WOW saddles: Do those at the top use them? etc!

[Stella]

I'm still reserving judgement on WOW saddles. I know people who love them. I know people who tried them and their horses reacted by flipping out - clearly expressing their own reservations

I was a spectator at a clinic held by a well known dressage trainer and one rider (who also happened to be a trained fitter of WOW saddles), couldn't get her horse to respond to her aids in some lateral work. When she left the arena after her session, I overheard the trainer say to someone "the horse can't feel her seat aids, if she would just use a normal saddle she wouldn't be having this trouble ...."!

I was a spectator at the world cup qualifier and the Kur at Olympia and I wasn't aware of anyone riding in a WOW (although I wasn't always scrutinising the saddles!).

Discuss

 

[ihatework]

I'm not yet convinced, am still at the point of thinking they are just the latest fad.
I don't mind being proven wrong though.

 

[Stella]

And if they are, they are a particularly expensive fad

 

[Sarah_Jane]

I have tried and they are not for me. However I was chatting to Kitty Boggis at TRweseldown and she uses them and has found they really make a difference to a few of her horses. She orginally hated the idea of them but then found them benificial.

 

[ReadyTeddy]

kitty boggis and francis whittington both event in them and both have represented GB on various occasions

 

[CastleMouse]

I rode in a WOW saddle a while ago and I hated it...

Richard Davison, Kitty Boggis, Francis Wittington, and Sasha Pemble all ride in WOW saddles.

 

[Stella]

Mmmm ... all very interesting. Especially Richard Davison (to me because my interest is dressage)! Do you know if he chooses to use them for all his rides?

 

[LEC]

I am totally not convinced by them. With KB the Devoucoux seems to get a lot of use in photos I have seen. Though I have seen photos of FW. Also why do top SJs not seem to use them?

 

[eventersrus]

well l know a certain top event rider who has their own "named" saddle but does not use it on their horses

 

[Halfstep]

I'm pretty sure that Richard Davison and his wife Gill ride all their horses in WOW saddles.

 

[ReadyTeddy]

[ QUOTE ]
I am totally not convinced by them. With KB the Devoucoux seems to get a lot of use in photos I have seen. Though I have seen photos of FW. Also why do top SJs not seem to use them?

[/ QUOTE ]

alot of library pictures of boggis show her on fiveboys which are pretty old and she wasnt using WOW then. also some of the owners have their own saddles for the horses.

 

[dressagecrazy]

Well im not at the top of the Dressage tree, but i hope to be at some point lol. I use a WOW & my horse is trained to go off my weight aids, he has no problems understanding these aids at all through the WOW. Even doing lateral work & changes he seems to be able to feel it all. I even ride him without reins sometimes so i can safely say its all weight & legs aids & he feels everything otherwise i would be stuffed so to speak lol.

However my fitter did say to me that WOW saddles magnify everything. Not sure exactly what she meant but i got the opinion that she meant if its bad it will be very bad vica versa if you get my drift.

 

[catembi]

I am a humble person competing at the lower levels of BD & BSJA & fwiw my horse & I love our WOW. I totally hated it the first time I sat on it cos it felt like sitting on a wobble board & I was getting the spacehopper effect jumping. When I had it adjusted to fit me, it was fine.

It keeps me in a really good position, my horse is softer, rounder & his topline's improved no end & it stops my back getting jarred (wrecked sacroiliac joint).

I really, really wish I'd got one for Cat as I think it would have helped us.

 

[Stella]

[ QUOTE ]
well l know a certain top event rider who has their own "named" saddle but does not use it on their horses

[/ QUOTE ]thats bad isn't it?

 

[Tierra]

In regards to dressage, as someone else mentioned, richard davison is probably the biggest name and yes, they're used on all his

I was there when quite a few were being altered and two new ones being fitted

On the slightly lower scene, i know sonia webster (list 2) has them on a couple of hers.

My horse is PSG level and i have one on him. The comments about the seat aids are, imo, absolute rubbish as you both tend to feel more in my experience.

As for new and faddish... do try and remember the wow is many, many years old now (10 + i believe?? and flair is older still.) Lots of people seem to be under the impression that they're a new concept and will just vanish. They've been here a looong time and their popularity is only increasing.

Partoow is at a pretty damn high level and i know she uses them and has since their very early development so it might be worth asking her about them

 

[carthorse]

Yes Partoow uses them and she is our trainer and an expert on position.My daughter is going to Richard Davison for a lesson on the 16th[a prize for getting the highest percentage at a show] I will check if he uses them on all his horses

 

[seabiscuit]

It took me a long,long time to get used to my WOW and so I wonder if this is what the professionals have felt when they have been trying them out.
When I first got my WOW I felt that I could hardly ride in it at all, seriously I felt hopelessly unsupported in it. Took me a good few months to get used to it- and now I love riding in it and feel that its as comfortable as any saddle that I ride in. Anyway I wonder if this has been the problem when pro's have tried them out. Some people are able to ride in them instantly but others it takes time.

