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  Discussion on Wintec for arabians?
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Posted on Monday, Feb 18, 2002 - 5:17 pm:

Hi , I also have a hard to fit arabian. Wide tree saddles slip forward when he tots or canters. A regular tree seems to pinch. He is only 5 so is still growing. It seems to me he has a round belly great for a wide tree but his shoulders are to narrow yet to hold a wide tree in place. The saddles fall forward over his wither. Is this possible. Has any one had luck with wintecs? I sent a whither measurment to a wintec dealer . They sais I need a med/ narrow gullet. I am thinking of going with the cair systym also. Any advise please?

Posted on Monday, Feb 18, 2002 - 7:02 pm:

I love my Wintec saddles. I own an Arab whose 15h2 and a 13-3 hand welsh pony. I have the Isabel dressage saddle and a 500 all purpose. My Arab has changed sizes and the gullets change out easily. I use the all purpose on the pony and have had both saddles checked by a saddle fitter.

I tried a lot of saddles and couldn't get anything to fit my Arab. I even bought an expensive Arabian saddle-which fits him after much restuffing- but i like my Wintec better. My guy has a typical wither (not low) and a very wide barrel and chest.

Some places have trial saddles. My Wintec Isabel was a test saddle which i rode in first before committing to buying one.

Good luck on your saddle search! Kim

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 19, 2002 - 12:24 am:

Katina, same fitting problems with my arab mare. Need the width but have the slipping problem. I ride Western and both the Wintec and the Abetta were just too narrow and pinched her shoulders. Simple Circle Y cordura with quarter horse bars was the best fit thru the withers, but slips to the side and I have to readjust the cinching more often than I'd like. So I still haven't found the ideal saddle and continue an ongoing search.. the arab saddles were way too narrow. What is the Cair system? I see new saddles in catalogs with "flex" in their descriptions. Any report on those would be appreciated. Thanks!

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 19, 2002 - 10:05 am:

Thanks for the replys. Linda the cair is new. Instead of wool flocking it is made with air. It is designed to change to the shaape of the horses body each and every time you use it. It never needs restuffing. I dont know about flex but I would imagine that the tree is more flexible with the horses movements. I dont know thats a guess.
I am going to go with the wintec. Fingers crossed I am tired of buying saddles that dont fit.

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 19, 2002 - 11:26 am:

I wish you well with the Wintec. It is frustrating to keep buying ill fitting saddles, and with the shipping charges back and forth I could have bought a whole new saddle for the four didn't fit! Unfortunately, my friends don't use the style saddle I wanted and only a few even have arabs. It would have been helpful to try on different saddles before ordering, but was just not possible where I live. Do you know if the cair is made western style, sounds interesting ... thanks and again good luck on the new saddle.

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 20, 2002 - 7:12 am:

I love the Wintec also. What's nice about the Cair system is that there is a space above the air pockets that can be stuffed by your saddle fitter to fit your horse. Makes a Huge difference!

We had the opportunity to work a few times with a saddle fitter from New Zealand who comes to the USA. We learned that two of the most common mistakes in saddle fitting are having a saddle that is too small for the horse, and placing the saddle in the wrong position.

You can read about the effects of a poor fitting saddle at https://www.nchorsenews.com/SaddleFitting.htm

There is also a very good site that shows you what measurements to take and where the saddle should sit at www.saddle-fitting.com. Takes a few moments to load, but worth the wait. Notice how far back the saddle should sit!

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 20, 2002 - 1:27 pm:

Thanks,
I have seen this site also. I am extremly concious about how the saddle fits. and yes you are right about too many people have the saddle to far forward which hurts the shoulders when they move. My problem was the wide tree saddles moved slowly forward towards his shoulders. I really need I think a wide tree with a narower gullet. unfortunatly most regular saddles arnt built that way. I cant find a good saddle fitter in my area so I have been tons of research. I am hoping the wintec is the right choice for me or more my horse.

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 16, 2002 - 12:53 pm:

Did you end up with the Wintec? Which one? I loved my Wintec 500 Dressage so much, that there are now 6 other women in my barn who bought their Wintecs based on my rantings (and letting them try out my saddle, too). I use my Wintec on several different Arabs and 1/2 Arabs. Unless the horse is extremely wide, we've usually been able to get a good fit. And if the medium/narrow gullet doesn't work out, you can always try another size; the gullets aren't expensive. I don't have the CAIR system, as I bought my saddle before that was introduced, so do let me know how you like it!
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