Saddle Question...

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JulieLINY

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Oct 17, 1999
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Islip Terrace, NY, USA
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Anyone have any opinions on what kind of saddle is, well for lack of word, better? An All Purpose or a Close Contact? What's the difference really? I don't know, maybe this is a dumb question :) but no one really ever explained the differences between saddle types. Thanks,
Julie

I bought Heather's book, it's great, but I notice it looks like she's using all Dressage saddles, I dont ride Dressage... mostly just hack...jumping occasionally.. I'd like to try
her techniques, but is it necessary to ride with a Dressage saddle?
 
Hi There,
Before I reply to your question let me tell you I am not any kind of expert. I just thought I would share my non-expert personal experience.

I have been riding dressage and hacking in a GP Wintec. This was fine for ages until I started to learn more about dressage. Its still fine to ride in but I am now starting to find I can't get my leg position easliy partly because of the cut of my saddle.

I am now begining to understand why there are different cuts and styles of saddle. If you are specialising in one kind of riding it may be worth investing in a specific saddle. If not I've decided that fit to the horse is the most important aspect regardless of which saddle you choose.
Cheers, Nicola.
 
hello!

hmm, which type of saddle is better - well that really depends on what you are doing. If you are doing a lot of dressage, then a dressage saddle would be a good investment, but if you aren't really a dressage person then a GP (general purpose) would be more sensible. If you want to do some serious jumping, a showjumping saddle would be good as it has the large knee rolls on it. A close contact saddle is used fro cross country, and is designed to be used with the rider in the cross country position.

It isn't necessary to have a particular type of saddle to do any particular type of riding, but it is easier to (for example) jump with a jumping saddle. A general purpose saddle is a combination of the 3 types so works for 3 disciplines, but is not brillinat in any of them.

Heathers techniques work, no matter which saddle you use. I use her techniques with my GP saddle and another girl at my yard uses them with her showjumping saddle (as she is a serious showjumper) with no trouble.

bye!
 
Hi Julie
I was struggling with the same question about 6 months ago as I had never ridden "english" only "western". Finally I decided on a collegiate senior event saddle. It kinda combines several features of all-purpose, dressage and cross country. I love it! it's very comfortable for me and my wide width quarter horse mare. the saddle is in the Miller catalog but I found an internet site for $150.00 less. Good luck!!
 
Thanks for the replies! :) Tammy, you wouldnt have that site that you found that saddle on, do you? I'll probably end up going with the GP saddle, I cant really afford spending more than $200, unfortunatly.. though,I did find a saddle package which includes everything for $212 and you have a choice of close contact or all purpose.
Thanks, Julie :)
 
Hi Anne,
I have a Wintec GP synthetic saddle. While I love nice leather saddles the synthetics have a lot of practical advantages.

I had mine restuffed specifically for my horse and the riding I was doing. This is really easy to do with a Wintec. They have a nice wide channel and large pads at the back so they are very comfortable for the horses. The light weight is a real bonus for horse and rider.

They are also very low maintenance. I wipe my down after each ride with a wet cloth and if its really dirty there is a special shampoo that you rub on and hose off!

For showing I use a product called AmourAll that is usually used to restore vinyl, plastic and rubber on cars. This brings it up beautifully although it is very slippery!

The only thing I was not happy with was synthetic stirrup leathers. They squeak a lot and are very hard to adjust. I replaced mine with leather which works well.

I use my saddle almost every night for about an hour and I go to dressage competitions throughout the year. After 2 years of this it looks fine and has retained its shape very well.

Good Luck with whatever you buy!
Nicola
 
Thanks Nicola! :-)

Have been seriously considering a synthetic saddle - your comments very helpful and I think I'm going to go ahead and buy one in January ...

Many thanks again! ... :-)

Anne
 
Hello ...

Was interested to read topic on saddles ... just another thread on this, does anyone have any comments about synthetic saddles?

Are they better for horses with narrow sensitive backs, because of their lightness compared to leather, or is it again, more to do with the fit ... my loan horse also has high withers ...

Anne
 
There are a couple of synthetic saddles where I ride and I was pleasantly surprised by them. They are very light weight and I find they absorb a lot of impact so they are are comfortable for the rider and probably the horse too. The worst part would be the thich rubber billet straps that are very difficult to do up. The stirrup "leathers" are all really worn out on all of them and look ready to snap!
 
I have two synthetic saddles. The first is a Thorowgood jumping saddle. I have competed over 500 miles in distance riding with it and love it! This past spring I went into my local tack shop looking for a wide tree saddle for my mare for dressage lessons. The owner recommended I try the thorowgood dressage. It fits her and me great! One word of caution, a synthetic will offer more "spring" to your posting trot!
 
Julie

Sorry it has taken me so long to reply to your question!
I found a good deal at www.horsemall.com for my saddle. they are based in Connecticut and were extremely helpful and professional. I will definitely use them again.
When I was saddle searching I was trying to find a good quality used saddle because new ones cost so much! There are many internet sites that are reputable and are easy to find but my problem was I needed a small, wide width dark color saddle. My criteria was too exacting but I ran across some excellent saddles!
There are no "english" stores in my area; everyone here rides western.....
Tammy
 
I have a synthetic saddle for one pony and the other has a leather. I must say that although I prefer the look of the leather saddle the synthetic is far more practical for everyday use - it is light to handle and easy to clean. It may interest some people to learn that Heather may have a synthetic version of her specially designed saddles on the market next year (by Thorowgood) and I will seriously consider swapping me leather one for one of her synthetic models.

Hope everyone had been able to get a decent ride or two this weekend - the weather was a bit dull and miserable in Lincolnshire but at least the rain more or less held off!
 
Hi Everyone,

Thorowgood are just in the process of talks with me about making my saddle range as a synthetic. They have been so quick to respond- I was in negotiation with Wintec for three years before they decided not to manufacture them. Vanessa Roberts at Thorowgood is sending me down a tree to look at this week, and as soon as I can get one of my leather versions of the saddle to her to work from, she hopes to have a prototype for me to try in a few weeks!

Although I always teach in my dressage saddles here, I now have a fantastic GP version, and also a GPD. The GP has been tested by a very exacting friend of mine, a well known equine scientist and breeder of Irish Drafts, Dr. Karen Hinckley. I knew that if she did or didn't like it, I would get a very honest report either way. Suffice it to say that she has been going into raptures ever since her first ride on it, and says that it is as easy to do flatwork on as it is to hunt in. She is in the process of selling all of her other saddles, and is replacing them with these.

So, the Thorowgood range will include all three models too.

Heather
 
Hello ...

Reading posts about various saddles has been interesting and informative, particularly news of Heather's synthetic version of her current saddles ...

Do you have any idea when this would be available Heather?

I have another question to put but on another subject which I will email you later ... so which ever you see first, I look forward to your comments ... I will need a new saddle sometime in January, but in the meantime, is there anywhere I can see yours locally? I live in Surrey.

Best Wishes

Anne
 
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