when to buy a nice saddle for a young horse?

sam-b

sam-b

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I currently have some money burning a hole in my pocket, and was thinking of buying a nice saddle (Albion platinum) however as horse is only a 4 year old I'm sure realistically I should wait... or does it not make all that much difference ?
 
Depends really, I got my 4 yr old a John Whitaker passion saddle (can't get 2nd hand as no fitters near me have 2nd hand) and within a month she outgrew it.

I'm currently using my other horses saddle a monoflap jump one which the fitter said fits really well with a half pad on, I think I'm going to wait till she is rising 6/6 before I get her one for good!

I now have a 1 month old saddle which i have to sell!
 
Is the tree adjustable on these?

I did all my prep work with my youngster - long reining, groundwork and lunging in a Kent and masters saddle but i wasn't happy with the fit so changed for the actual backing to a prestige gp, I only purchased this because it is adjustable, I hope it will last us a year, possibly two so that I can get my money's worth. I wouldn't get a non adjustable for a youngster. I do realise that even when adjusted the prestige may not fit but I was willing to take the risk for mine and my horses comfort
 
Don't do it!

I bought a brand new Albion platinum ultima 1 year ago and despite it being adjustable she has 'changed shape' and it no longer fits.
I am making do with a prolite pad for now as I simply can't afford another saddle at the moment.

If given the chance again, I'd buy a cheaper saddle and spend the money on other things that will last!
 
My 4 year old threw a paddy and reared up and over on my saddle. I've never been gladder I hadn't bought her anything more than a scabby Wintec!

Now she has settled down a bit I am considering buying her something else but not spending more than £500 as she's only just coming five and I don't expect her to stop filling out for a good two years yet!

When she gets to half way through her six year old year I might buy something I actually really want!
 
Just to the underlying point, the joints of a horse's back don't close until the horses is 7ish so you can theoretically expect some change of shape until then, leaving out other variables like fluctuations in work and weight. Realistically I've found you are probably safe by 6 IF the horse is doing roughly the type and level of work you have planned for it. Interestingly, I've had horses fit the same saddle at 3 and 6 but wear even a few different ones in between.

I have to say, I am very wary of a "perfect" fit in the moment for any horse in the process of change. By definition, as soon as the moment has passed it won't fit!
 
sam-b said:
I'm currently using a scabby wintec too, its a come down from the Albion on my other horse!!!!
Click to expand...

I hate my Wintec. I am going to buy something else to tide me over as I can not stand it but I equally can not stand the thought of spending £1500 as I am tight!

Good luck! :)
 
I would hold fire, i got mine a K&M jump because it was adjustable and i knew at 4 1/2 he was going to change shape. Oddly i've not had to have the gullet changed from a med wide since i got it but have had to use a prolite.
When i got him i asked the saddler if my old horses Ideal grandee fitted and it was a resounding no as it was too wide. Never got round to selling it for one reason or another, he is now wearing it as it fits a lot better than the K&M as he has changed shape but not really got wider, its just a better fit to the way he had filled out. Very glad i kept it as the other saddle was bridging and he was not happy.
Now he is seven im thinking of getting rid of both of them for 'the' saddle but keep putting it off as the temp saddle seems to be doing the job nicely and saddle shopping brings me out in a cold sweat slightly as its a bit of a mindfield. :o :p
 
Good question. I also bought a Wintec in July when my horse was just shy of his 5th birthday. Have had the gullet changed once already. Am really hoping he'll fit my Albion dressage saddle & my eventing saddle soon, as the Wintec GP is not nice for me - he's fine in it which is most important thing.
 
You may not want to buy a "nice" aka expensive shiny new saddle for a youngster, but you should always ensure that you get something properly fitted by a saddler. The vertebrae in a horse's spine is constantly changing as they develop, and you do not want to do long term damage by using a saddle that doesnt fit. It is one of the cause of KS.

