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  Discussion on Dressage saddle woes
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Posted on Thursday, May 9, 2002 - 10:58 pm:

After a year of riding in my (used) Passier saddle which I bought on the advice of my trainer and thought I LOVED, I've discovered it tilts me backwards and puts me in a horrible chair seat, with legs way out in front of me unless I fight constantly to keep them back. This dilemman has been slightly helped by the use of a riser pad, but it's a band-aid solution. The local master saddler tells me the older Passiers are all built with stirrup bars in the wrong places, no gussets that can be overstuffed, billets coming out of the wrong section, yadda yadda. Of course they have lots of new $3000 and $4000 saddles they can fit to ME and My horse.

I don't think so, not on my budget. I have been surfing the web for possible alternates. I'm a big Centered Riding and Alexander Technique fan (those these are regarded as "garden paths" at my barn, so I have to keep quiet--GRIN). I have a book and tapes by a British Classical Dressage Rider/Alexander Technique practitioner called Joni Bentley, that I love. Now I find Joni makes a saddle that looks intriguing to me (www.bentleyequestrian.co.uk). But what do I know? Another good friend suggested an Andy Foster saddle (he is connected somehow to Sally Swift's Centered Riding organization).

I really would like to find a saddle that helps put ME in the proper position (or at least doesn't fight me all the time) and is correctly designed to allow my horse the best movement. We had an Ansur, which I had a lot of trouble not falling into a chair seat in as well--I'm an older rider, and not strong enough in the abs, where it counts.

Does anyhow have any experience with the Bentley or the Foster saddles? Or any other suggestions? (I also tried a Niedersuss, which I liked, but the rigid tree made my mare nuts.)

Posted on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 10:27 am:

For me, the easiest way to go about buying a saddle that fits both the horse and me has been to go to a really good saddle shop that sells a wide variety of makes and will let you bring 3 or more of them home with you at a time, and that has someone very knowledgable to help you. Even better if they also sell used saddles on consignment. Read up on saddle fitting in general before you go. Take a picture of your horse's back along. Tell them about you and your horse's level of training and goals.

Sit in the saddles at the store to find several that fit you, and that "look" like they might fit the horse, and bring home 3-4. Put them on your horse (no pads) and see if they seem to fit and sit level. Girth them up and check again for fit. Eliminate those that don't fit your horse and/or don't sit level. (Amazing how saddles "look" like they'll fit your horse when you're in the store, and are just awful when you actually heave the thing up onto his back!) Then, ride in the ones that do fit for a day or two (cover the leathers so you don't mar the saddle flaps). See how the horse goes in the saddle, maybe get someone to video tape you if you're not sure about where the saddle is positioning you, decide if it is comfortable, confirm whether it really fits the horse as well as you thought, look at the sweat pattern on your pad, etc. Then go back to the store with all of them, explain what worked and what didn't and why, and enlist your expert there to find you 3 more that could fit as well or better than your "semi-finalists". Take them home and repeat.

You may find that a particular fancy German or Swiss dressage saddle is just what your horse and you want, and it may very well cost a few thousand new, but once you find a brand and size that works for you, you can look for a used one at a deep discount. Tell local saddle shops what you're looking for, post a wanted ad on local internet boards, etc. I found a used Roosli in great condition that way, and our local saddle fitter told me the fit was "ideal". Often, folks order custom-made dressage saddles only to find the saddle doesn't fit when it's finally delivered 2 months later, either because measurements aren't perfect, or the horse was tense when the measurements were taken, or the horse gained/lost muscle, or they sold the horse and the saddle doesn't fit the new one. You can save a lot of $ and ensure a great fit by buying a used saddle rather than ordering a new one.

Hope this helps!

Posted on Tuesday, May 14, 2002 - 3:40 pm:

Zoe,

I'm not sure I buy into the Passier dis'ing you are hearing.

While your saddle may need to be topped off a bit, I know too many "professionals" that use Passiers and are happy with them.

When you ride w/o stirrups, where are your legs? How different is that from when you catch your stirrups up? Can you duplicate the position?

Now I would have been more accepting to have the fitter tell me that the saddle wasn't a match for horse or rider, but to put down all Passiers sets my "someone has their hand in my wallet" alarm off.

I like the idea of trying a lot of used/consignment saddles from your local tack shop. Be sure to do a wither tracing first and take it with you to the tack shop.

Have you tried a Kieffer? Some of them are quite nice/traditional and you find them used at times.

Cheers.

Posted on Tuesday, May 14, 2002 - 6:21 pm:

If you have friends who ride dressage, ask if you can sit in their saddles (either on their horse or your own). Riders are like horses: we come with different conformation. I love my Stubben but it doesn't really suit a friend of mine. good luck in your quest. It can feel like the search for the holy grail at times :O
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