Wintec CAIR system I am SHOCKED !

Bit unnerving seeing that! They look horrible :/ . However I recently bought my horse the Wintec 2000 with CAIR and its the only saddle he hasn't put his ears back at. He was fitted in an expensive flocked saddle (Crosby softride I think its called) and hated it, gets on very well with CAIR and has muscled up a lot over his topline since wearing it! Don't like the concept of it at all though , 'the CAIR panels can only be fitted with the riders weight on them' and following that statement is a picture of the panels hovering over the back; IMO that's another way of say 'the panels will bounce around in rising trot or in a two point seat and that surely means the weight is being concentrated over the area where the stirrups are ! Maybe i'm wrong but I can't argue with my horse, he moves great in it and finds it comfortable...
 
Oh dear, I'm cringing a little bit at those pictures :/

My loan horse has a Wintec CAIR saddle. She came with it when she joined our stables, and I'd never really investigated what a CAIR saddle was until just now. She doesn't show any signs of discomfort or have any saddle sores at all, but those plasticky things look horrid. I just hope that she's not uncomfortable, because I really, really don't have the money to buy her a new saddle. I've seen so much stuff about dodgy saddle recently, and it really scares me! :(
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
OK so that's it.......... I'm emigrating. Perhaps the only place to find any decent saddle fitters is Down Under???:)
Click to expand...

Haha, Bates flew Lou (my saddle fitter) over to Europe at the start of the year. She was fitting Isabell Werth's personal saddles as well as a few other well known riders. She did some Saddle Fit Lecturing over in Brussels while she was there, she also attended a master fitters work shop in the UK and has been over to South Africa to fit saddles in the last 12 months too. Woman gets around hey? :)

She's hard to get a hold of, but man is she worth it.... I can give you a heads up if I hear she is off gallivanting around the world again if you like? :D lol
 
Fabio's got one of the Bates saddles and goes really well in it. Never had any issues with his back. Know some horses don't get on with the CAIR though. I guess it must be a bit like us with mattresses - some like them softer/harder/memory foam - so horsey equivalent of what they find comfy on their back!
 
Not sure why this is shocking or looks terrible - most of the bearing area is a nice flat panel. Traditional flocked saddles do not offer this uniformity or have the ability to move like air to adapt to the horses shape. In fact I've seem some pretty awful flocked saddles which are not symmetrical and have all sorts of lumps developing.

I use flair and cair on my horses and don't have any problems. However under all my saddles I generally use a quality saddle cloth or pad.

I'm not shocked to see these pictures, but your saddler obviously got good money to reflock the saddle, so I guess everyone is happy!

Also worth bearing in mind that Wintec/Bates are the most successful saddle company in the world and have overtaken every other manufacturer. They must be doing something right!
 
the overlapping panels are a known problem. afaik some manufacturers are now using airpockets in the front only (the part where the musculature changes the most) to avoid this.
all the people who believe that air is soft make me laugh... air under pressure is rock hard!
latex is shock absorbing. i chose latex panels for almost all of my saddles.
 
If you think air is hard try this - get a wool stuff bag put it on your back and ask a child (small adult) to sit on it and bounce

Now get a wobble cushion and try the same (not with the spikey side!!)

You'll find the air offers more relief to specific pressure points, but moves more. Now some horses are going to prefer the wool and others the air.

I think comments like air is "rock hard" are a wee bit unhelpful as not actually true, unless some maniac has pumped up your flair to the point it bounces......
 
flyingfeet said:
If you think air is hard try this - get a wool stuff bag put it on your back and ask a child (small adult) to sit on it and bounce

Now get a wobble cushion and try the same (not with the spikey side!!)

You'll find the air offers more relief to specific pressure points, but moves more. Now some horses are going to prefer the wool and others the air.

I think comments like air is "rock hard" are a wee bit unhelpful as not actually true, unless some maniac has pumped up your flair to the point it bounces......
Click to expand...

Air in a sealed bag under pressure (ie a humans weight on it) is hard - Air in a fabric cushion which allows the air to move out , now that is giving and soft.
 
Honestly just try this - a wobble cushion is a sealed bag just like inside a saddle

wobble-cushion.jpg
 
flyingfeet said:
Honestly just try this - a wobble cushion is a sealed bag just like inside a saddle
Click to expand...

When the sealed bags were removed from the saddle and squeezed, there was nothing giving about them - they are just horrible. I certainly wouldn't want my child using them as a saddle on me.
 
Yeah and it costs £90 per panel to have each CAIR replaced, did you know that!! I asked the local saddlery shop who got a quote for me. But luckily through talking to them I realised I was within warranty - only just 4 months inside a three year warranty from new, and had both panels replaced and they paid up the £180 quid it cost me!! Happy days.
 
My pony didn't like his Cair saddle at all. It did feel very hard if you poked at the panel while mounted. It also bounced a lot on the lunge and squeeked! Swapped for a regular flocked saddle now and he is much happier in it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top