Youngsters are annoying as they are constantly changing shape; for the most part you can get away with a gullet change or using a prolite etc but sometimes it is just a case of getting a new saddle. Find a good saddler with lots of secondhand saddles that can be reflocked to fit.

Our youngster has outgrown our widest saddle so it looks like new saddle time. He is 4 and a half and I know he wont finish growing until he is 7 so looks like an expensive couple of years ahead. The annoying thing is that I sold about 4 saddles last year of which at least 2 would have fit him but we didnt plan on getting another horse so thought it was best to clear some space. aggh.
 
my (now) 6 yr old had a new saddle fitted med wide and 6 months later he's extra wide and he's a full tb! I would wait. Luckily for me I bought GFS leather saddles with changeable gullets so only had to get new gullets not totally new saddles! phew!
 
I bought my boy an Albion Ultimate Platinum when he was rising 4, and he's still in the same saddle at 7 - he's had the head plate changed twice in that time, and a few other minor adjustments, but it has been a fab saddle. He is, and always has been, a pretty straightforward shape to fit a saddle to though.
 
Not Only are the horse's bones still changing but their muscle is soft - a moving or otherwise badly fitted saddle does more damage to a young horse than a mature muscled horse. I see so many 4 and 5 year olds that already have muscle damage from the "cheap" and sometimes adjustable option. If an adjustable headplate saddle fits well, then great, but even if it does, simply being able to change the width does not mean it will always fit.

Like every saddle purchase, the harder your horse is to fit, the more the odds are that you will have to buy new, and spend more. And that may, in the long term, be the cheaper option, than messing around with umpteed trade ins and saddles that really don't quite work. Most of my customers have already had many saddles that haven't worked, and lost a fortune - many have wanted the saddles I fit but kept putting it off and trying to save themselves spending more money - instead they did indeed spend way more over time. Not fair but it happens so often.
 
I have a £1400 saddle on my rising 5yr old. I actually bought it for a 7yr old and the 7yr old changed shape so regularly it never fitted her yet fitted my new horse who needed it more, perfectly. The 7yr old now has the Wintec and I will let you know what happens with the rising 5yr old and this saddle :D
 
I brought an expensive "proper" saddle for my mare when she was 5, and luckily at 7 it still fits her well. However,she was a different shape than she is now, I'm just lucky the shape she's changed into suits the saddle!
 
I got mine a Harry dabbs made to measure dressage when he was 4.5 years but mainly because I wanted a dressage saddle and no off the shelf or adjustable makes fit him. It still fits him perfect now at nearly 6 years.
 
Hello

It all depends on the saddle you are buying. There is no reason why a youngster can't have a lovely shiny new saddle, however, unless you want to buy endless amount of them you need to make sure it is fully adjustable, otherwise stick with a less shiny but properly fitting one.

I used to back my horses in a Wintec. Not the most comfy of saddles but does the job as it is nice and light and easily adaptable to ensure I had the optimum fit for the youngsters (many moons ago used to make a living out of producing youngsters so having a versatile saddle which could change to fit the different horses coming through the yard was important). Once I was confident that they would not damage my saddle I would upgrade them to my Bates so that we looked more respectable when out and about but still fully adjustable for their ever changing shape!!

There are many adjustable saddles out there. Maybe it is worth researching them!
 
I did wonder about the Bates caprelli and also the Bates Isobel ? She currently has the wintec 2000 gp which fits her well. She is a pretty normal shape , just quite wide as she is half draught. I want something with decent blocks which the caprelli doesn't seem to have ?

Really it's the Albion platinum I want...
 
I have a wonderful "magic" saddle that appears to fit all tb types. It has fitted on a couple of NH types... Right down to skinny flat breds. Not sure how (but with the help of a prolite) it really did the trick!
 
If one fits, get a decent adjustable saddle. There's quite a few decent makes on the market ( and some crap one too!). They all fit slightly differently so you should be able to find one that fits.

Then you can changed the width as she grown until the general shape no longer fits, then sell it on. The adjustable saddles hold their value far better than fixed expensive leather ones so you won't loose much.
 
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