 

[seabiscuit]

Who is Partoow? You all talk about her so much- am v.curious!

 

[MotherOfChickens]

its nonsense to say the horse cant feel weight/seat aids in a wow. maybe they just aint doing it right?

 

[Tierra]

Ive found most horses can feel weight aids MORE in flair than with conventional flocking. I also have a suspicion that many horses who object initially to the wows arent used to actually being able to feel weight aids as accutely as they do with flair.

Again though, its somewhat dependent on a good fitter, as over inflated air bags are really hard, dont sit right on the horses' back and i suspect, dull the weight aids somewhat

 

[seabiscuit]

You know, now that you mention it, I really did feel the seat aids much more!! It was amazing, could feel the seatbones really well, to the effect that you are able to use all seatbones for lateral work and just think about tiny presses on the seatbones to ask for leg yield/shoulder in/half pass. The saddle seemed to teach me that. Whereas before I think I wouldve been trying to use loads of leg for lateral work and no enough seat aids.

My horse with the WOW is out on loan and I feel that my riding is going backwards already! it def made the seat so much stronger and a bit more natural.
I want my WOW back! *whines!*
Only thing is about the WOW is although the dressage saddle is brilliant- my horse did not seem to jump well in the jumping version..He did jump amazingly well in it the one time, but tried it a second time and I wasnt impressed.

 

[carthorse]

That is interesting as I was thinking of buying jumping flaps

 

[seabiscuit]

My horse is an oddball though- he has had a kissing spine operation and is a very delicate soul. Refuses to move in most saddles!

 

[flyingfeet]

You put a wow out on loan with your horse

Hope its someone you trust!!

I find my wows make little difference to my seat aids - if there are any problems, its usually my dodgy riding. I think people like to blame something, as if your instructor says 'your saddle isn't helping', its kinder than saying 'you're a bit crap'.

 

[Weezy]

LOL C_SJ, very well said!

Well I reckon they make you ride in a purer way, as C_D says, you refine yourself. I am a lazy cow and recently I have gone back to hacking in my Sabre...big mistake as it does me NO favours

Rode in my WOW today and I was having a lovely giggly time making my mare go left and right using only my seat bones and no weight shift...deffo amplify seat aids IMHO.

As for jumping, I love mine for jumping in.

 

[dozzie]

I have one (well two actually!) but tbh that is because my horse had problems with standard saddles. I am sure that if your horse has no issues then there are other saddles equally as good. I really think its about getting whats best for the horse.

 

[Tempi]

I have just bought a super Wow dressage saddle with extra deep seat and giant knee blocks. I was skeptical to start with, but the difference is amazing! You can really feel the horse moving freely underneath you, and my horse is much more relaxed over his back now and swings through from behind really nicely. He also works long and low much happier now and is definately more relaxed in his lateral work too. M_M from here was with me when i had my Wow fitted and she commented on how relaxed my horse looked in it aswell. (My horse is 6 and competing at Medium level BD)

Richard Davidson has Wow saddles for all his horses - i think there is some stigma with them in that they arent the 'norm'. I was certainly very sceptical before i tried and then bought mine.

 

[I_A_P]

i must say i love mine, for my last horse i dont think i could have mde a better choice-when i got on it the first time i was very sceptical and didnt really like the idea that much but i didnt find it different to riding on other saddles....the hardest thing i found was riding in a dressage saddle which i hadnt done much of.

i am not advanced in the dressage movements at all, but i didnt find it any harder to use my aids at all than in another saddle.

i found for jumping it did help her more as she wasnt restricted through her back.
i did not notice an "amazing" change but ti know she was far comfier and she just went nicely..theres not really any more to say.

I am now about to get it fitted to my new horse and hopefully it will be a good saddle for him.

 

[The Virgin Dubble]

[ QUOTE ]
I rode in a WOW saddle a while ago and I hated it...

Richard Davison, Kitty Boggis, Francis Wittington, and Sasha Pemble all ride in WOW saddles.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is that through choice though, or because WOW sponsor them..?
Kitty Boggis is definitely sponsored by them so would have to endorse their product.

 

[ReadyTeddy]

kits mother wouldnt let anything near those horses if it didnt do what it said on the can, sponsor or not and i think she got sponsored cos she started using one. Francis' saddler friend suggested he tried one on a difficult horse and i think when it seemed to work it was the saddler that spoke to the rep re sponsoring. wouldnt know about the others though and we must be careful here, Oh Great Unsullied One, that we do not imply any of the riders are thinking of the money more than their horses.