What saddle do you have and why?

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kit279

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Just wondering what saddle/s everyoone has and why they chose them and what sort of horse for? I hear lots of different opinions about saddles and would be interested to know how people came to their saddles.
 
I have a Classic Saddlery Walsall saddle, and I love it - it's like a cross between a GP and a jumping, with a little more emphasis on the latter:
Classic Bavarian...

It was custom made for both me and Ellie three years ago, after she grew out of the saddle we'd bought her as a youngster (a Dever). This saddle is the nicest I have ever had, and I sincerely hope it will be with me for decades!

Last year, when we decided to try our hand at dressage, I bought a Thorowgood dressage saddle, in spite of being totally against ever buying a synthetic saddle
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I love this one, too - it's comfortable, secure, fits her well and was very, very cheap
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Besides which, we only do the odd unnaffiliated comp anyway; it would be madness to fork out for an expensive leather one!

I use my jumping saddle for hacking
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I've got a few different saddles including an Albion, Bates and Ideal. All have mine were professionally fitted and are checked annually (infact saddler is coming today!)
I want a combination of it fitting the horse it's for and giving me a feel I like.
If you are buying a saddle I would recommend going to a good saddlers with a wide selection of makes and sit on everything that fits your horse OK to see what suits you too! When you sit on lots together you get an 'eye' (or ass tee hee) for what you are comfortable in.
 
I have a Wintec close contact saddle with the changeable gullet. In Canada, I rode hunter and a flat close contact saddle is the norm for that discipline so that is what I feel comfortable riding in. I chose the Wintec as I couldn't afford the Bates leather version!

Since my ponio is a loan, I wanted to have the freedom to adjust the saddle to whatever horse I ended up with. Also too, my ponio was in poor condition when I took her on and have been building her up hence the need for adjusting the gullet. I can alternate now between a narrow medium and a medium depending on the time of year and fitness level.
 
i have a tackroom full of Barrie Swaine saddles for every horse on the yard bar one. they are built for horses - flat trees, serge panels, white wool flocking. supreme comfort for the horse. (i even got a GP on ebay recently which my local Master Saddler has checked and says fits both my 3 yr olds perfectly, with no alteration required, so i can use it to back them.)
new t.b. mare was v. difficult to fit and my swaine saddles just weren't right, so on Master Saddler's advice i bought her 2 new Ideal saddles, an Impala and a Susannah, both serge lined so he can alter them easily, very pleased with both.
i tried a wow on the mare and loved it but she most emphatically did NOT love it.
there are a lot of other makes that i would not touch with a barge-pole.
visiting horses in non-bs saddles have a prolite underneath when i'm riding, always.
 
I have a custom made working hunter saddle - doesnt interfere with the shoulder, looks smart for dressage (and showing when I used to show, but dont bother now) and is fine for jumping in as I rarely jump much over 3 foot anyway!
 
I have a Specialized Saddle - you can adjust the fit very easily yourself - not just width but to the exact shape of the horse's back. I use it on both my horses, just have to change the pads (which takes about 2 minutes as they're just velcroed on). As the horse changes shape it's also dead simple to adjust fit very precisely. My horses seem to love it - easily the best saddle I've had and I've tried loads. Fits better than my WOWs or any conventional treed saddle.
 
Just as an addition, when I worked on 4* yard rider had their saddle (dressage and jumping) Both Devacoux (I can't spell that!) and they went on EVERYTHING from 13h ponies in for sale to 17h 4 yo starting out to established 3 and 4* horses. Always with a poly pad and prolite pad. None of them had bad backs and certainly didn't stop them performing! I know this is common practice for professional riders, which I find quite wierd if you look back through the posts at all the bad backs and problems saddle fitting why isn't this the case for them?
 
Ive got a Ideal Springbok jump saddle as it puts me in good balance and my horse goes well in it. The fit isnt 100%, but he has a sheepskin pad or a Prolite pad under it and he is very happy with it. He has an Albion dressage saddle as it fitted him and me the best at the time.
 
I don't really know what my saddle is other than it is a black jeffries GP, I couldn't afford a new saddle when I bought George
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so got a 2nd hand one and this is the one that fitted him and my ample bottom
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. It looked brand new and hardly used bar one little scratch at the back, it cost me £300 and although not trendy I really like it
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.
 
I have 4 saddles because i have 4 ponies

1 Farringtons wh saddle, because it is straight enough cut for showing but gives me super grip for WH/naughty ponies, It is super comfy and absolutely fab to hack out in.

1 Ideal WH saddle because it is straight enough for showing and it was the only 2nd hand saddle to fit my 25 yearold pony.

1 Jefferies show saddle (in a 14 inch) for the aincient old man (28) he only has toddlers on his back now.

1 Jefferies WH saddle for the nutty arab, because it gives you good grip when your out hacking but also gives enough clearance for his massive shoulder.
 
I've got a million year old Kieffer dressage saddle, I tried hundreds of different ones and but this is the one that fits her (i resigned myself to spending thousands on a saddle but this one was £300). I really like the Amerigo close contact dressage.
I've got the albion J2 Jumper saddle also second ahnd and a bargin - I love it to jump in but can't hack out in it.
Youngster has a GFS GP that fits her really well.
 
