Equiform, to cast a measurement of horse back - experiences? - WOW saddles?

[Lieslot]

Has anybody used this to cast a measurement of their horse's back???
Do you think other saddlers then WOW reps would be helped with a suchlike cast rather then a wither tracing and pictures of the horse when trying to order from out of state over the internet?
http://www.wowsaddles.com/equiform/equiformintro.htm

And actually anybody any experience with a WOW-saddle? Would you feel comfortable having a saddle made for your horse from a cast?

I'm in search of 2 new saddles for my 2 horses.
My one horse will hopefully not be too big an issue as he's built reasonably normal (other then a wide backbone) and I'm looking into a Passier for him.
But my other horse is going to be a nightmare, with his extreme high withers and shoulder assymetry, very fine built, thin ribcage.

[jn4jenny]

Honestly? Unless it was going to cost me next to nothing, I wouldn't invest in such a thing. The horse's back is going to look radically different once it's in motion anyway, so why would I go out of my way to make an impression the horse's back when it's still? For that job, extensive wither tracings and pictures are going to offer practically the same level of guesstimation.

[Mac123]

My friend got a WOW...and we called it the "YEOW!" saddle. Definitely not comfortable in the, ahem, seat area.

[ToN Farm]

I purchased a cast-type saddle fitting gizmo. It wasn't from WOW, though. Mine, you had to soften in the oven and place on the horse's back until it hardened. It was awful!!! It melted a little in the oven because the temperature is not totally uniform there, and when hardened on the horse's back, it had all kinds of 'nooks and crannies'. If these casts were so great, all saddle fitters would be using them instead of the tracings.

[Lieslot]

Thanks! I'll forget about this idea.
It looks & reads like the miracle solution, but I was already wondering why I had never heard of this before.

[jcotton]

Your horses back is always changing as your training progresses and dregresses if there is time off. Find a reputable master saddler that fit your saddles on a regular basis every year.

[Lgd1]

The cast is so they can suggest the correct panels for the horse. WOW saddles are completely adjustable but need to be the correct shape to start with.

My two girls have them and are in completely different panels.

Seat comfort depends on getting the right seat for you and what you are doing - I actually find anything else downright uncomfortable now.

TBH I would never DIY on purchasing a WOW as they are a love or hate saddle for both horse and rider. My saddler spent over 2 hours sorting the correct panels and setting it up for me to work the horse in before I ordered it.

[Equibrit]

There's so much "STUFF" on that saddle, it must be hard to actually feel the horse.

[mp]

The horse's back is going to look radically different once it's in motion anyway, so why would I go out of my way to make an impression the horse's back when it's still? For that job, extensive wither tracings and pictures are going to offer practically the same level of guesstimation.

If a saddle maker/fitter knows so little about equine mechanics that he doesn't understand what happens when a horse's back moves, I'd say you're screwed to begin with.

I trialed more saddles than I can remember before I finally decided that I'd probably save time and money by going custom. I used the Equiform that ToN Farm described, followed the directions and it worked just fine. My saddle was made by Richard Castelow and he's a 14-hour trailer ride away from me, so it just wasn't practical to take my horse to him. (Although *I* enjoyed a wonderful trip to Lexington, KY so he could fit me. :))

As he described it, the Equiform mold puts "the horse's back on my workbench." He also described my horse "a whisky barrel on legs. " No wonder I couldn't find a saddle to fit him. :lol:

The resulting saddle is wonderful. It fit me and my horse. I've done everything from trail riding to dressage to breed shows to barrels and poles in it. And it does. not. slip. So I'd say whether the Equiform is worth the expenditure depends on how well your saddler/fitter knows how to use the information it provides.

PS - I don't know anything about WOW saddles, so I can't help you there.

[CodeBon]

I've had a Wow for years and adore it (as does my Princess-and-the-Pea mare). I love the adjustability and I love the way I can feel the back muscles move in it. It was a shock to both me and the horse the first time I rode her in the Wow; we could both feel each other so clearly that it felt REALLY strange.

I'm a bit confused by what one poster said about the Wow being uncomfortable; I find it very comfortable. But like someone else said, I am not sure I would buy one without trying it. I bought mine second-hand from someone who hated it ;-).

I keep my horse in MD; if you get down to MD ever, you are welcome to have a ride in mine.

[Eireamon]

I too am confused about the poster who says the WOW was uncomfortable. I currently have 2 WOW saddles. Have had 3 at one time.
I absolutely love my WOWs. My current two have different seats. I personally prefer the
one with the deeper seat than the shallower one but thats just my personal preference. I got the shallower seated saddle first and loved it until I got to ride in the deeper seat :)

My horses go absolutely fantastically in them and when recently I was put in a position of having to ride one of my horses in his previous saddle the difference was huge.
I thought the straightness issues I had always had him had improved with training. They improved hugely at about the same time I got my WOW but just thought it was training.
Until I had to ride in that saddle again. It was so gobsmackingly obvious that it was the previous saddle that had been causing the issues.

I love the ability to make easy ajustments when the horses change shape. My first horse who had some atrophy in his wither due to a previously saddle changed gullets 3 times over one year.

