Cashel softsaddle- anyone ever heard of them?

[jumper-4-joy]

Hey everyone,
My saddle is pinching my current horse. I am going to sell that one and get another one. My horse is a narrowish Thoroughbred with a very high wither. I was told that it would be very hard to find a good fit for him. He has such a sensitive back that it would need to be perfect too. So, instead of getting a $3000 custom made saddle that would probably not fit any other horse but him, I was thinking about one of those foam saddles.
It is called a Cashel Softsaddle- has anyone seen them in Stateline Tack magazines? Does anyone have one? Any comments? Thanks.:D

[connieD]

yes - my friend has one and i have ridden in it.

i would call it a foam pad rather than a saddle. it doesnt really have a pommel cantel or any knee roles and i found it very unstable - its more of a bareback pad.

there was no way i could jump in it or do any fast work and you cant really put a lot of weight in the stirrups in rising trot without it moving:eek:

it depends what you want really. if you want a pad that you can just plod around in its ok but if your wanting to do any faster work or jump you will probably need something a little more substantial.

its easier if you ride without stirrups on it as if you add the stirrups it tends to slip, my friend has fallen off when it has slipped to the side and even forwards over the horses head:eek:

not really my cup of tea but explained as best i can - hope that helps

[Showjumper]

Ditto Connie. It's more of a bareback pad then a saddle and not designed for proper work. You're best off getting yourself a well fitting saddle, be it treed or treeless.

[jumper-4-joy]

Thanks everyone for replying to this. Darn, I am so disappointed. I thought this saddle would be perfect.:mad:
Does anyone have any other experiences with the cashel softsaddle? Being bad or good?

[mayoguinness]

Me, I've got one and had it for a while!! I get on great in it, as long as I do it up tight enough it doesn't tend to slip to much and you can really fell the horse which is great for me. Only problem is for me is that the styrups tend to hang a little to far from his side!! Only for that I love it and it weighs practically nothing :D