ahhhhh... saddles

coss · #1 7th Oct 2006, 02:05 PM

All my local stockists do NOT seem to stock dressage saddles and/or they can't get them in. i am desperately seeking a 16.5 inch wide leather dressage saddle but they are really hard to come by. i have browsed various sites and found a few saddles i quite liked including the Jeffries piaffe dressage saddle. Does anyone have any experience with these saddles and are there any recommendations for other makes that people really like?

Its driving me

.

JOJOBA · #2 7th Oct 2006, 03:11 PM

And here you cant get dressage saddles either! I ended up having mine made. I dont know what type your after but if you were looking a tad bigger you could have tried mine - I cant remember if it's 17 or 17.5 (really need to measure it

).
Saddles are a nightmare arent they

xxx

coss · #3 7th Oct 2006, 06:35 PM

i wish i could go bigger but with a 14.2hh arab with a fairly short back i'm pushing it by trying to find a 16.5 inch to fit him. i tried my instructors horses saddle on him and it was a tad big. got away with it on the day but on a regular basis i think it would do damage, Harry is cold-backed and is sensitive so i have to go with what fits him.
Here is him in my instructor's horse's saddle (her horse is a 16hh bovarian warmblood)

He is me (tense as he is thinking about taking off) riding him in his GP. i really want a dressage saddle

No_Angel · #4 7th Oct 2006, 06:59 PM

how about a treeless? its easier to get a dressage saddle that would fit him in treeless and you can have a bit bigger seat if it suits you.

I had a trekker dressage saddle that fit a very short backed welsh b, he was 13 hands and fit into susies 5ft rug, tho he may have got a away with a 4ft9 . The saddle was about 16inch underneath, but the seat was more a 17 1/2 inch, tho could be made a bit smaller.

coss · #5 7th Oct 2006, 07:16 PM

haven't ridden in one myself but my instructor has and she said it felt like she was standing up and being tipped forward. i ride with the same length stirrups as my instructor and like the same style of saddle as her so i don't know for sure whether a treeless would suit me. + i really like the look of a dressage saddle.

thank you for the suggestion though, i didn't know that the saddles fitted like that

No_Angel · #6 7th Oct 2006, 07:23 PM

what treeless has your instructor ridden in? theres lots on the market and different models suit different riders.

coss · #7 7th Oct 2006, 07:32 PM

not sure. what models are there? i might recognise the name if i saw it but don't know of top of head, torsion rings a bell but i could be thinking of something else

No_Angel · #8 7th Oct 2006, 07:33 PM

there are tons of them, heres a website to most of them
http://www.freewebs.com/alternativehorse/treeless.htm

coss · #9 7th Oct 2006, 07:39 PM

thank you for info, will do some reading...
i was right, it is the torsion my instructor tried.