware, nothing in the BS rules, and nothing in the BE rules, BD can be a bit funny but BS and BE are fine with it :) Unaffiliated, no problems either :)
Click to expand...
From the 2013 BE members' Handbook:

Section 7.19.2 gives a table of equipment and "English style saddle" is marked as compulsory across all sections, including riding in exercise areas and lungeing:confused:

Section 7.19.3.2 Show Jumping Phase goes on to state that "Saddles must be worn and be of English or Continental style . . . "

Section 7.19.3.4 quotes BD Rule 55 and states that "Saddles must be worn and be of English or Continental style . . . "

So unless it can successfully be claimed that the TC is "continental style" it looks to me as though it's not legal for either BD or BE.
 
PingPongPony said:
trial and experiment :) he told me how to fit it by email, and sent me a few emails, i put it on horse the way i thought it looked right, got on and rode :D stuart is a bit far away from me and it'd cost me even more to have him out etc, and i'm still in full time education doing my A levels, so getting nearly £200 spare is a bit hard especially that i have to pay for horse myself :) so i couldn't afford to have him out :(
Click to expand...

Ah, when we bought ours he used to bring it out to demonstrate included in the cost. It was fascinating to see how the horses' gait changed, although they were in conventional saddles recently fitted by a master saddler.
 
I was assured by Stuart that the saddle is BE and BS legal, he said that BD can be a bit funny about it. He said that he had clients who have competed BE and BS in it with no problems :)

And yes it is quite amazing to feel how the horses movement changes, it become more free and natural, my mare is so much happier now, we used to have problems with fitting jumping saddles to fit us both, i have long legs so needed a very forward cut, big knee roll, but she has very upright shoulders so that would restrict her movement, so we had to opt for her comfort and my discomfort, now we're both happy and her flatwork and jumping have both improved a lot! :)
 
Last edited:
Here's a couple of shots of us with the TC in action, it was at an idoor XC show.
DSCF5622_zps61556d90.jpg

S0145723_zpscf79f030.jpg
 
you may be right, or it may just be my riding :o have a look at some other photos of other people riding in it on their fb page, just type in 'total contact saddles' and it should come up :)
 
This thing is just a sling to put stirrups on. There is a reason why every civilisation that has utilised the horse has used a saddle: it is necessary to alleviate pressure on the horse's spine. Fine for 20 minutes; not for proper work.
 
i've been using it for about a year now and for more than just 20min at a time, and like i said previously, horses mctimony couldn't be more happy with the way her back is now and she's been working a lot better. It works for us but it may not for others, and everyone has their own ways and their own opinions :)
 
What are you sitting on just out of interest?

I think that saddles were invented for the rider not the horse. Look at the issues a lot of horses have with ill fitting saddles and a lot of treed saddles restrict movement. I think this is a product that you need to have an open mind with and try it more than once to get used to the balance. People are just writing it off and are all suspicious about pressure. If you check the total contact page you will see that tests have recently been carried out and the pressure has been fine.

I have speaking to various people who also share enthusiasm as PPP and their physios have said the same thing as PPP's. Two particular people have been in long chats with also ride for eight hours a day and its used on an array of diff horses from a framed arabs to roly poly cobs. I think it needs to be tried before making a judgement on it.
 
claribella said:
What are you sitting on just out of interest?

I think that saddles were invented for the rider not the horse. Look at the issues a lot of horses have with ill fitting saddles and a lot of treed saddles restrict movement. I think this is a product that you need to have an open mind with and try it more than once to get used to the balance. People are just writing it off and are all suspicious about pressure. If you check the total contact page you will see that tests have recently been carried out and the pressure has been fine.
.
Click to expand...

really? this is a quote from the site

“Have you ever considered pressure testing the saddle”?
We are always happy to talk to degree students (first or higher degrees) and institutions about possible research into how our saddles can be compared to other saddles (treeless or treed) to prevent harm to the health of horses. 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. We are a science based organisation and science is about more than supposition and being narrow minded. Sometimes a new paradigm in thinking does come along and that’s how real progress is made. Ask questions of us by all means but please do the same to others as well!

I'm not sure how they can claim to be a science based organisation when they don't have any quantitative data when plenty of other manufacturers have used the pliance system to prove their point.
 
Facebook page I was meant to say. Its been tested with a pliance pressure testing system.

This is whats gets me about this forum. In my original post I said Im not looking for a debate but just wanted to hear from people whos tried it and think so far two people on this thread have one have have given me the feedback that I much appreciate and then everyone else coming on making judgements. I just wanted to see how people who have owned the product have got on with it. I can speculate just like everyone else can but please I just asked so I could see how people with the saddle got on. Im not having a go but whats the point in commenting if you havent tried it which is what Im looking for. Fair enough comment if you are interested in it to try but not if you are looking to come on here thinking you know everything about everything.
 
I appreciate the apolygy and sorry myself for not being clear:) I dont think his website is very up to date tbh. I think he prob runs it as a side line to being a lecturer so hasnt put much time into advertising and marketing etc hence the website not fully up to date.
 
Im pretty sure the website is not being updated because they def arent that price. I would speak directly to stuart through facebook if you have an account. Hes really helpful and im pretty sure the saddles are £175 and £185 plus six or seven pound postage. Ive ordered one so will let you know how I get on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top