Any words of wisdom on a saddle?

[petit fromage]

I am considering making the big decision to buy a new saddle. My old one is an old Schumacher. I have loved it but it doesn't really fit my present horse and it is VERY worn. My gelding is 7 years old, Arab/Dutch x. He has a very broad, flat back. I do not care for large thigh blocks nor for very high cantles. Can you tell me what brand I should start looking at?

[pintopiaffe]

For that conformation I'd start with Duett. Removeable thigh blocks, and one model is a shallower seat. Nancy is fabulous to work with and will send you out a couple to try.

Passier in XW tends to do well by that shape too.

Prestige if wide enough.

[petit fromage]

Pintopiaffe, It sounds as though you have had to deal with this particular conformation. Thanks for the hint, but...can you tell me who is Nancy? A dealer? Thanks.

[purplnurpl]

Nancy at Trumbull Mountain.

trumbullmountain.com

[Ambrey]

Nancy at Trumbull Mountain.

trumbullmountain.com

Actually, I think she was talking about Nancy at Duett.

http://www.duettsaddles.com/

although they are both fabulous :)

[craz4crtrs]

Duett. I just sent you a PM. :D

[Whitfield Farm Hanoverians]

Petit,
I have a new Steffen Peters Advantage & love it. It fits my great big round gelding plus fits my friends mare that has a dinner table back that she had to buy a duett saddle for. I have the extra wide tree. Saddle to me is better quality leather than the duett. Soft as butter. Medium depth to the seat. Check it out in detail on www.mysaddle.com which is the company's website. You might like it.

[quietann]

Petit,
I have a new Steffen Peters Advantage & love it. It fits my great big round gelding plus fits my friends mare that has a dinner table back that she had to buy a duett saddle for. I have the extra wide tree. Saddle to me is better quality leather than the duett. Soft as butter. Medium depth to the seat. Check it out in detail on www.mysaddle.com which is the company's website. You might like it.

There is also a less expensive "off the rack" version of this saddle for about 60% of the custom price; see http://www.mysaddle.com/MYSADD~3/Steffen.html. Am in the process of getting one on trial for my mare.

[Whitfield Farm Hanoverians]

Hey Quietann, That's the one I got, the off the rack one from Dover's. I actually saved over $300 as I asked to buy one of the demo saddles. They had it marked down due to billet marks but I couldn't even find those. No marks whatsoever. Totally new & reduced in price. Pays to call them from time to time to see what demos might be available. Saddle fits well though.

[Camp Girl]

Like a couple of the others, I also recommend Duetts. I have their Encore and their Foxhunter. When I bought the Encore, I worked with Nancy O. at Trumbull. She is fabulous. When I bought my Foxhunter, I went to Nancy T. at Duett. Both are very easy to work with, offer trials, and Nancy O. can take your wither tracings and get very close on fit.

The Encore, if you are looking for a dressage has a more open seat, not as high a cantle , and removeable blocks that velcro on/off. They also include covers to protect the velcro when not in use (great for keeping dirt, hair, hay, etc off it it). The Largo has fixed blocks if memory serves, a slight cutback pommel and a higher cantle. I did not like that one as well personally, but a friend just bought one and loves it. If you ordered new and timed it right with their German shipment, you could get a Largo if that was your perferred model with removable blocks for about $50 extra (they will do other colors, add nubuck, etc as a custom order too all for the $50 upcharge).

Black County is supposed to have good wide saddles, and my fitter also recommended Klimkes for me as a back up if I did not like the Duetts.

Good luck in your search.

[Ambrey]

FWIW, Nancy T will do wither tracings too- she took mine to her warehouse and found a saddle that was marked 39 but actually closer to a 40 that was a perfect fit (and the gullet was a great fit- in the end I needed something wider all the way back and the saddle didn't fit me that well, so I have something else now).

[FriesianX]

I ride in a custom Advantage - not sure you'd love the Advantage saddle, it has fairly large thigh blocks - it is a nice enough saddle, but based on what you posted, I think maybe not what you want. I would second checking with Trumbull Mountain - they are great to work with, and can probably help steer you toward a saddle you like, AND they have a great selection of used saddles. I was going to suggest Black Country as a place to start - better quality then the Duett, although Duett makes a lot of saddles for wide horses. You might also look for a used Albion SL or Style (both are older models, the newer models such as SLK are much larger in the thigh block) or used Neidersuiss - both fit wider horses well and have smaller thigh blocks and less deep seats.

AVOID Jaguar, Amerigo, Passier, generally they don't fit flat backed horses (they are nice saddles, but build with a bit more curve in the panels). Avoid Stubben - they tend to not be wide enough for wide horses.

I'm a saddle fanatic (my friends call me a saddle slut), can you tell :D

[Used-Saddles]

Hi,

The Stubben saddles don't have very big knee blocks and the newer models are very comfortable. The older ones I find very hard in the seat - ie you don't want to ride in one of those more than half an hour a day ;)

I have a Bates Innova dressage saddle which the horse really like. The best thing about the Bates is that it has a changeable gullet system so that you can change the width of the tree as your horse widens. It comes with two choices of knee blocks. bigger or smaller. And the seat is very soft. I have written an review of it in my blog (http://www.used-saddles.info/category/tackreviews) The bates also has an airsystem in the padding which sort of moves and puts more air where needed and so on. Personally I am not 100% on that but the horses love the saddle and move very well in it.

[pintopiaffe]

I haven't found Stubben or Bates to be wide enough. Obviously YMMV.

I *have* found Passier to work fabulously, but Ancient, wide, shallow Passier. I could see how the new models--especially those available in the US--might not work.

And *I* meant Nancy at duettsaddles.com but Nancy at Trumble has an excellent rep too. ;)

Price range? Obviously in the upper end you have more choices. I too have heard good things about Black Country (county?) for the stupid wide. But it's completely out of my range. Albion has a hoop tree. Michael Stokes has a 'baroque' tree. Several others have options that are super. But so far out of my range I can't comment. ;)

[Camp Girl]

Pintopiaffe is right... it's Black Country, not Black County. That is what I get for posting later at night! LOL.

Yes, Nancy at Duett does also do tracing comparisons but personally I found Nancy at Trumbull more knowledgable in that regard. Best wishes.