Why do you hate Wintec?

Soot said:
Most wintecs put me in a chair position, and I get muscle ache frmo trying to sit in the correct position.

However, my Isabell is wonderful and fits both myself and Lucy just perfect :).
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Exactly the same for me.

I hate the Wintec GPs with a vengeance but only because I can't ride in them and they hurt me in more places than just my muscles (Don't ask:eek:)

However the Isabell I LOVE. And so have both my horses who've been ridden in it. It fits them like a glove and it's nice and lightweight and I think it's good quality too.
 
Dooley said:
Exactly the same for me.

I hate the Wintec GPs with a vengeance but only because I can't ride in them and they hurt me in more places than just my muscles (Don't ask:eek:)

However the Isabell I LOVE. And so have both my horses who've been ridden in it. It fits them like a glove and it's nice and lightweight and I think it's good quality too.
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Could not agree more, i absolutely love my wintec Isabell!!! the best saddle i have ridden in, for a long time.

When i first got my 3 year old TB mare I had awful trouble trying to find a saddle to fit her, being so young it was highly important that i found a saddle that fitted her correctly. I remember not ridding her for three months which killed me but so glad I waited for my Isabell. It's lightweight, fits my mare amazing. Comfortable to ride in, and has the Cair flocking which is great as my TB is a typical TB and very thin skinned.

Could not rate this saddle highly enough, also being young she is changing shape, so this saddle has an interchangable gullet so i can adjust as she grows and changes shape!! :);)
 
i have a wintec dressage saddle. but a bates caprilli gp. i much prefer the bates but needs must for dressage so i ahve the wintec. only coz my instrcutor gave it to me as it was her old mares and it fits my lad brilliantly. but it is only a 15.5" so my bum only just fits in it!! i dont like the look of it but i would look ridicoulous doing dressage on him in a gp!! and it was free so cant moan. i agree tho that the adjustable gullet makes people think it will fit anything!
 
Surely any saddle or any make will move around if it doesn't fit?

I don't have a saddle (as I don't have a horse;)) so have no experience but, surely it's a crap saddle fitter not an entire range of saddles that's the problem?
 
eventerbabe said:
I think a lot of it comes down to jumping on the band wagon of the "i hate wintecs" club. Yes, unfortunately there are real horror stories out there of misguided fitters (and owners) who think a changeable gullet means the saddle will fit anything. It doesn't. It only changes the front width and does nothing further back. There are plenty of other makes out there, such as albion, jaguar and even WOW that have been reported to be funny fits and do damage to backs after being incorrectly fitted. ANY saddle will damage a back if not fitted right. Seems to be coz wintecs are relatively cheap, more people take a chance on them and then it all goes t*ts up. I loved the wintec my mare had, they really are very well made and my mum found it incredibly comfortable to ride in it. Mare went the best i've ever seen her go in it. Sadly wintecs don't fit my current boys, i have a couple of thorowgoods and a jeffries.

edited to add, if a saddle moves IT DOESN'T FIT! that's not the brand's fault, take issue with the fitter.
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Are thorowgoods good?
 
This is a really old thread @Alexis.and.sage. , you'd do better starting a new one. Most well known saddles are good if correctly fitted to a horse they are suitable for, but that doesn't mean it will be good for your horse.
 
I think the bias against synthetics has long gone, there are good and bad ones just as there are good and bad leather ones. Even a good saddle has to fit the horse though which i why a saddle fitter is so important, there's more to fit than width and if the tree is the wrong shape or the cut is wrong then no amount of altering flocking or pads will make it work. Add to that there's an element of what a horse is happy with, sometimes a saddle can the best fit in the world but the horse simply doesn't like it, but if you're going on what you think the horse likes you have to be damn sure it isn't causing a problem that will have long term implications.

I'm just so wary of saying this or that make is good on a type of horse because there are so many different things to consider. Line up five tbs, warmbloods, arabs, or cobs and if you know what you're looking at I bet you'll find significant differences inn the saddle fit they need. One make, with correct adjustment, may do all five in a group or you may find some it doesn't work for at all, or within that make you may need different styles for some. I don;t hate any repitable make, but neither do I think any make fits all.
 
