Wow Saddles...again!!

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NikitaXI

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Just interested if anyone else has had serious problems with the fitting of Wow saddles? I purchased a dressage, made to measure (supposedly!)for a young mare and have had nothing but problems with sore back, sore withers, trapped shoulders. Not necessarily blaming the saddle, as think it could just be the fitter doesn't know what he is doing!? Two other local riders have also had the same problems so....how does Richard Davison manage??? I bought it thinking it would last her all her life...how wrong I was. I have since ended up with a Sue Carson but still have a young mare who does not want to be tacked up or ridden! Needless to say my Wow, which I personally loved, is for sale! I am well out of pocket and well miffed!
 
My friend had a similar problem with her Wow saddles (she had XC and dressage models) and her ex-racer. She has since got herself a Bates XC and she and the horse love it. She had bought a second hand Falcon dressage and even got on better with that. Granted, her horse isn't the easiest to fit, but she was really struggling with the wow saddles, however, she is also questioning the actual saddle fitter's ability to fit the saddle. She had another saddler come out that does Wow saddles and found that that the 2nd saddler was certain that Wow doesn't suit her horse, and gave her a Bates instead (in trade for part of her Wow saddle).

I just wonder if Wow saddles are just difficult to fit properly?
 
In my experience it's down to the fitter, I had nothing but problems with mine for ages, changed fitter, changed panels and it's now brilliant, It's hard to find a good fitter though and First Thought's customer care is dire!
 
I keep contemplating a WOW saddle but reading threads like these really worries me. Sounds like the fitters leave a lot to be desired in some areas. And for the money they charge I would have expected the customer care to be spot on.

Might pass for the timebeing.
 
Wow's are very much a mixed bag, and so much relies on the fitter.

I have one horse who loves his and refuses to move in anything else, but I had to get David the owner of WOW to modify it specially for him (although he is a difficult shape and at a clinic I attended 3 master saddlers all said they would have given up with my horse and just put a breastplate on)

There seems to be a trend with the fitter to use exotic panel combinations with gussets and tabs. However most horses just need a standard DWG panel. I think a lot of problems have been caused by fitters choosing the wrong set up.
 
Hiya, I considered a wow, but it from what I've read and after having a chat with my saddler (he dosen't sell WOWs or the type of saddle I have now but hes a friend so good for advice!) it sounds that the fitter to be seriously good at getting the air amount right etc- and personally I really did not want to keep having to fork out for someone to adjust my saddle constantly. I have now ordered a Strada saddle and I am really excited- I also have a young mare who dislikes being tacked up or mounted due to two ill fitting saddles- dispite my best efforts and loadsa money! Therefore have opted to fork out for a Strada that with move and flex with the horse and adapt to her shape every time it goes on- am so happy!:)
 
IMHO I would steer clear! Three of us all fitted by the same Wow fitter have horses with sore backs and tacking up/mounting issues. My mare started to nap, run backwards, buck and rear, something which is not in her nature. We all have contacted Wow direct and David does not want to know, he basically said our argument is with the original fitter! So yes I agree the customer care is atrocious! Interested re Strada saddles...will take a look
 
I have to say I've had a love/hate relationship with Wow saddles for the last 4 years or so and now have a Sue Carson jump and dressage saddle and love them - although like your horse - mine still has 'issues' and hates being tacked up.
My original fitter was fab and during all the time I used her the saddle fitted my horse well and although I had silly problems go wrong with the saddle I was happy to put up with that because the saddle suited the horse. The time I started to have problems was when my fitter had to give up work for health reasons and the new fitter was quite frankly incompetant and caused a huge amount of problems for my horse. I genuinely believe they are great saddles when fitted correctly and absolute nightmares in the wrong hands.
And I agree - first thought's customer care leaves a lot to be desired.
 
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