I am also pleased that if I change my horses I can have the panels changed to suit the next horse.

I am about to sell my WB/TB cross who has thrown to the TB side of his heritage and am happy in the knowledge that his WOW can be changed for minimal cost (Wider deeper panels, a different gullet and some air changes) to fit my Welsh Cob.

I have had so many redundant saddles here in the past it makes me cry. I currently still have two (a Passier and a Neidersuss) that are to be sold off and I will not go back to using regular saddles again.
I am totally sold on WOW saddles.

[Lieslot]

I love the ability to make easy ajustments when the horses change shape. My first horse who had some atrophy in his wither due to a previously saddle changed gullets 3 times over one year.

This is exactly my problem with my horse. To make it even worse he's VERY high withered, atrophy behind the withers and uneven shoulders, right shoulder flatter then left.
I expect this guy to keep changing shape and I really don't want to be looking at buying a new saddle every year.
I truly need something that can be adjusted quickly and easily without major expense.

This weekend I looked at an Anky Salinero XCH. Appeared to be well suited for the high withered and the exchangeable gullet should give me some options.
Although I'm not a fan or synthetic, I might even consider the new T6 all adjustable Thorowgood for him, as the fish insert seem to make sense for his asymetrical shoulders.

I checked out the WOW reps, but I could only find one in MD, and if I go for a WOW, I think I'd want them to come out & see the horse as he's truly a complicated fit. Test riding a WOW will probably be impossible, so not sure if I feel confident about that.

Frustrating this saddle shopping.

[Eireamon]

I feel your pain Lieslot and I am with you in that you will need someone to come and fit and ajust the saddle to your horse. Just like any saddle it needs to be ajusted but the beauty of the Wow is that where there is any uneveness just a few extra puffs of air can be added to
fill in the spaces.
My horse sounds the same as yours, high withered and as a result saddles had never sat on him well and thats what attributed to the atrophy as well.

The WOW has made such a difference. We have kept wither and back tracings since he was first fitted in the WOW and the difference is outstanding. He filled out all the atrophy areas and is now even.

I loved my first WOW but baulked at getting a second because of the pricing but in frustration of trying to get a saddle to fit my other horse I dispatched my much loved Neidersuss to the tackroom. I have absolutely no regrets especially when I found my self having to ride in it again and found all the problems I had with the horse had reappeared. it was clear that it was the saddle causing his crookedness.
That was enough for me and although I had been keeping both it and my Passier for a rainy day I decided to now sell both. I won't be going back to a conventional saddle.

I am very fortunate in having a local rep for WOW so I just pay her to come out periodically to check and ajust. In the first year with my atrophied horse it was every 3 months till we got it right. Now I just get it checked yearly and last time we had to make no changes at all.

I do have a friend in Ireland who has several Wow for her showjumpers and she does all her own ajustments. Its not hard to learn.

I do agree though that you want to try and ride in one if you can.

The seats are all quite different. I much preferred the deeper seat once I got to try one out.
I had my shallower seated one for 3 years before I got the deeper seat. Now wish both had the deeper seat. Its much nicer.

[easyrider]

I've used the Equimeasure more than once. I think it's marvelous and far superior to a wither tracing.

I use it primarily when I'm out saddle shopping -- you can tell in an instant if a type of saddle will fit your horse or not, without having to spend time and money on a lot of trials. It's especially useful for any saddle (like the French saddles) that has foam flocking.

If you have a wool-flocked saddle, of course it's important to have a saddle-fitter reflock it peridically to fit your horse. But the Equimeasure's a great place to start.

[Used-Saddles]

I have made a mold of my horse with the equiform and it worked fine! I would think that's a very accurate way of measuring out for a saddle. The only thing I thought was bad about it was that I would have wished the plaster bits to be bigger as they seemed a bit small on the horse. I would have wanted them to reach further down on the sides.

And I also looked at the WOW saddle when I was looking to buy a new saddle although I settled for a Bates Innova. It doesn't quite have all the features of the WOW but the price is quite a lot cheaper. And they both have the same air system in the padding. I have written a review of the Bates on my blog (http://www.used-saddles.info/category/tackreviews) and would love some more saddle reviews, if anyone feel like it....:winkgrin:

About this with saddle fitting I think one has to have a lot of common sense when one are about to measure for a saddle. I have made the mistake of bringing out a so called "saddle fitter" (more than once, who got commission for selling certain saddles, which I didn't know) for my horse before I started thinking for myself. So beware in the saddle fitting jungle... I wouldn't even trust someone that said they were from the "saddle fitting organisation"...

[Eireamon]

"It doesn't quite have all the features of the WOW but the price is quite a lot cheaper. And they both have the same air system in the padding"

I hate to tell you Used Saddles but the air system in the Bates and WOW saddles is nothing alike.
Bates is Cair. It is simply foam incased in a vinyl outer. The very nature of foam is that it holds air and given the covering it can not escape.
Cair is not ajustable.

Flair is pumped air into 4 seperate vinyl bags. Each bag can be individually adjusted to suit the horse.

Sorry but no comparison whatsover.