Wintec with Hart

[holeymoley]

Does anyone have the new style Wintec with Hart? I’m looking to start my youngster and unsure whether to go for the new style wintec wide with hart so that we can adjust as he will definitely change shape. Or whether to get a leather and just keep changing as we go.

He is a traditional gypsy cob and at the moment very flat at the back however front end hasn’t fully filled out. Looking to just have him get used to saddle at the moment and do a bit of groundwork until ready to break in late spring/summer by which point I would expect him to change again. My older boy’s saddles are unfortunately too narrow for him so no joy there. I’m not a great fan of the recent wintecs, I liked their wintec 500 around 20 years ago when I broke my oldie in as a youngster, but he’s been in an Ideal most of his life and the last time I tried the newer style Wintec on him I didn’t find it particularly comfy! I suppose for a changing youngster they are the way to go?

 

[canteron]

I like my Wintec, I have their endurance saddle - which I bought as my horse goes noticeably better in it - and I have come to really like the ‘suede’ finish, leather saddles feel so slippy now! That doesn’t really help with the ‘hart’ question though, but I think the endurance is based on the hart system?

 

[Beausmate]

I've just got a new Arena wide with the HART system. Only ridden in it the once so far, but it is a good fit on a very square pony and I can swap the gullet plates over when she has muscled up a bit in the spring.

 

[IrishMilo]

Lots of saddles have changeable gullets now, Bates, Arena (made by bates), GFS/Monarch, some JW models. I would personally rather spend a bit more on a nice second hand leather one than a Wintec.

 

[Griffin]

I hated the older Wintecs but I have a new one with Hart and it is really good. It's comfortable for both of us and it's very stable on my round mare.

 

[Elno]

I said I would never ever ever again buy a Bates/Wintec/Arena saddle again since the last time I had a Bates wide on a previous horse and it spun around and I fell.....buuuuuuut.... unfortunately after going through +10 saddles and one saddle fitter who couldn't find anything that fit us and horse was getting grumpier and grumpier from trying saddles that didn't fit, I tried a riding school horse's Bates wide AP on him (the perks of sharing a stable with a riding school, saddles and bits a plenty! ) and it fit like a glove and ponyo was finally happy. Bought a Bates Wide dressage saddle for him the day after.

I kind of regret not doing it much sooner, since from the first beginning I had this nagging feeling that a Wintec or Bates wide probably would be a good fit, but these saddles are very much poo-pooed on by some people and saddlefitters, especially online so I guess that kind of sticks in the back of your mind whether it's true or not...I got extremely frustrated and spent insane amount of money on saddles this year because of it, instead of just going with my gut feeling

The problem I had with mine is that while he is rather chunky and wide, he also has a very straight back. Most other saddles with exchangeable gullets got more curvy when put a xwide or xxwide gullet bar in, and since the whole saddle was more built for finer built horses it never sat correctly on the back. It kind of looked like it was just plonked on top if you know what I mean? The Bates wide has a very straight tree in xwide and xxwide and the saddle is wider over all through the whole construction. I had a rolling/slipping problem with some of the saddles I tried previously on my horse, but this one stays put and I don't have to overtighten the girth. It was one of my biggest fears honestly since last time I had a Bates wide (on a much bigger and rounder horse) it did roll.

I haven't tried the Wintec wide with HART, but I had previously a Wintec pro dressage with HART and a couple of Bates jump and dressage saddles with HART. The HART seems like an improvement, but honestly I don't really notice that much of a difference from the previous models. My Bates wide dressage is the model before HART and it is very comfortable to ride in, the panels are soft and the horse really likes the saddle. I was a bit worried about how he would react to Cair since not all horses seem to like it.

The only issue I have with my saddle is that the leather is really kind of "meh". It's very plasticy- feeling, and when I condition it the leather balm kind of only stays on top and doesn't absorb really. I have the Heritage leather version, since it was the only saddle available I could buy immediately. The plus leather is much nicer, but I didn't want to wait several weeks.

If I were you I and had a young, wide horse to back I would not hesitate to buy a Wintec wide, not necessarely with HART, and then see how it goes. If I would plan to keep the saddle a bit longer though, I would buy a Bates, because , you know, leather is nicer. Surely there is plenty of second hand ones on the market?