Up to date opinions on WOW saddles.

doonrocket

doonrocket

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I am seriously considering getting one of these for my ever changing wee beastie. From the forum search the last comprehensive thread was 2010 where I see the quality and weight issues were improving.

Has anyone bought a new(er) one? what problems have you had?

My chunky ID gets quite bad rubbing behind the cantle would this saddle help or exacerbate this?
 
I had a WOW about 4 years ago and sold it on ebay. Didn't suit me or my horse and never really fitted correctly. Advertised as a saddle for life if I remember yet I couldn't even get it to fit my girl and it needed adjusting every 6 weeks.
I like the idea behind them and they may have improved but I've got an Albion and it suits us fine, best saddle I've had.
Other problem I found was trying to get a good WOW saddle fitter.
 
That's not too had. Mine was £2,200. Biggest waste of money ever IMHO. But you live and learn. If you look them up on here there are various reviews. I had my horses back scanned after 6 months use of my Wow and the results weren't good.
 
I love my WOW! I have a wrecked sacro iliac joint & the WOW takes all the jarring out of riding. Mine also adjusted from a chunky ISH to an ex racer. My horses seem to like it too.

You do need a good fitter tho, & luckily I've got one.

T x
 
I bought one in 2009 for a youngster thinking it would be a saddle for life for her but it was horrendous! Didn't suit the horse at all to the point where she wouldn't let me mount! Put an old Stubben on her and changed overnight. Saddle was sold on ebay and lost about £800 on it.
 
I tried one a few months ago, paid £60 for the saddler to come and fit one for me to have a ride.

The saddle made my horse feel very downhill, threw me forwards and pinched my boy. The saddler tried many adjustments to make it fit but could not.

Waste of £60, BUT at least I did not buy the saddle!!!
 
I have a Wow for my chunky New forest, he loves it, has never gone so well, recently tried a different saddle, it restricted his shoulders and he was miserable, I have also tried saddles designed for the "native" pony and it didn't work for him.
 
I love mine for me and until about 6 months ago I loved it for the pony. However the little niggles I had from the start have come to fruition and after riding other horses in other saddles I am now indifferent at best. The fittings are horrifically expensive (£80-120 time) which doesn't help, especially as one built from scratch is nearer £2300. For ages you couldn't buy the pump set to adjust yourself without a fitter agreeing to you doing it, and what fitter would want to sign off a customer to do it themselves? They then started selling the kits, but looks like I have missed out again as can't see them on the website. I am going to see if OH's specialist bike pump will have the right fitting and will get another headplate and will fit the saddle myself (with the aid of a qualified fitter on site - on basis saddle fit is pretty universal regardless of system).

You would be better off getting one off ebay. Maybe get a fitter out to get the length, shape tree etc. as you will then pay 1/2 the amount.
 
My fitter has been really good to me, she came and saw us, we tried a couple of saddles which although comfy , and the boy went beautifully I could never have afforded to buy from her stock, she didn't push us to purchase these, but wrote down what the pony needed and told me to look on e bay, and when I found the right one, to send her a link and she would give me her opinion.
 
Rubbing at the back is from a type of pivoting of the saddle - usually the saddle is a touch wide, or the tree is a little too curvy or neat (narrow) at the bars. The saddle can't wrap around the horse properly but instead has more weight in the centre of it and instability at back or front. In some cases this leads to front-to-back rock, where you see the back o fthe saddle lift in rising trot, in others it can cause a very slightly wiggle at the back which causes the rubbing. This is made worse if the saddle tips back fractionally so the rider's weight is towards the back of the saddle. You don't need a Wow to correct this, you need a well fitted saddle. A Wow may indeed fall into that, but there are lots of ways to approach the problem.
 
Problem is my other saddles have rubbed behind the cantle. One of his shoulders is bigger than the other where he had a problem, that is now rectifying itself. Not sure if a saddle can solve this but thought maybe the WOW offered the best solution?
 
Mine does too and after reading up I thought the Wow would be the answer to my problems. He has big shoulders too. If you can trial one then do so as it may work for you. Just don't spend an awful lot of money until you have given one a really good trial. I was gutted when mine caused problems as I'd spent so much and convinced myself I was doing the best for my horse. Then I had to sell it to afford another saddle and lost a fair bit of money.

I'm sure for some horses they are fantastic but certainly not for all. I now have an Ideal Impala Pro which gives him the shoulder room he needs and he moves a lot better in it that he did the Wow. In the end he was trying to bite me whenever I came near him with that.
 
I have ridden a few clients horses in WOW saddles and really don't like them to ride in personally. One always pulled to one side and even though the more recent ones are lighter, they are heavy.

I like the concept behind them - though being able to change the flaps seems a little less useful when you have the same seat.
 
Could you try some deformable padding under the front of your current saddle? If you get something dense yet squashable (memory foam type stuff), it will lift the saddle which should make it sit better at the back, while also helping the squint shoulders. Have a look at Balance International for really lovely horse friendly saddles.
 
I have a second hand dressage panelled one (i wont be changing the panels) and only use it as a dressage saddle and it is fab. Love it and seems to be great for the horse too. He is very wide, well sprung ribcage, but not much wither and a fairly short coupled chap. I would have struggled to get one wide enough that suited him in another make.

As others said - need a good fitter - mine is great and as she gives me lessons too she is in an ideal position to keep an eye on it in case we need an adjustment (which we havent so far). I can hack out and have had some major spooks and gallops in it without it shifting or doing anything that it shouldnt. Attention needs to be paid to the girth system too. There are several options available for these saddles. ..again a good fitter.

Each to their own, but I love it and find it ever so comfy,once you get used to the 'feel'. Like marmite - love it or hate it, but a good fit is key.

I was just lucky that this one seemed to by chance be right for us both.
 
ruth83 said:
I have ridden a few clients horses in WOW saddles and really don't like them to ride in personally. One always pulled to one side and even though the more recent ones are lighter, they are heavy.

I like the concept behind them - though being able to change the flaps seems a little less useful when you have the same seat.
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I would more or less agree with this. The ones I ride in seem okay for the horses (although one horse, I prefer the way he feels in his non-Wow jumping saddle) but they are so individually fitted to the rider I really cannot find a place to sit in them. Not every saddle fits everyone, of course, and this is often an issue with heavily customised saddles, but I find generally off the rack saddles are "good enough" so long as they are not wildly the wrong size.

The Wows seem well made and quality. If it is only and ever for one rider, then I think they are certainly worth a look. Some people swear by them.
 
Shimming one shoulder is only really necessary if the saddle is sitting to one side. Pivoting means the horse needs a narrower tree, a flatter tree, or flatter or wider rails, the bit of the tree under the stirrup bars.
 
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