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I'd give my right arm to have a synthetic saddle! It would be my preference as the rest of my tack is synthetic as it does the best job for me. But alas, P has a leather saddle as it is what fits him best.
 
I had a wintec originally for chunky. Came with him. Told it was newly fitted to him. I found it comfy. Although it did slip. Well that turned out to have a twisted tree according to saddle fitter. However chunky is not symmetrical so whether the years i rode it it caused his uneven shoulders or he distorted the tree with my big butt in it i dont know.
Ive still got it. Told not to use it. There is a slight distortion on the saddle but ive never opened it up to a look. I just kept it.
 
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Wintec uses an Elasticflex tree, that's meant to have a warrantee for life against breakage. Whether they did 14 years ago when this thread was started I don't know.

The thing with saddles is the base/underneath fits your horse and the top needs to fit you.
I used to want a synthetic until I rode in a cob version and felt so far away from animal that was already wide. It fitted the pony, just didn't suit me.
I also feel for what they are, they are over priced!

Our local saddler used to hate the synthetic, he wouldn't reflock them. You have to realise that the introduction of these cheaper mass produced saddles puts the saddler out of business. The nearest saddler now stocks Wintec despite hating them, because it's what customers want.

Call me old fashioned, but I was taught a horse should have two saddles. One for the autumn/winter and one for spring and summer.
The cob does because of the huge shape change, when I start to ache I know it's time to swap. Previous pony only needed the one.
 
I don't think it was the introduction of synthetics that put saddlers out of business, mass produced saddles had been around for many many years before they were. I think the problem was that people wrongly thought that the changeable headplates meant they'd fit every horse and so they didn't need to have them fitted or the flocking checked. The changeable headplates do do away with the need for a fat and thin saddle though since as long as the tree profile is correct for the back there's no harm in widening the saddle.
 
Not all synthetics are mass produced though. Or no more mass produced than some of the leather saddles

I waited 12 weeks for the synthetic I had to be made.

I guess two saddles depends partly on how much riding is done over winter? Mine stays in work so doesn't change shape enough for seperate saddles but he does get regular checks to reflock and sometimes we do need to shim as the seasons change. I guess there are more saddle pad options/shims etc available these days too.
 
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carthorse said:
I don't think it was the introduction of synthetics that put saddlers out of business, mass produced saddles had been around for many many years before they were. I think the problem was that people wrongly thought that the changeable headplates meant they'd fit every horse and so they didn't need to have them fitted or the flocking checked. The changeable headplates do do away with the need for a fat and thin saddle though since as long as the tree profile is correct for the back there's no harm in widening the saddle.
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Ah yes I recall that.
People did think it was a case of change the gullet and go.
A fair few saddles offer this change of front, including treeless.
Our local saddler used to refuse to reflock them, which did make fitting a bit more awkward.
Though these days some saddlers here are mobile.
 
Our winter is in walk, bit of trot. So I have the dressage saddle and it's so soft if I am riding. Most of it is on the lunge or inhand, as I change and want to do sedate exploring.
Its funny as you could say we are both partially turned away or roughed off for the winter. šŸ˜‚
 
newforest said:
Ah yes I recall that.
People did think it was a case of change the gullet and go.
A fair few saddles offer this change of front, including treeless.
Our local saddler used to refuse to reflock them, which did make fitting a bit more awkward.
Though these days some saddlers here are mobile.
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Sadly a lot of people still think this is the case, it just goes to show you can't teach people who don't want to learn. I won't deny it's a useful feature, but it doesn't make for a one saddle fit all approach that some people believe, and that applies to Wintecs, other synthetic saddles, leather saddles an no doubt treeless too.

I hate to sound like a bitch but I suspect it's attitudes like your local saddlers that sent some saddlers out of business, not synthetic or mass produced saddles. Most of the saddlers in my area are mobile, it's far more practical than trying to take horses to them.
 
Isn't it fascinating how different people's experiences are! I only know of mobile saddle fitters although there is one large saddlery not a million miles away that has facilities you can take your horse to if needed, they have mobile fitters too. Our local saddlers is a shop on the village high street, I think next to a florist.

My saddle fitter doesn't even stock saddles to sell & lives in a city so couldn't take a horse to them at all šŸ¤£
 
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