[QUOTE=CHT;8344839]
The saddle in the OPs post isn’t obviously an Australian saddle though. I would guess most stewards/judges would allow it. That said though, OP, I think you would find that the stirrup bar is set further ahead of the lowest part of the seat than in a dressage saddle.[/QUOTE]
It’s pretty obvious to me that it’s a stock saddle. I never saw a dressage saddle with poleys!
To add feedback to OP’s question about big blocks on modern dressage saddles.
This is my theory. It may not be fact, but it is based on my experience:
It is to hold the rider’s leg in position because – to be blunt – dressage has become more of a technique than an art in recent years. The big blocks came along after I started riding dressage, and I only started about 10 years ago. If you look at older dressage saddles, they don’t have blocks, nor do many of them have very deep seats and high cantles.
I think it is partly a fad thing. You see BNRs riding in those blocks, and having their names put on them, so you (generic “you”) think it’s the thing to have, if you have a saddle with Steffen’s or Isabel’s name on it you will ride like Steffen or Isabel.
It’s a fad thing like big-moving WBs. There’s nothing wrong with fads, but face it, everybody is not a GP-level rider! A lot of us are lucky to get to take one or two lessons a week with a trainer who is himself schooling Second Level.
It’s like flash straps and crank cavessons. A saddle is just another piece of equipment bought to substitute for saddle time. There’s nothing wrong with it per se, but it’s a gadget.
If we had good seats and legs we wouldn’t need blocks.
Australian stock saddles do however need poleys. Those guys aren’t doing WTC in a 20x60 arena. They’re working in rough open country.
I could go on and on and on on this but I won’t.
Best dressage saddle I ever rode in was a not-ancient Passier with a flat seat and plain flaps. You could tell it was old because it was brown! 
