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  Discussion on Dressage saddle - other disciplines?
Author Message
Member:
njen

Posted on Thursday, Sep 1, 2011 - 2:06 pm:

I am saddle hunting after getting a new draft cross who doesn't like my old narrow-treed saddle. I found a dressage saddle that fits him and is ssssoooo comfortable to me (surprisingly so). I've never tried a dressage saddle as I've always had an AP or CC. My question is can I use the dressage saddle for trail riding and low jumps (2' or so)? I don't show so that's not an issue.
Member:
digger89

Posted on Thursday, Sep 1, 2011 - 2:24 pm:

Hi Jennifer. I use dressage saddles on my paint and my quarterhorse for trail rides all the time. I have hopped over small jumps in it too, but if you wanted to jump regularly I would choose something else. I find the dressage saddles much more comfortable on trails than the AP or CC saddles I used to have. Hope this helps! Sarah
Member:
lynnland

Posted on Friday, Sep 2, 2011 - 8:26 am:

Hi Jennifer,

Glad to hear you found a saddle you like. If your horse is an old hack at jumping then maybe you could get away with jumping the rare little log or whatever. But...it is very difficult to balance over a jump in a dressage saddle and could result in discouraging a green horse to jump. Given the number of large warmbloods out there, there are lots of nice wide used cc saddles available. I actually own a wide, flat-backed hannovarian so understand the issue!

Good luck

Lynn
Member:
nancynf

Posted on Friday, Sep 2, 2011 - 1:32 pm:

I've trail ridden many times in my dressage saddle as well as my general purpose saddle. My daughter often used to trail ride in her close contact (often referred to as a "flat saddle"), which she found very comfortable for her.

Many people find some dressage saddles less comfortable than AP or flat saddles because the seats of dressage saddles tend to be deeper and to have higher pommels and cantles.This makes the saddle comfortable and allows the rider to lengthen the stirrups for dressage, allowing the maximum amount of the rider's leg on the horse for accuracy in the aids. It also allows for ease in the sitting trot and in lengthenings but (and it's a big but) it prevents the shorter stirrup necessary for the rider to close the angles of his ankles, knees and hips in order to get his seat out of the saddle over a fence and to hold that position. I don't think a two-foot jump would be difficult in a dressage saddle, but if you look at photos of a jockey racing, you can see that his knees are way forward with an extreme bend in the knee, and hip and often their seat is way up and over where the cantle would be on a dressage saddle. This gives him maximum freedom of the upper body at speed, (he can even ride in almost a full standing position but has much less security when his seat is in the saddle. Luckily he is not required to sit the trot on a long strided horse over jumps and uneven terrain!

A rider over a four or five foot fence would find his shorter stirrup would bring his knee off the straight flap of a dressage saddle and he would have a hard time allowing his seat to avoid the cantle and still allow him to keep his body forward over the fence.
Member:
njen

Posted on Friday, Sep 2, 2011 - 2:00 pm:

Thanks everyone. I am going to look at some AP saddles (now that I located some wide ones) and see how they feel. I appreciate the input!
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