Wintec dressage saddles?

spookypony

spookypony

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I'm thinking about eventually getting a dressage saddle for my boy, but am not exactly rolling in cash atm...I'm not bothered about synthetic vs. leather...

I was wondering about anybody's experiences with the Wintec 500 or similar, how it fits different types of horse, how it rides, etc.
 
Have a wintec 500 dressage, never got to use it, poor horse had to be retired suddlenly, its like new if you are interested? (17" black dressage with medium gullet fitted - paid about £280 for it)

Bought it as a result of borrowing friend, who swears by hers.
 
i asked for a comparison between wintec and thorowgood, and most people said that they really liked the throwogood saddle, and it was better than the wintec
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just to confuse you lol
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lol im the opposite, i love the wintec pro dressage - had a thorogood but it was too wide in the twist for me and gave me a bad hip.
 
Ive just managed to get a Isabell Wintec and fantastic....
Also a local saddler to me will not touch Thoroughgood but only wintecs even though she does not actually sell them - but I dont know the reasons sorry!!!

x

Think the 500 is not as deep seat as Isabell
 
I think maybe I'll see what the saddlery has, and sit on some of those you guys have mentioned.

This is a new experience for me---I've generally just sat on whatever the horse (school horses up to now) came with, without bothering to keep track of what it was.

The pony currently has a Maxam cob GP saddle (came with it), but I think it's become too wide for him---we'll see what the fitter says.

How do I know if I need a 17" or a 17.5"? I'm medium tall and fairly slim, but have very very long legs and a large-ish bottom.
 
depends what you are doing the wintec isabelle is fantastic when you first start keeps you in a good position !!

BUT

when you need to do more you then cant move in it

So then you would need the wintec pro !!
 
I can't recommend my wintec dressage saddle enough. It has cair and is really comfortable, and fits him well. I also have a GP wintec 500. There is an excellent saddlery I know of where I got my saddle from at much less price than anywhere else, and I got a free gullet of my choice as well as the standard that was fitted (medium) and a saddle cover. PM me if you want details. What I would say about Wintecs or any adjustable gullet system saddle is this:- if you have a horse with high withers be careful. My previous horse Rommy had very high withers and really needed a narrow gullet inserted in the saddle to bring the pommel off his withers. That would sound a sensible soloution and would have been - except the problem was that his actual saddle fit indicated medium, so the narrow gullet would have pinched him although it would have also lifted the saddle off the withers. It was a none win situation and I had to use a front riser pad as I could not afford to get a different saddle. This in turn caused problems when the pressure was all placed in the back of the saddle instead of being evenly balanced all over his back. Total nightmare! He ended up being very sore.
 
It really depends on the horse - both whether a thorowgood or a wintec will suit, as well as what size the seat should be.

The bog standard wintec (of which the 500 is one) suits tb types. The tree for the GP and the dressage are exactly the same. The dressage version will not put you in any better a position than the GP - the flaps are straighter so you have a bit more support from the (almost non-existent) knee rolls but that is about it.

The Isabelle Werth is a completely different tree - very deep seat (it feels like riding in a seat 1" smaller than a regular GP) and the stirrup bars are very set back so they really force you to open up from the hip. This forces you into the classical position. Some people like it, others hate it.

The thorowgood dr is much less restrictive (seat medium deep and stirrups in conventional dr position - both better than the wintec), the panels are a nice shape for flatter backed horses and you can get various tree models. I had a thorowgood which I used for a couple of weeks on one of my horses when I was getting his saddle made and it was fine for that purpose. The only thing I dont like about thorowgoods is the flocking - it is inferior and should be totally reflocked.

There are various new Thorowgood models and the newest ones come with changeable gullets and the FISH system which is essentially shim pads that you insert in the front of the saddle to get a better fit.

Best thing to do would be to get a fitter who sells both, as well as some second hand leather saddles and try one until you find one that fits.
 
Thanks for all the detail! It's sounding a bit like the Thorowgood is more likely to fit both the spooky pony and me. I tend to ride very long in my GP anyway, and if my position needs correcting, I'd prefer to do so myself rather than be wedged into it artificially. I think I'll try out a bunch at the saddlery on Saturday, though.

The pony's shape is changing fairly rapidly atm, so I'll probably wait another few months before actually buying it...
 
Had the fitter out today. His current GP is now too wide, so we added a riser pad until I can get him a new saddle. Someone in the yard has an Albion for sale, so I put it on him just to see. Lovely to sit in, but just a wee bit too large for him! The fitter agreed that he doesn't need a cob saddle (withers actually fairly high), and that M or M/W should do. I'm ready to start exploring!
 
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