Hunting in a Cross Country Saddle

[cssutton]

I am not an eventer, so a question that may be foolish.

Those of you who hunt; do you have a standard hunting saddle or do you hunt in your cross country saddle?

Is a cross country suitable and comforatable for hunting?

CSSJR

[Badger]

I use my Antares for hunting and eventing, both stadium and cross-country. Also use if for dressage on my mare because it fits her better than my warmblood's dresage saddle. It's a balanced saddle that really fits me and is quite comfortable for hours in the hunt field as well as dropping off of big drops on x-c and finessing through a triple in a jumper round.

[FoxChaser]

I absolutely love hunting in my County Eventer! It is comfortable for hours on end and handles the size jumps you see in a hunt field beautifully. I wish I could say the same thing about prelim drops and big fences :(

[EmmyTheHemi]

My greenie and I just did our first season hilltopping in a newish Pessoa Blythe Tait XC saddle and an older Moritz Event jumping saddle. We hope to move up a field next season, and it would be the Pessoa for sure at that point. The seat's not as cushy for a long day, but we'd be better prepared for hopping over/down things. He likes the Pessoa better, too.

I would hilltop in my County Eventer. It is by far my cushiest saddle, and seems to fit a wide variety of horses, but I haven't done SJ or XC in it since I bought the Pessoa. The County is more of an all-purpose fit for me, not really an XC-specific model -- the flaps aren't forward enough to accommodate long femurs when stirrups are shortened for jumping. Oh, and it's black. That's probably a fashion faux pas. :)

Happy hunting! Saddles and otherwise.

[Elsinore13]

I've been hunting in my Thornhill Pro 3 day event saddle and have been very happy.It's not the most comfortable, however, I'm in two point all the time so it doesn't matter too much! Unfortunately, my saddle is now not fitting my horse, I have been having my eye on either getting another Thornhill in a bigger size or going for a Duette foxhunting saddle.

[Jleegriffith]

I do almost all my riding in my county conquest which is custom made with the specific flap and seat that I wanted. Basically I wanted the conquest flap but stablizer seat. I love my saddle and I swear it helps me out in tricky situations. I do a lot of my flatwork in it at this time of year when flatwork is done out on the trails when the ring is to muddy.

[vineyridge]

I bought a Stubben Roxane specifically for hunting, and it's definitely a XC saddle. I LOVED it. Very secure, did not put me in the chair seat, and still gave me a great sense of balance and safety.

[tangledweb]

What is a cross country saddle? What is a hunting saddle?

I have a Stubben Edelwiess for jumping, but it has very small panels, so while I really like it I don't think it would be fair on the horse's back for 4 hours. I think that is true for a lot of the close contact saddles. A 2 minute stadium round, or a 5 or 15 minute XC round is not the same as a day's hunting.

I hunt in a Kieffer Aachen AP. It is not as good a jumping saddle, but it is a good comfortable saddle for both horse and rider. I do not want my stirrups at a proper jumping length for the duration of a hunt. It would cripple me.

[mythical84]

The few times that I've ventured out into the hunt field have been in my close-contact saddle!

[rivenoak]

Claude,
Are you still riding in the close contact you'd mentioned in the old days of FOL?! Thinking of switching things up? I figured you for a "postage stamp" diehard.

I'd ridden in close contacts forever, for everything & started out eventing in one, too.

I've been thru a dozen saddles trying to find one I could cope with as I changed to something with more padding, etc.

I now have a Berney Bros. that I hunt in & will do Stadium & XC in when we get around to eventing. I like the knee roll it's got; gives me the security of a place to tuck my leg. Kind of like that divot you can wear into your flat saddles after owning them forever.

It's got a nice forward flap so I can get my stirrups up short if I need to, without my leg hanging over. It puts me in a good galloping position. But, key for me, it's not overly padded or full of rolls. It's got the old continental panels, so that kind of does the work of calf blocks, IMO.

[cssutton]

Well, I guess you have me figured out right.

I am still riding in that Hermes and the truth is that in looking for the old style Hermes (I would not have one of the the new padded models), I saw so many cross country saddles advertised that it got my attention.

If I bought one, the first thing I would do is cut all of the pads, blocks etc. off and turn it into a flat saddle.

But I like the cut of the flaps and the relation of the bars to the flaps and seat, so I was really thinking about maybe buying one and turn it into flat flat flat saddle.

CSSJR

[yellowbritches]

I couldn't imagine hunting in anything other than my xc saddle!!!

If it was a slow day, it would get a little uncomfortable because my Berney Bro is NOT soft and squishy and makes the butt sore when you have to sit for long periods of time, but on a good, fast day, it would be the absolute best.

[RunForIt]

I've got a gorgeous, Black Country XC saddle sitting idle that I've often thought would be PERFECT for a hunt saddle and wondered how/where to "cross-market" the saddle. I may go over to the Hunt forum and ask for places to put ads. Thanks for starting this thread! :cool:

[Xanthoria]

going across country in a.... cross country saddle?

makes sense to me.... ;)

[HappyHoppingHaffy]

I hunt in my Bates Caprilli Event saddle and it works perfectly. I hunt drag hunts so they can be very (very) fast and the stonewalls often have big drops; the flat cantle is perfect! My saddle; however, didn't come with D-rings so I can't carry a sandwich case. I've thought about having them added on, but I probably won't.

I tried riding with my cross country length sturrips and nearly crippled myself. I had to drop them down a few holes at a check, but then I was fine!

As someone else said, you are riding across the country so a cross country saddle makes sense! :D

[rivenoak]

Claude,

If you are not near a good used tack store where you can try out lots of models, call in all your chits & borrow from everyone you know & try out as many as you can.

Even though you want to de-fluff it, you'd want to make sure the bones of the saddle are to your taste. I think you might like having the more forward flap. It's a change, to be sure, but a good one. With a long femur, it's more comfy.

Berneys seem to be popular with hunt people. Very well made & you have to figure the Irish know a thing or two about what would work going across country. They're not as rock hard as old German saddles, but they're not like sitting in a sofa. Plus, they seem to still all come with the requisite D-rings!

[Hotspur]

I hunt a lot and event a little. I use my Albion Kontrol for both and the big soft panels are very kind to my guy's back.

Please do be more concerned for your horse's back than your own fanny.

Good luck and have fun!

[Romany]

I second the Berneys - great value for money, and no fancyschmancy modern stuff, like comfortable seat, thick knee rolls, etc.

Claude - keep an eye on ebay - you can often find less "fashionable" but good quality older plain AP saddles available there for a great price; stuff like Crosbies, Stubben, etc.