Ooh, I just bought an Origins Grandee jumping/GP saddle, only been able to ride in it once so far but it's lovely, and my horse was really throwing his shoulders forward in trot (for this, read carting me in trot!) so I guess he's comfortable too.
 
I've got a John Whitaker 'Robert' jumping saddle, it is absolutely beautiful to ride in. I bought it because I only ever ride in jumping saddles and it was a good price. It also fits my horse like a glove which is handy.

In response to ajn1610, I used to work on a show jumping yard and we had about 5 different saddles that were used on everything on the yard, and each horse would be ridden in all of them especially at shows when a lot of horses were jumping at the same time. Not one of them ever had a back problem either.
 
At the moment I have a bates caprilli, I get my Wow on 11th July and I can't wait! Flash was an absolutely bugger to find a saddle that fitted, and it's taken us 18 months and about 15 saddles before we finally decided to see what the fuss was about for ourselves. Was the most comfy saddle I've ever sat on, completely corrected my position and balance, and was like riding a different horse, he loved it! Took a fair bit of fitting, despite being 15hh he is so short coupled he needed a 16 inch, good job i'm only little!
 
I've got an Amerigo DJ jumping saddle and an amerigo close contact dressage saddle. I bought them because my horse is very short in the back but I have a bit of larger rear end
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and needed an 18" saddle and the cheaper saddles I looked at were too long so I would have had to have squeezed into a 17"!!

I have to say though that they are the nicest saddles I have ever owned and I can see now why they are so expensive but I wouldnt hesitate to buy one again even if I am still paying for the two I already have
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I have a new Barnsby 720 GP, fitted professionally - only saddle out of millions which fitted my new cob with large shoulder, medium withers and flat back. Had to compromise on seat size as his back is short (and ive got a big bum) and flap size as i have long legs and his shoulder is too big - aaaarrrggghhh!!!

Seat is lush and soft, and he seems to like it!!
 
Lovatt and Ricketts. I discovered them when I came across a second hand dressage saddle when searching desperately for anything that would go on my horse after having terrible problems with a brand new Albion. The Albion apparently fitted well
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but in actual fact roled around all over the place - side to side and moved forwards. The mare went much better in the L & R and it sat nicely on her as the trees are quite flat. Also when I worked out that I loved it because its buffalo skin and you kind of stick to it, I ordered the same make in a GP. They are both very hard to fall off. If I ever need another saddle I'll have one of these made to measure, they're brilliant.
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I used to have Albions - I liked them alot - horses did not.
I have a Fusion Jumping saddle which I love as does Horse!
An ancient but still sound old Eldonian which Zip has for Hunting and Hacking and all inbetween (I dont event him anymore) when I did, we did everything in a Barnsby GP.
Im trying a Barrie Swain dressage at the weekend which im very excited about and only selling beloved werth dressage as for once (Id better do it now or I never will) Im in a position to and want an all leather collection!!
 
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Just as an addition, when I worked on 4* yard rider had their saddle (dressage and jumping) Both Devacoux (I can't spell that!) and they went on EVERYTHING from 13h ponies in for sale to 17h 4 yo starting out to established 3 and 4* horses. Always with a poly pad and prolite pad. None of them had bad backs and certainly didn't stop them performing! I know this is common practice for professional riders, which I find quite wierd if you look back through the posts at all the bad backs and problems saddle fitting why isn't this the case for them?

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well, the prolite makes a huge difference first, really really brilliant bits of kit.
also, usually pros don't ride one horse for a long time, and these saddles are designed for that... for riding in for short periods of time, doing a few rounds of jumps etc. most of us will hack out in our saddles for at least an hour or longer, etc etc. i think on a pro yard that the hacking would be done in different saddles? perhaps the variation in saddles on the horses' backs is actually a good thing?
don't really know the answer to this one.
 
I think a badly fitting saddle with a well balanced rider and something like a prolite pad can cause less harm than a well fitted saddle with a very badly balanced rider....
 
I have a small collection of barry swain/rachel bayliss saddles, I even had one on my first pony, and have never really moved on. Having said that, my dressage saddle is a Stackhouse. Ancient, and falling to pieces, but fits a treat, is really comfy and was a bargain.
 
I have a Fylde Ray designer for my show cob - we tried all over to get something wide enough, and eventually we had this one made to measure. It was worth every penny - even though she is very flat backed and low withered, the saddle never rolls or moves.
 
I have a Wintec 500 on Solo- with a Prolite pad underneath. I'm quite happy with it, it fits him, when he's going well he goes really well, and I find it quite comfy. Looking forwards to getting him a leather one though- have my eye on a nice Ideal.

Red has a GP saddle that came with him- the badge has 's.c.s' on it. although it fits him, its horribly uncomfy and quite deep seated. how I managed to hunt in it I dont know! Hopefully be getting him something with a flatter seat on this summer.

I also have Solo's old Pessoa Amo- lovely saddle, absolutely gorgeous to ride in and all that, but at 17.5'', it's too long for Solo. I'm hanging on to it though, it may fit my next horse....
 
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