DefinitelyDressage.com

A friend of mine is searching for a Dressage saddle. She's made the switch from hunters to eventing and is spending more and more time focusing on her Dressage work. But she has not ridden in many saddles, so she's figuring out preferences as she tries things.

Some things she needs/wants:

For the horse:
He's an ottb with a fairly prominent wither, so room for that
He seems happiest in saddles with a shoulder gusset


For her:
Needs a saddle with a fairly straight flap and/or set back stirrup bar
Narrow twist
Preferably something with shorter flaps
So far she has not liked any of the saddles with external blocks as much as there ones with internal blocks



Any suggestions of what she should look at?

I don't know other details, but I rode in a Wintec Pro for 30 years (from training to GP) because it was the only saddle that fit the shark fin TB whithers and didn't sit down in the back.

Thanks, Tanga. I think the hardest thing is that her horse goes DRAMATICALLY better in saddles with wither gussets. I've rarely seen a horse suddenly transform because of a saddle. She tried two with whither gussets--a county and a husbuleous and neither worked for her. The county had way too forward of a flap and threw her behind the motion and the husbuleous had much too wide of a twist and hurt her hips. But I don't really know which other saddles typically have whither gussets? I've heard some black counties do, but most of the ones we've been able to find are hoop trees, which won't be the right shape for this boy.

He has a TB whither, but it's not as extreme compared to many TBs.

Yep, lots of Black Country saddles have wither gussets. It seems more of the older ones are not on hoop trees. The Vinici would probably feel like the narrowest twist due to being a monoflap, but an Eloquence might be a bit easier to find (and cheaper). They are often also make with K panels or drop panels, which can be good for TB conformation. There is a Black Country Saddles FB group, which could be a good place to place an ISO.

My horse went better with wither gussets until he discovered cut-back panels - it turned out that he cannot stand pressure on his trapezius, especially as he started developing his topline. We started with Black Country saddles with wither gussets and then things got interesting trying to find brands to accommodate his preferences (note: they all 'fit' perfectly according to various fitters, but, well. What's it they say about opinions?). He did fancy a JRD and some of the Schleese models, but decided on an EQ Saddle Science. For now.

Try asking the guy at Trumbull. I find him very knowledgeable

Chisamba wrote:Try asking the guy at Trumbull. I find him very knowledgeable

I would not do business with Trumbull at this point. There are several long threads on COTH about people using them to sell their used saddles and having an inordinate amount of problems getting paid. I personally would not support that type of business, even if they are incredibly knowledgeable. YMMV.

I was not aware they had changed hands, so I do not know who their current fitter is.