Yes - I’d like to ask this too, about the shorter-backed horse if anyone’s still around? X
I’m in the process of getting one to demo – the general purpose model – and one of my horses has a really short, curvy back. Once I see how it fits him I’ll let you know.
How did you get on with your BUA? : )
Not good at all. Horse planted himself and refused to move! He’s never EVER done that. In my saddle fitting quest for this hard to fit horse I’ve tried a lot of saddles that weren’t quite right and he’d let me know, but always through movement. Not this time.
The generic sized tree on the Bua was way too narrow + the panels are very hard and unforgiving IMO + not the right shape for a curvy, short backed horse. The saddle ‘looked’ like it fit when placed on his back, didn’t feel overly tight anywhere and didn’t bridge – but once I girthed and sat in it, different story.
I then rode one of my other horses in it – smaller, narrower horse with a less curvy back and he went forward but took little mincing steps like the saddle was constricting his shoulder movement – I’m sure it was.
As for the way the Bua felt to me: The leather was really nice and very grippy but I didn’t like the void between the seat and the panels – my inner thigh was uncomfortable. Other than that it felt like a normal saddle. No bounce to it at all. It was set on the middle setting and my weight of 125 lbs collapsed the cantilever all the way down. Would have been interesting (for fun) to see what it felt like on the top setting but I wasn’t going to torture my horses any more than I already had.
Sent saddle back. However, my saddle fitter tried one on her horse last year and she really liked it.
I think it’s hit or miss with this saddle but IMO it’s NOT made for a short, curvy backed horse, nor a horse that needs a M/W or wide tree like my guys.
Is the Bua legal to show in? I have not looked at the rule book nor am I in the market for a saddle, just curious.
Sorry, I haven’t been reading the forums much and missed these questions. My Arab is both curvy and short-backed (part of why he’s so hard to fit) in addition to being extra-wide, and the Bua works really well on him. For comparison, my other saddle (Custom Icon Flight) has pony panels and petite flaps and the Bua fits both of us similarly in terms of dimensions other than the seat size (Custom is too big for me because it has to work for everyone who rides my horse, and I’m tiny). When I ride in my Bua the sweat marks are nice and even and my gelding moves out really nicely. I should note that he isn’t a complainer, and that in the past when saddles weren’t working for him there were no signs until he was actually sore. But I’ve been riding in this saddle for over a year now and he’s had no issues at all. My vet and saddle fitter both think it works better on him than anything else we’ve tried and he seems happy in it.
I have only ridden in it looser than the “sport” setting (which is the tightest, ratcheted down all the way) once, on a trail ride, for kicks. It’s stupid comfortable when the suspension is loosened all the way (ergo, fantastic for trail riding) but it’s super weird to post when the seat is like that so I leave it ratcheted down.
I find sitting in the Bua extremely comfortable and the seat/flap interface feels completely normal to me. I tend to prefer a wider twist in a saddle than most riders I know and also to ride with my leg more forward and with a shorter stirrup, because I’m very small and my gelding is very round. But when I drop my stirrups and ride with a long loose leg I’m also comfy. I guess different strokes for different folks.
It’s worked on every horse I’ve put it on thus far. I could see it not working on a horse with really reallly low withers, since it has no points. It is extremely stable side to side, but might slide forward over mutton withers (but doesn’t everything). I could also see it not working on a horse that’s super narrow because of the way the tree is made, I am not sure the panels would do an angle that acute.
It’s definitely a saddle you need to try in person. You’ll either like it or you won’t. I plan to show in my Custom (which fits my gelding all right but is too big for me) because I don’t want judges wondering about my weird tack (horse also wears a Micklem, what can I say, I like to experiment), but I prefer to ride in the Bua and normally do.
Re: shoulder movement: I don’t see how it would impede shoulder movement unless you basically put it on top of the withers. It has no points. Even if it slides way forward the only thing sitting on the horse’s scapula is foam. Most riders who try one note how good the shoulder freedom is for that reason. I could definitely see an opinionated horse thinking it was different or weird and reacting because of that. I’ve ridden three or four different horses in it and none of them behaved as though there was anything unusual about it though.
