What type of saddle would you buy?

[ImmyS]

Decided to sell my GP saddle so I can put the money towards buying one nice saddle. As current saddle doesn’t fit me very well and is a synthetic, would like to get leather now.

What would you buy if you wanted to focus on dressage in spring but with a view to do some ODEs and some showing in the summer? Needs to be fairly straight cut as big shoulders cob type. Was thinking a smart working hunter saddle? Although worried this wouldn’t look appropriate in the dressage arena? What would you get if you could only afford one saddle but wanted to do a bit of everything?

 

[Auslander]

I'd be inclined to go VSD rather than a working hunter saddle personally, as they are designed to be somewhere between a GP and a dressage saddle, whereas working hunter saddles are designed to show off a horses shape, rather than with rider position in mind. Stirrup bars in a VSD are usually set further back, which makes it easier to ride in a dressagey position, but have enough knee roll that you can hoick your stirrups up to jump

 

[bluebellfreddy]

Get a jump saddle, they support you leg correctly for jumping, and you can get you leg straight for dressage. With VSD they don't fully support your leg jumping or dressage.

 

[ester]

Also a VSDer.
I have an ideal with velcro knee blocks so they could be changed from GP/dressage and jumping blocks and I could have all sorts of stirrup lengths comfortably and it was great for spending a day in.
3ft+ I would have preferred something a bit better to jump in but I wouldn't have been comfortable doing a lot of the other stuff we did in it, we did actually try one and a more forward cut GP but v. good saddler advised they weren't quite as good shoulder wise.

I love my saddle, I've never enjoyed riding in a WH!

 

[Auslander]

Get a jump saddle, they support you leg correctly for jumping, and you can get you leg straight for dressage. With VSD they don't fully support your leg jumping or dressage.

OP has stated that she doesn't want anything too forward cut,so a jump saddle wouldn't be suitable. Not sure what VSD you've ridden in, but the decent ones are supportive of both a longer and shorter stirrup, as they are designed to do both jobs! We have a Silhouette VSD here which is one of the few non dressage saddles that I'm happy to ride in!

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

See, I'd have an AH WHP saddle (Andrea Hicks, Native Pony saddles), they fit the round native and large and small cob shapes so well, allow the shoulder to move too.
I'm happy jumping up to 1m in mine & have drag hunted etc in it & its quite comfortable for spending the day in when required! (not that I do that often!, especially at present).
Current one has been adjusted to fit 3 different animals, all similar shape to look at but different fits between them.

If interested in that type, contact sbloom on here & she could well advise.

Edited to add, the modern WHP saddles are nothing like the older ones used to be, they actually have knee rolls and most have a decent seat on them too but, best to try a few different types to see what floats your boat.

 

[Pinkvboots]

I recently bought a heritage wh saddle and love it it's got detachable knee blocks so you can put some bigger ones on for a bit more support, it was an ex demo so only £500 and looked brand new it's worth messaging Matt to see what he has as he doesn't put all the ex demos on the website.

 

[JFTDWS]

If you can't run to a dressage and a jump saddle, I'd go for a VSD. Riding long in a jump saddle is - I find - utter torture. I used to do everything in a VSD.

 

[SpringArising]

You could look at getting GFS GP saddle. I've had two and they are relatively straight cut, but also fine for jumping. They're really nice little saddles that you can pick up quite cheaply if you didn't want to buy new.

 

[catkin]

As you say your horse is a cob I suspect that he could be short-backed as well as big-shouldered. His shape (and yours) is going to be the deciding factor in what saddle you will need. You are likely to find straight-cut models will work well.

A working hunter saddle is absolutely appropriate for dressage - better a saddle that fits and allows the horse to move than one that doesn't!!!

I have a working-hunter saddle on my young native - it was the best shape for us both.

 

[ImmyS]

Thank you for all the replies! Catkin that is one of the problems as he’s relatively short backed will take a 17inch max. He’s 15hh and I’m 5ft 9 so it’s finding something that puts me in the correct position for flatwork but that I would be comfortable in when putting the stirrups up a few holes for jumping.

 

[bubsqueaks]

Definitely look at an AH saddle - their Sports GP in our mind is perfect combo for dressage & jumping, & perfect for short backed big shouldered flat backs - cant recommend highly enough!

 

[catkin]

Thank you for all the replies! Catkin that is one of the problems as he’s relatively short backed will take a 17inch max. He’s 15hh and I’m 5ft 9 so it’s finding something that puts me in the correct position for flatwork but that I would be comfortable in when putting the stirrups up a few holes for jumping.

I know your pain

Your situation may be very different to mine - the decision I made was to look for the right saddle for the majority of my riding - hacking, schooling and go from there

 

[ImmyS]

Definitely look at an AH saddle - their Sports GP in our mind is perfect combo for dressage & jumping, & perfect for short backed big shouldered flat backs - cant recommend highly enough!

