WOW Saddles - Are they just that?

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MagicMelon

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My horse has recently changed shape and neither his dressage nor his event saddle fit any longer, my saddle fitter has said they are both too long in the seat anyway and should never have been fitted to him in the first place (the saddler I used originally did go bust shortly after...!!). Both fall onto his wither now as well so I cannot use them. The saddler said my horse is particularily difficult to fit to as although 16hh he is very short coupled and he has big shoulders (with a high action in front) which my current saddles sit behind (which pushes it back). She has suggested a WOW saddle (she's given me a list to buy 2nd hand parts of ebay to make one up!). She's suggested one as I could then buy a 17" seat but fit it with 16" panels which is what my horse needs, and if I get a movable block one then I can use the GP for eventing (ie. dressage & jumping blocks).

Can anyone advise if they think this is the best option? And what exactly do people make of WOW saddles? Are they really that good?!
 
I have WOW saddles for that very reason ! I need a slightly bigger seat than my horse finds comfy in a traditional saddle (because hes croup high and normal saddles get shunted forward into his large shoulder blades).

I love love love mine. Ive got jumping flaps with fixed block that are set forward for jumping and back for flatwork. Ive also got dressage flaps to swap into when eventing.

Our horses love these saddles but that dont work for everyone. That said, if it doesnt work out there is still quite a market for 2nd hand ones.
 
I loved mine but my horse hated it and, after various refits and new panels, I decided last year to pack in trying to make it work and went to a tack maker who made me a saddle which my horse goes lovely in now. They're a bit like marmite I think which I was gutted about as it is very comfy and I had bought both jumping and VSD flaps.
There was no market for my saddle, as everyone wanted them practically given (which will be good for you searching for secondhand parts), so it sat in my garage until this week when I asked my YO if she wanted to borrow it for her developing young horse. Hopefully her horse will like it and she can use it until she gets herself something permanent
 
ive ridden ina fair few bout dont own one! Ive personally never got on with then! I like a fairly deep seat and i felt like i was sat on the saddle not in it! But i no you can get different seat depths! Try ride in one before you buy one because they are very expensive!!!
 
i bought one and loved it, however mare hated it (made first and only ever spirited attempt to buck me off) and it made a lump come up over her spine, so i was very lucky to get a full refund. i know some people really rate them but from reports on here it depends HUGELY on the skill of the fitter...
 
Have you put it on ebay weebrown? I moved abroad so sold mine with no probs. I didn't lose much on it at all and had quite a few bidders. May not be a good time to sell with the recession I guess.
 
I have got one. originally bought it with a deep seat and 2 sets of flaps for my last horse who was hard to fit. I now have one in xc set up (really flat seat and foward cut) and have an Ideal dressage saddle as well - purely as he is easy to fit and it worked better than swapping flaps and even with swapping flaps the seats were totally different.

i have not had any problems with mine at all but as others will tell you it depends hugely on the fitter.
 
I have one, i bought it originally for my old horse (now retired) for that exact reason i had three saddles and none fitted. i had it fitted to my young horse but it never fitted him that well. Its with my saddler at the moment to be sold, its a 17 inch but with x country flaps. The fitter is very important i originally bought it from a saddler who fitted it very badly but changed fitter and made a huge difference!!
 
I used to have a wow, I hated it as I felt (like others have said) that I was sat on the saddle rather than in the saddle (IYGWIM). My horses also hated it, but non of them seem to like the flair in any saddle, so maybe not the Wow's fault.
 
Iv never owned a wow saddle, but i have ridden in one of the dressage saddles, i did like it but i prefer the Albion dressage saddles. As for the jumping type ones iv never tried them :)
 
They really are marmite saddles. I tried one and loathed it immensly. It felt as if I had far too much saddle between my horse and I. Some people in my yard have them and they are very happy but we do have a good fitter. A Wow saddle is not something I would buy before having a sit in one though.

Just as an option as my boy was also a nightmare to fit. He has a big shoulder and I really struggled to find a jumping saddle that didn't actually seem to impeed his shoulder. My saddler (who does made to measure) ended up putting him in a Albion K2 SJ saddle. On any other horse in the yard it looks like a good jumping saddle - on him it almost looks like a workers show saddle!. Dressage ended up being made to measure but that was easier!
 
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