Where did you buy your (dressage) saddle?

peanut

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I've decided to sell my Ideal Jessica as although it fits my horse beautifully, it's an 18" which is too big for my bottom even with a non slip gel seat saver. I also find that without a secure seat, it's difficult to keep my leg in the correct position as the Jessica doesn't have much of a thigh block.

I need to sit on lots of different saddles to find a good fit but I don't like being pressurised by saddle fitters into buying which is how I ended up with my current one. :eek:

Where's the best place to start please and how did you decide on the right one for you?
 

peanut

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PM thank you - the Bates Innova is one of the ones I'm looking at as I think it has a changeable gullet which would be useful.

To be honest, I just want to find the one that fits us both and then hopefully get it second hand as I can't afford to go over about £850
 

be positive

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We have a local tack shop that has a really good range of second hand saddles, recently needing a new dressage saddle we went there and found a few that looked suitable, they were taken home to try. You just leave card details and you can have them for 10 days. Found a lovely nearly new Passier which fits horse and rider, with the advantage of a few days to make sure. Saddler came out to check the fit before it was paid for. It was only £500 retails new at over £2k so a bargain .:D
We are now doing the same looking for a jump saddle but that is proving much more difficult, have found what we want but having to buy new.
 

PaddyMonty

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PM thank you - the Bates Innova is one of the ones I'm looking at as I think it has a changeable gullet which would be useful.

To be honest, I just want to find the one that fits us both and then hopefully get it second hand as I can't afford to go over about £850

I have a feeling OH is selling hers ;)
 

coss

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got one off my RI when she was selling it, happened to fit my horse and is comfy enough - had ridden her horse in it previously and she let me try it on mine in a lesson.
Have bought 2 more - one whch was very comfy but then stopped fitting horse :rolleyes: bought from a company i found online and the later one, saw on equestrian clearance and thought it was worth a shot - comfy (though feels different to my other saddle so took a while to adjust - also pony wider than other horse i was riding regularly ;)) and fits
 

kerryflower

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my friend has a business which primarily is a bespoke bridle making service but has now expanded to bespoke saddles! So you can take bits/elements of different saddles you like and have one made to order for v v v reasonable prices. They are made by a master saddler in Walsall and you can have diff colours, diamantes, or a mix of them! Her website is designabridle.com and very easy to speak to if youw ant a chat :)
 

Farma

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I have always bought and sold saddles on eBay, always been pleased with the results with ones Ive bought and achieved good prices selling :)
 

rowy

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Both my dressage saddles I bought from my local saddler who was amazing in finding the right one and went to such lengths to made sure they fit right, especially as my horses are the hardest ever to fit!
My youngster is xxxw width with 17" seat and no saddles would stay put on his back so she found that Jaguar could put a showing tree especially designed for wide natives in the leather dressage saddle and now it fits him really well and can be adjusted as he changes!
My other mare is mega wide with a dippy back which dips away so the back needed to be a good height to match the front. I didnt have loads to spend but she had a second hand in stock which was gorgeous and so comfy and then had new flock to fit her :)
She is with bucakroo equine (vale view) if you are in the leics area.
 

Heilo

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eBay but my saddler said I was exceptionally lucky to find one that fitted So perfectly. Try Saddlesdirect they have lots of second hand that they let you try untill you find the right one.
 

Sol

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My previous saddle I bought from The Saddlery, in Chester. The couple who run it are lovely, asked me what I was looking for, showed me the saddles they had in & let me have a sit on them in the shop before we even booked a fitting. When I did have a saddle fitting at the yard, I got to ride in all of the suitable saddles, no pressure, had a second ride in the one we ended up with and just didn't get rushed. My last saddle though I bought online! Was very lucky to borrow a treeless off a friend and worked it that way :)
 
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