KarenC
Jun. 16, 2009, 01:28 PM
I am currently looking for a dressage saddle for my endurance horse, a 14.2 Arab mare. One of the saddles I just tried was a KN Symphonie in a wide tree with a short flap. It was a very odd fit for the Arab - the last 3-4 inches of the panels were not making contact with her back (although there was enough clearance in the front). She has a slight scoop up to the point of her croup like many arabs, and a bit of a wither (not much, but at least has popped a wither now that she is endurance-fit) - I've never seen this type of issue with her (I've had the opposite - flat-style panels digging into her back). She is built fairly level.
I tried the saddle on my morgan mare who is wider, has pretty much no wither to speak of, and is built like a table -flat, flat, flat. It fit her really well, which was surprising to me - nothing has fit her really, really well except for the Duetts at this point, and I didn't think a standard "wide" tree would be wide enough for her. I absolutely LOVED riding in this saddle. My leg was underneath me, balance was lovely...haven't ridden in anything I've liked that much. Based on how it fit the Morgan, my guess is that the tree is too wide plus the bars are too flat for the arab.
To add to confusion, I have recently lost weight and am struggling to figure out correct seat size for me. I'm all of 5'2" and now what I would consider a very appropriate weight for my height. I'm wondering if part of my infatuation with the Symphonie was the 16.75 seat size AND the short flap - finally getting into something that is simply sized better for me. I think the larger saddles tend to push me toward the rear and put me in a slight chair seat. I tried a Stubben Juventus (17" seat) which seemed to do this to me.
I'm on a budget here (although I do have a high-end brand saddle to sell/trade-in), and trying to narrow down other options. I did send wither tracings and talked to Jay at Trumbull Mtn who suggested the Black County which is simply out of my price range right now - Jay is sending me the new Wintec w/countour blocks in a 16.5 seat to try. She also said the Duett Fidelio tree would likely work for the Arab as it accomodates a wither and is not as flat as the other Duett models. I was thinking of trying the Stubben Scandica but Jay felt the tree points would be too long for this particular horse.
I know that every saddle works differently for each rider, but was hoping I could get some suggestions here for models that might work for me rather than trying just about anything under the sun...
I tried the saddle on my morgan mare who is wider, has pretty much no wither to speak of, and is built like a table -flat, flat, flat. It fit her really well, which was surprising to me - nothing has fit her really, really well except for the Duetts at this point, and I didn't think a standard "wide" tree would be wide enough for her. I absolutely LOVED riding in this saddle. My leg was underneath me, balance was lovely...haven't ridden in anything I've liked that much. Based on how it fit the Morgan, my guess is that the tree is too wide plus the bars are too flat for the arab.
To add to confusion, I have recently lost weight and am struggling to figure out correct seat size for me. I'm all of 5'2" and now what I would consider a very appropriate weight for my height. I'm wondering if part of my infatuation with the Symphonie was the 16.75 seat size AND the short flap - finally getting into something that is simply sized better for me. I think the larger saddles tend to push me toward the rear and put me in a slight chair seat. I tried a Stubben Juventus (17" seat) which seemed to do this to me.
I'm on a budget here (although I do have a high-end brand saddle to sell/trade-in), and trying to narrow down other options. I did send wither tracings and talked to Jay at Trumbull Mtn who suggested the Black County which is simply out of my price range right now - Jay is sending me the new Wintec w/countour blocks in a 16.5 seat to try. She also said the Duett Fidelio tree would likely work for the Arab as it accomodates a wither and is not as flat as the other Duett models. I was thinking of trying the Stubben Scandica but Jay felt the tree points would be too long for this particular horse.
I know that every saddle works differently for each rider, but was hoping I could get some suggestions here for models that might work for me rather than trying just about anything under the sun...