VSD Saddles. A question....

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teddyt

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Why do people that jump regularly, especially if they also compete, buy a VSD saddle?

Enlighten me please :)
 
I've got one and its firstly because it fits my horse better than a more forward cut one, for a similar reason as the other poster, he has a big but fairly narrow shoulder, with a very short back, and really forward cut saddles just look and feel wrong.

But mainly because I have a tendancy to be half a stride infront of the movement (comes from having an ex steeplechaser in my teens), and in a more forward cut saddle I found I hit the deck alot if the horse puts in a last minute stop. Its much easier to say sat up in a VSD!
 
I have one as I show and wanted one that would be suitable for this but also for other activities. I prefered to spend my money on one new saddle instead of getting two second hand ones. I do everything in my vsd, show, hack, hunt, sj, xc and my horse is happy in this and I am happy on it. My last two saddles have been vsd and I will have another when it comes to getting a saddle for my youngster.
 
As some of the others have said a typical VSD is the perfect saddle for horses with big shoulders as the cut of the panels helps to eliminate constricting the movements of the horses shoulders and helps to stop the shoulder pushing the saddle backwards.

This is a great style of saddle for those of you who wish to jump a little and yet it is still acceptable today in Working Hunter class and for showing, Dressage and Hacking. It's a very versatile saddle.

VSD actually stands for "Vielseitigkeitssättel dressur" which translates as "versitility saddle (dressage)".

Oz :)
 
I have a Symonds VSD saddle which we bought for my very short coupled but big shouldered TB. He couldn't have a jump saddle or a GP because his shoulder moved them back and they were then too far back on his back. We got him a 17" VSD and hunted him in it 3 days a fortnight. I didn't hold back jumping either and jumped everything in it inc. big hedges. I don't use it anymore because the horse was PTS and I'm actually far better in a 17.5" because I have long legs from hip to knee but it was what best suited the horse.
 
I have competed both SJ and XC in my VSD as well as showing and dressage although I do now have a showing saddle for those disciplines. Genie has a fairly big shoulder and at the time of buying it I mainly wanted to do flatwork and showing. We jump up to 2'9 - 3ft in it quite happily.
 
Thank you for your replies everyone.

Im not sure i'm convinced by the not restricting the shoulder reasoning. If a more forward cut saddle can restrict the shoulder then why are jumping saddles the most forward cut of all when the shoulder movement during jumping is considerable?
And does that also mean that all horses that wear a jumping or GP saddle have small shoulders or not much movement?!

I think its the placement of the saddle and/or the tree points that would restrict the horse, not the flap. You can get jumping saddles that have angled back points. You can also have the panel cut straighter at the top of the saddle by the tree points before going forward to give the rider more flap.

So im wondering if the 'VSD = no restriction of the shoulder' idea is a myth put out by some saddle fitters? Thoughts?
 
Not sure how long the VSD has been around to be honest, was not around as far as I am aware when I trained in 1987 if we had a horse with big shoulders then,we'd make up a gp style saddle on a dressage tree, so perhaps these VSD aren't a newish idea after all!
Oz :)
 
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