Thank you. I do really like the look of AH saddles. abloom is associated with them isn’t she? I might give her a message and see who my local would fitter would be.

 

[ester]

I don't know if this helps show what I mean about mine Immy, I'm 5'5 and this is a 17" if he was ridden by a kid you'd probably err on putting a 16.5" on him. He is only a MW though, he looks wider than he really is

saddle (post hunting, a bit wired )

stressaging

I don't really have any great shorter stirrup pics as Im a bit less central than I'd like to be in this one. I suspect I still have the GP blocks on it.

 

[ImmyS]

I don't know if this helps show what I mean about mine Immy, I'm 5'5 and this is a 17" if he was ridden by a kid you'd probably err on putting a 16.3" on him. He is only a MW though, he looks wider than he really is

saddle (post hunting, a bit wired )
https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=00737c896659b74027f219d117a81eef&oe=5C46FF62
stressaging
[IMG]https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/attachments/1540286650020-png.26533/?hash=c88849524b3647197d4bf9cc1f7a224f[IMG]https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/156899_10150352868045438_1609735_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr3-1.xx&oh=dac8ed819f7036d57b09c61d7495bf71&oe=5C83CD6F
I don't really have any great shorter stirrup pics as Im a bit less central than I'd like to be in this one.

Thank you for the pictures Ester! I like your position in the VSD in the dressage photo. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get a good enough position in the VSD for dressage but that’s reassuring! And you don’t look too uncomfortable with the stirrups although I have the same problem in my GP where I don’t feel I’m sat central when I put my stirrups up. Ahh it’s such a minefield. I have a couple of local fitters which are good and I trust but they never have much stock. I won’t be able to afford something fitted brand new so need to know what direction I can go in so I can least make suggestions to saddler and have a starting point.

 

[bubsqueaks]

There's a brilliant facebook page "used native pony & cob saddles for sale in the uk" - its run by AH Saddles but brilliant for sourcing our tricky to fit ponies! Also secondhand AH saddles do come up for sale there if you've had the AH fitter out to tell you what size is best - its a minefield but so affects everything we do with them that is well worth getting right.

 

[ester]

I suspect in the last photo I was sitting a bit lazy , I mean we'd won by then but most of my jumping length pics involve going over jumps and aren't side on!

In the interests of full disclosure having spent a week riding other horses in dressage saddles even though we weren't competing as no transport I did also buy a dressage saddle when he was 22! and I do love that one too but the VSD was my only saddle for 6+ years. I did buy it new but that was mostly just in order to get the saddler I wanted. My mum has the same but on a different tree for her anglo.

I wouldn't think yours would be particularly tricky to fit but a lot of people do have ideals on their welshies and there are plenty about second hand.

 

[sbloom]

Thanks for the recommendations , tons of info on the website including the full list of fitters - www.ahsaddles.com.

Big shoulders - not half such a problem as people (including many fitters) seem to think they are. If the top of the shoulder blade is prominent and there is a lack of muscle behind then a jump saddle may be an issue, and the footprint of a straight cut saddle is shorter than a forward cut saddle so on short backs occasionally it's a significant factor. However if your legs aren't super short in the thigh, and women tend to be longer in the thigh, relatively speaking, then men, then forward cut will suit you better. Go flat in the seat and a GP and you should do fine. WHs suit some, and for showing (obv), low to moderate level dressage and hacking they're great for nearly everyone, but for jumping? Well I'd not want to jump in one , they're showing saddles on steroids, they're not DESIGNED for jumping as such. But plenty of people jump really well in them.

And as a rule of thumb, no matter the cut or style of the saddle, the tree points should be 3 fingers' breadth behind the back of the shoulder blade (further back than most people put their saddles), and the rails flat and wide enough for your horse, these two factors are by far the most important for shoulder freedom, not the flap cut.

 

[ImmyS]

Thanks for the recommendations , tons of info on the website including the full list of fitters - www.ahsaddles.com.

Big shoulders - not half such a problem as people (including many fitters) seem to think they are. If the top of the shoulder blade is prominent and there is a lack of muscle behind then a jump saddle may be an issue, and the footprint of a straight cut saddle is shorter than a forward cut saddle so on short backs occasionally it's a significant factor. However if your legs aren't super short in the thigh, and women tend to be longer in the thigh, relatively speaking, then men, then forward cut will suit you better. Go flat in the seat and a GP and you should do fine. WHs suit some, and for showing (obv), low to moderate level dressage and hacking they're great for nearly everyone, but for jumping? Well I'd not want to jump in one , they're showing saddles on steroids, they're not DESIGNED for jumping as such. But plenty of people jump really well in them.

And as a rule of thumb, no matter the cut or style of the saddle, the tree points should be 3 fingers' breadth behind the back of the shoulder blade (further back than most people put their saddles), and the rails flat and wide enough for your horse, these two factors are by far the most important for shoulder freedom, not the flap cut.

Thank you sbloom super helpful and lots of useful information to take into consideration.