Bua saddles: a newfangled design and concept--what think you, COTHers?

[Dr_Doolittle]

Not the most aesthetically pleasing!, but it has some interesting design features which might make it more “back friendly” (to horse and rider?)–and the price is remarkably reasonable–around $2,100. And it’s lightweight.

Link: http://www.horsecollaborative.com/the-bua-saddle-is-about-to-change-everything/

Since the seat of the saddle is not “attached”, I wonder whether this would interfere with the seat aids??

Would it be/feel too much like a trampoline when trying to sit or post the trot, or instead–will the design enable the seat to better absorb shock?

Hmm…

The two “flap options” obviously don’t completely transform the saddle into A) a dressage saddle or B) a cross country saddle–but do allow the rider to use the same saddle for different types of riding.

I’m thinking the community here will shout: BUTT UGLY!! :winkgrin:, but I’m interested to hear others opinions. Since it’s so new, doubtful that anyone has ridden in one yet??, but if so I would love to hear about it.

[Bluey]

Looks interesting.

Like with every new thing, years down the road we may be happy with it, or think, what a flop, didn’t work for xyz.

I think that, if you want to be subtle with your seat aids, I am not sure how that kind of floating saddle top under your behind would accommodate that?
For riding when not sitting down, sure, but when riding, we do both.

[tabula_rashah]

Looks interesting. I would love to try one and I really like that someone finally seems to be trying to catch the horse world up a little bit. I hate how stuck in tradition most of the horse world is- probably why I am an endurance rider lol

[Pocket_Pony]

I agree with what he says about riding sports not keeping up with technology. There seems to be an almost anti-technology bias in the horse world when it comes to various pieces of equipment (saddles being one of them).

What I would have liked to have seen in the video is information on how this helps the horse’s back. This was all from a rider’s perspective and the only thing they showed about “testing” was on a fake horse’s (obviously) back shape. