Just curious…Have a friend who is looking into ordering one & wanted to know about them if anyone has first hand experience.
Thanks!
http://www.equineinspired.info/custom-saddles-for-the-horse.html
Have one and absolutely LOVE it! The saddle is extremely comfy for myself and my horse, and his muscling has changed very positively since I got it. George is fabulous at what he does, but I think he’s too busy sometimes. I use another person with his company for fittings and have been very happy with their service. You’ll hear a lot of negative reviews from people here, which I believe have to do with years past? (I could be wrong) I’ve only been doing business with them since August of 2010. I understand they may have had issues before that, but I’ve never had anything but great service from them. PM me if you have more questions
Clicked on all the pages but surprisingly there seem to be no names attached to the “Us” 
- seems very odd for a business manufacturing custom saddles & retailing high end (Hennig) dressage saddles …
My name is Ed Grant and I, bred trained and showed saddlebred horses for over 25 years. I live In Jefferson county Kentucky not far from Simpsonville Kentucky, the saddlebred capital of the world. Three years ago I decided to switch gears and I purchased a Friesian mare and decided to train her for dressage. I found out very soon that getting a saddle to fit the mare was going to be a challenge to say the least. After two years of trial and error with several saddle makers I stumbled across the “Equine Inspired” web site.I got in touch with George Gullikson, the owner of Equine Inspired, and and he agreed to come to my facility and take a look at my mare. As of this date I now poses a dressage saddle that fits the mare and me perfectly and I could not be more pleased. George is extremely knowledgeable of the requirements of the horse, the rider,and what it takes to build a saddle that works for both.
The design, material, and manufacturing quality is as good as it gets. If you are serious about a proper saddle fit I strongly suggest that you visit Equine Inspired web site and contact George.
I have a saddle from George Gullickson that I have had for about 15 years. It is a very well made saddle. I love that it is so adjustable. It was adjusted to fit my previous horse, then adjusted as my young horse has grown.
The saddle fitter who covers the Wisconsin area is fantastic! Can’t comment about the service in your area; I can highly recommend the high quality of the product.
I have a Gullikson-Baines Aute de Airs, or “Excalibur” as I call it. It’s phenomenal. My FEI horse is half-Arab and the saddle fits his round body and bigger shoulder perfectly. I have several friends and students in their saddles and it’s made an incredible difference in both their horses way of going and their positions. There are 3 options for stirrup leather placement, depending on your pelvic shape. Riders who struggled with chair seat positions for years are instantly in the right place. We work primarily with George’s son Chris, he’s not a salesman, he’s an engineer and he just wants to make stuff work, and does a fantastic job at it.
I have an Equine Inspired saddle - made by Frank Baines - it’s a beautifully made saddle that fits both myself and my horse. Our saddle fitter is Chris Gullickson and he is just wonderful. My instructor rides in these saddles also. Mine is about four years old but looks brand new - and I use it 5-6 times a week.
Someone suggested this saddle to me for my hard to fit TB. Just out of curisosity, how much are we talking price wise? And his website seems to be 1 page with nothing on it. Is there another site? http://www.equineinspired.info/uploads/3/9/9/7/3997657/ei_december-2013.pdf
You can find some on here: http://www.equineinspiredtouch.com/used-gullikson-baines-dressage-saddles.html
LOVE these saddles. Best saddle I have ever owned.
There’s one listed at Trumbull as well…http://www.trumbullmtn.com/store/demo-and-used-saddles/used-dressage-saddles/seat-sizes-15-5-to-16/baines-aires-de-haute-16-5-w/
My instructor has several clients who’ve purchased them…they love them, as does she. Has anyone here purchased one of their bridles?
Price range?
Mine was used, $3500. New I think they’re around $4K. That’s more than a years worth of savings for me, but it fits my little FEI horse like a glove and it’s amazing to sit in. As my husband says, “you ride the crap out of your stuff, might as well get something of quality that will last.”
I know this is an old thread, but I feel I need to let others know who are googling this saddlemaker what my experience has been with George. I ordered a “custom” saddle two years ago - I needed extra D rings and didn’t want the hole in the flap. He said no problem, he would have it made that way in Walsall, and gave me a “loaner”. Well, I never got my saddle - it was one excuse after another, the last correspondence was from him in Nov. of 2018 saying he would have it to me in January. January came and went and no word from George (which is per usual) until I told him it was coming back and I wanted my money refunded. He said he didn’t keep invoices ??? - but I still had mine and sent a copy to him. No response for weeks, and I got tired of waiting. I sent the saddle back and contacted the BBB. I am in the process of getting a lawyer involved. This man might be a good fitter, but he’s a HORRIBLE businessman, and a liar, so I would say either buy one used from someone, or make sure that what you are getting is EXACTLY what you want, because he will promise things he can’t deliver, and then you get stuck holding the bag. I never should have paid him up front, but he comes across as such a caring and genuine person. Don’t be fooled.
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I had a chillingly similar experience with George Gullikson as that recounted by the person in the last post. In November, 2018 I ordered a custom dressage saddle with detailed specifications he said he could produce. He originally said 6 weeks but after a couple of months with no communication, I started calling every couple of weeks to see what was happening with my order. When I called he would put me off and promise delivery dates he never met until finally at the end of April, 2019 I did get a saddle that was similar to what I ordered, if not quite to the original specifications. He did fit it to my horse but after a dozen rides it was obvious that it did not fit me. It shot my leg out in front of me so I could not maintain any kind of balance or decent position. When he finally came out in June, (after many cancelled appointments), he commented “I can’t see your ischium” as if that somehow justified that the saddle didn’t fit me. His initial pitch was that the saddle was to be custom to me and my horse. He finally said “I have something that might work” and pulled a saddle out of his truck that was absolutely not to my original specifications. I was dubious but could sit in it better than the original. He said to try it and he’d be back in three weeks. I rode in the saddle 3 times but it was absolutely not what I ordered. I have not seen or been able to talk to George since. I emailed his office in July. 2019 to find out when he was coming back and to say I did not want this saddle, which was obviously not custom for me or my horse, and to see about what to do about it. When I suggested his giving me back the original saddle, I was told they have a no return policy on custom saddles and that he had already sold the original saddle to someone else. His office emailed me saying that if I wasn’t going to buy another saddle from him he had no reason to come out; I was stuck with the replacement saddle. I emailed back saying that was not satisfactory and asked about swapping this out for a jumping saddle. His secretary(?) said that would be ok and he’d see me in two or three weeks. I am still waiting for him to show up with a replacement and continue to call every couple weeks and leave messages for which I get no response. This was an expensive saddle and I expected a custom saddle to fit me and my horse as originally promised. I would not recommend this company to anyone. If you want anything other than the standard, (i.e. if you want an actual “custom” saddle), they will take your money and promise but are unable to deliver. There is no guarantee of fit and although he can adjust it to fit the saddle to your horse, that is apparently not possible if rider fit is not right. As the person in the last post said, the customer service is the worst imaginable. In all this time I gotten only 2 calls and 2 emails from George, although his office staff are more friendly and you at least have a chance of a call back. Also, I know of at least one other person who has been waiting a year and also has no saddle to show for it.
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I was just looking on line for saddles for my new horse and came across the gullikson baines saddles. Seemed like a good idea after watching his videos. Then came to read your post and another in 2019. Perhaps, on the the Frank Baines site it states they are no longer affiliated with Gullikson, which is the root of your delay?
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I had the absolute worst experience with George, which ended with me basically giving the saddle away, as it was completely unusable for me. So there goes $4500. He would not service, he would not replace, he would not take any responsibility for selling me something that was basically broken from day one.
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I am having the exact same experience with Equine Inspired Saddles. George Gullickson is the owner and con man. He measured my horse and I paid over 4K up front over a year ago for a custom jump saddle and he has yet to deliver my saddle. He has told so many lies over the last year on why he cant get me the saddle. Don’t order a saddle from him unless you want to throw away your money.
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They were being made by frank baines. If you look at their Facebook page, they will no longer work with him, which maybe why you are having issues
