Oooooh New Saddle? More Numpty Tack Questions.

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KP nut

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Dec 22, 2008
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OH has offered very kindly to get me a saddle for my birthday. No budget but I don't want to take the p and so I reckon about £300? Second hand is fine. But what type of saddle? I have a GP one at the moment so I was thinking dressage. But my main plan for Cally is eventing. So what is an event saddle? Or a jumping saddle? How do they differ from a GP? I can do everything in my GP, really so which saddle would give me more diversity?
 
Your GP is the most versatile, a out right jumping saddle you will struggle to do a dressage test in,and a dressage saddle wouldn't be great to jump in. You can do a bit of everything in a GP. I have a lovely frank baines eclipse GP, really comfy and a quality saddle. I also like gfs saddles and Antills. If it's for Cally though I'd go for a H&C saddle or a frank baines as a H&C fits our fell and a frank baines fits our cob perfectly,I posted a thread before buying my Frank baines and @Wally commented and said they were nice quality saddles so that was good enough for me and I bought it, lol. I'm do pleased I did as I love it :) xx
 
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A event saddle is not dissimilar to a GP, some have removable blocks but tbh a good GP would do the same job and in the price range your looking at I'd look more at a really nice GP. If you know anyone with a outright jumping Pessoa type, and ride in it you will notice the difference.X
 
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Must add I like Antills but only the older ones, they in their wisdom moved manufacture abroad and the quality sadly plummeted. :-( x
 
I have a synthetic Thorowgood T4 Pony with longer flaps to accommodate my leg. It was £395 or something similar and I love it. It has removable blocks at the back of the leg and the knee rolls under the pad are changeable to accommodate different legs. Initially I wanted leather but really glad I got synthetic, it's fab.
 
Thanks for replies. I'm happy with Cally's current GP saddle so really wondering what the best second saddle would be. That's why I was thinking a specialist dressage one I assume that's very different to GP? Or is it not really worth having different saddles for different disciplines at my level?
 
I'm using a GP for riding club stuff, andy my girls use gps for PC stuff my friend qualified for dressage at stoneleigh with her GP. I do have a jumping saddle on my project pony who is no longer rearing yay!! I'm only using it as already had it and it fit well. If you wanted a second saddle I'd look at a dressage one or a western one and maybe join a Western club, they look great fun. I keep thinking about doing some Western clinics, but they are a fair distance from me. x
 
My eventing friend has two saddles. She uses the jumping saddle for both SJ and XC and the dressage one for ... obviously, dressage.

Would it work if you told OH you really need two saddles?? :D That's not fair is it when he's being so generous.

If it were me I'd do what you are thinking, keep your GP for jumping and get a new dressage saddle. Having said that when I was looking for a saddle I tried some dressage models on Raf and they looked ridiculous on him because he is so short backed and small in the body - they just looked really big and bulky and Raf didn't like them either, so that was a rather disappointing no.
 
For 4 years I had a Barrie Swain working hunter saddle which Ben came with. It was a nice saddle, but I struggled to jump in it because it was very straight cut, and when I started having more serious dressage lessons, my instructor recommended a dressage saddle.

For Christmas my lovely husband bought me 2 new saddles. I went for a Thorowgood jumping saddle (the one with a leather seat but synthetic elsewhere). This has made a huge difference to my jumping. I am able to put my stirrups up much shorter than before, and the knee rolls really support my weight. I can get right off Bens back into a forward seat and as a result he flies around. I feel so much more secure in this saddle and wouldn't go back to a working hunter, or GP for jumping now.

In addition, I got a Kent and Masters dressage saddle. It's the newest version they do - perhaps the S series if I remember correctly. This saddle lets me hang my legs down really long and enables me to sit upright into the correct position. It has knee roles, but not really restrictive ones so while I feel my leg is supported, I do not feel like it is forced into place. It has helped me feel more secure and able to sit a few of Bens little bucks without feeling like I am going to fly over his head.

I was able to sell my old saddle for £400 on preloved which was a bonus.

My recommendation is to get a dressage and jumping saddle and sell the gp.
 
