Wintec 500

J

jo1

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have been offered a wintec 500 for £100. Seriousley tempted but have a couple of quieries.

1) it has a white xtra wide gullet in it at the moment - where can i get a black standard one and how much are they?

2) it has had the knee rolls taken off and i will need to buy some more - darent ride my mare without any!!!!!!!! again where can i buy them and how much?

think it will do for my mare as she is still 3 1/2 and still growing - dont want to pay £100s for a new saddle that she is going to grow out of in a couple of months
 
You should be able to get a different gullet and knee rolls from any saddlery. The gullets are about £15 ish and the knee rolls about the same.

What breed is your mare? Wintecs only really fit TB types, and although the gullet is adjustable, the tree stays the same shape.
 

I'd go for it. I have a Wintec & they are extremely comfy
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Well... I had one of them when I first got my pony... It certainly teaches you balance as it slips backwards when your horse takes off for a jump, forwards when you land and then practically off the side when you go around corners.
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It was also very uncomfy, gave almost no support when jumping, the knee rolls were rubbish and my pony hated it (it was fitted by a qualified saddler and checked by differnt people and they all said it fitted
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). I never had to clean it though which was a bonus lol!
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Providing your mare has high withers you may be ok - I know a couple of people who've got them and get on with them - but a flat backed connemara x is definitely not suited to them! Gullets are easy to get though - saddlers will have them and ebay does occasionally too.
 
The thing I dont like about Wintecs (and I have a Wintec 500 which came with my youngster who is a CBxTB) is the banana shape of the tree. On anything other than a very tru to type TB it will rock back and forth. Anything slight flat backed and you are in trouble - so no cobs/natives etc.

If you want a synthetic, then I would go for a Thorowgood. They are far better saddles and about the same price as well, depending on the model.

I would also be reluctant to fit the gullet yourself. The "easy-to-use" guage is fairly inaccurate and most saddlers fit by placing the actual gullet on the horse. But you need to know where to place the gullet to make sure you have the correct width. I think a lot of people think they can fit gullets themselves because the actual job of unscrewing the plate and changing the gullet is simple. But you need to make sure you have the right size to begin with.

If the saddle is currently too wide, how do you know it fits your horse quite nicely? It must be sitting very low at the front with the panels way off your horse's back?

Even if used for only a few short months, it can seriously damage your horse's back. If you want to buy a saddle that can truly adjust with your horse's shape, have you considered one with an adjustable tree, such as a Saddle Company or Kieffer? They cost a lot more than £100 but you will be saving yourself a lot more in the long term. You can usually get decent ones on Ebay and get a fitter out to adjust them.
 
have rode a friends horse in a wintec - i do find them quite comfy saddles. My friend did endurance ride in hers and a lot of people at my yard like them.

when i said it fit nice - i meant the length of the actual sadde - both on her back and the flaps. Looked the right size etc - not too big or like a postage stamp.

What else could someone suggest to use instead? Needs to be a decent sadle which will be able to change with her shape. Like i said before - she is still gorwing and i dont want to spend £100s on a saddle which i wont be able to use after a couple of months.


God - i remember when i first had horses - there was like 1 saddle between 3 horses and you padded them out with numnahs and there wasnt such a thing as a saddle fitter LOL how times have changed!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
The thing I dont like about Wintecs (and I have a Wintec 500 which came with my youngster who is a CBxTB) is the banana shape of the tree. On anything other than a very tru to type TB it will rock back and forth. Anything slight flat backed and you are in trouble - so no cobs/natives etc.

If you want a synthetic, then I would go for a Thorowgood. They are far better saddles and about the same price as well, depending on the model.

I would also be reluctant to fit the gullet yourself. The "easy-to-use" guage is fairly inaccurate and most saddlers fit by placing the actual gullet on the horse. But you need to know where to place the gullet to make sure you have the correct width. I think a lot of people think they can fit gullets themselves because the actual job of unscrewing the plate and changing the gullet is simple. But you need to make sure you have the right size to begin with.

If the saddle is currently too wide, how do you know it fits your horse quite nicely? It must be sitting very low at the front with the panels way off your horse's back?

Even if used for only a few short months, it can seriously damage your horse's back. If you want to buy a saddle that can truly adjust with your horse's shape, have you considered one with an adjustable tree, such as a Saddle Company or Kieffer? They cost a lot more than £100 but you will be saving yourself a lot more in the long term. You can usually get decent ones on Ebay and get a fitter out to adjust them.

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Well said couldnt of worded it better myself.
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What else could someone suggest to use instead? Needs to be a decent sadle which will be able to change with her shape. Like i said before - she is still gorwing and i dont want to spend £100s on a saddle which i wont be able to use after a couple of months.
I recommend a saddle company saddle the tree can be adjusted by a fitter check out their site www.saddlecompany.co.uk
 
Maybe I've been lucky but I've had one for my short coupled cob since November 2006 and haven't had a problem with it. I've hunted, showjumped, done a ODE and ridden in it most days. T's withers are just about right, not too high or flat, and his back is fairly flat, very comfortable bareback, and the saddle has been fine. I find it relatively comfortale to sit in, not quit as nic as my friend's Falcon but £s less to buy. It's kept its condition well too. I suppose its down to the individual whether or not it suits horse and rider. Mine was fitted by Huw Thomas, the saddler mentioned on the S Wales saddler thread yesterday (think it's on page 3 now).
 
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