Which Dressage saddle to buy for a young 4 year old horse?

C

Cavallo

Active Member
Joined
13 September 2009
Messages
37
Location
South East
Visit site
Hi,
I have a 4 year old warmblood, dressage horse, about 17'2HH, elegantly built, still growing and putting on muscle. He'll keep changing for the next couple of years. What is the best saddle to get? I am borrowing a saddle for the moment just until I get my own, but I'm not keen on the saddle.

Which saddle option would be best?

1) A synthetic Wintec? (they seem to have improved over the last couple of years and they are adjustable)

2) A second hand leather (unadjustable) saddle with the view to change it annually (or more often) for the next 2 years?

3) Or, can anyone suggest good-quality leather fully-adjustable dressage saddles that can be adjusted as he grows? Amerigo, Passier etc.

Does anyone know if Ideal saddles adjustable?

Thanks for any advice!
laugh.gif
 
The wintec might suit his back shape if he's a lighter type, but quite possibly not (they don't suit many horses!)

Pass on the leather adjustables but thorowgood have an excellent range of different saddles types so there's one that will suit almost any horse. They do dressage, GP and jumping saddles. The cob T4 dressage I've ridden in was lovely.

They have the cheaper T4 versions, which looks like the older griffins, and the more expensive T6 versions which you genuinely couldn't tell if it was leather or not unless you touch it, and even then it's a good approximation! They have changeable gullets (like wintecs) and Fish inserts too for final tweaking. They come in three tree shapes, and can be made with a couple of different panel types too if you're getting it made new.

They're also a good price and will cost you literally half that of an OK leather saddle. They also resell well on ebay.
 
We went for a WOW for our 4 year old and he still has it in a different form at 10. Gave us the ability to check and change regulaly without costing a fortune and as a big moving horse has really helped him. They dont suit all horses, however, and are only worth investing in if you have a reliable fitter.
 
I ride in a reactor panel saddle, they are heavy but it is the most comfortable dressage saddle I have ever ridden in. The panels can be adjusted at any stage so you don't need to keep buying new saddles when they change shape. They don't affect the horses movement. Further information from saddle exchange.
 
I has a young Dutch horse of similar size and build to yours - I used an Isabell Werth Bates saddle on him - changed the gullet 3 times in 3 years, then it stopped fitting him completely. Have yet to find the perfect long term saddle for him as at 9 he's still changing and muscling up, but the Isabell did him proud til he was 7
smile.gif


held its value too - sold it well on ebay!
 
i would go for second hand leather saddles and keep changing until he has finished growing.

the problem with changable gullets is that the rest of the saddle doesn't change shape- only the very front so imo cannot fit properly on all of the different settings.
 
I have the Bates Innova-so leather,. but still adjustable. I had my saddler gut the Cair and flock it with wool as i dont like Cair(personal choice, horse didnt seem to mind either way) and its perfect-he's gone up from M down to N/M with growth spurts and muscle changes(seems to have grown withers!) and its been dead easy to sort out.love it!
 
I also have a bates innova with cair and it is fully adjustable, but the saddle fitter needs to do it. This is done with cair insert panels, so fully adjustable not just at the front. I love this saddle, I'v had it for about 2 n half years, horse was only 5 when I got it. Had it fitted when I got it, then have had it checked twice since with changes made it each time. I wouldn't be without it, the blocs are fab for helping my position and therefore helps the horse too.
 
Have had the same problem with my Holsteiner who is 17hh at 4 who is not filled out behind the shoulder yet but has large shoulders. I gave up on the Wintec Pro as it just was not high enough in the wither.

I have gone for a second hand ideal Jessica and so far so good another good saddle was the K2 (hard to get hold of secondhand though).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top