I've got a jumping saddles on both my horses, as this is what I've always done most of. I find they make a massive difference to how safe I feel the saddle, I did have a GP with removable blocks but it still wasn't as good as the jumping saddle. I do everything in them including flatwork, hacking the odd dressage test and will be showing this year although, it will be working hunter so jumping.

Would like to have a dressage saddle as well but reality is I can't afford and although I do a lot of flatwork I very rarely do a dressage test so I can't justify spending the money.

Do you plan on doing more jumping than dressage? If so I'd go for the jumping, the GP would be fine for the test in the dressage phase of eventing. I suppose it depends on what you're more in to.


Agree with @Mary Poppins the ideal may be sell the GP and get a jumping and dressage, personally I'm not keen GP's.
 
I have a friend who does everything in her dressage saddle including XC! But what size are you looking for for Cally?

Personally I wouldn't like to have only dressage and jumping saddles as I like to hack, but I have considered a show saddle as many people have said they are great for flatwork, can take some jumps and work fine for hacking too.

ETA PS - lucky you!
 
Our dales suits a show saddle due to the straighter cut and at one point our fell was going to have one too as the fyldes fit natives well. x
 
I did some fast canter work in the fields with my dressage saddle yesterday and I found it really hard. We we canter in the fields I like to go into a forward seat, and I found this hard in a dressage saddle.

When I hack I use my jumping saddle but just put the stirrups down a few holes.
 
I think for upto 3'-3'6" local levels a lot of people get on just fine with a gp that has a decent knee roll and isn't too high in the cantle without it making then feel they need something more suitable for jumping. The horses here have a mix of working hunter and gp cut and they all do eventing and hunting in them happily. A dressage saddle imo would be my choice as they really do make a difference to flat work,I also love hacking in a dressage saddle for longer hours as you can really lengthen your leg and still have security and not be so sore,I think dressage cut are quite popular in endurance too as less fatigue from a longer leg position. So if it were me I think you would have more benefit from a dressage saddle doing the things you do if you are happy jumping in your GP :)
 
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mystiquemalaika said:
I think for upto 3'-3'6" local levels a lot of people get on just fine with a gp that has a decent knee roll and isn't too high in the cantle without it making then feel they need something more suitable for jumping. The horses here have a mix of working hunter and gp cut and they all do eventing and hunting in them happily. A dressage saddle imo would be my choice as they really do make a difference to flat work,I also love hacking in a dressage saddle for longer hours as you can really lengthen your leg and still have security and not be so sore,I think dressage cut are quite popular in endurance too as less fatigue from a longer leg position. So if it were me I think you would have more benefit from a dressage saddle doing the things you do if you are happy jumping in your GP :)
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i agree unless your planning on affiliating or 90cm upwards you won't benefit as much from a jumping saddle as you may a dressage, however I know a lot of people who compete regularly with a GP and do really well. It's all personal choice I like riding in a jumping but think that's cause I spent all my teenage/20s using one. However for what I'm doing at the moment I'm happy using a GP, must admit some are better than others though. x
 
Yes defiantly personal choice, I love jumping saddles as that's what my last 2 horses had so it's what I'm used to I suppose and I used to jump some very big fences on my now retired boy, who was totally insane so we never ventured in to dressage. Charlie has a jumping saddle as he was brought do affiliated jumping, XC etc and he does have a tendency to throw a big jump in, he's jumped me off more than once :rolleyes:

Could you try both and see what you think you'd benefit more from?
 
I don't think that it matters if you jump 120cm or 30cm, jumping is jumping and in my experience a proper jump saddle is of enormous benefit. You don't have to spend the earth on one, but if you enjoy jumping, why not make your life easier?
 
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Lots of food for thought! I guess I am leaning towards a dressage saddle as I do feel as though I don;t have a very good seat and my lower leg is unstable so I feel I need all the help I can get. I feel ok jumping though. But then again I have never ridden in a jump saddle so I might just not realise what I am missing!
 
Ive had a dressage and jumping saddle for the same horse and never competed to anything other than 80cm :D I found the dressage really helped our fw and likewise the jumping saddle helped my position over fences. If you are happy with a GP why not sell the one you have and pool the money to get a really really nice one. £300 wont by you that much ime, even a 2nd hand synthetic will be around that mark.
 
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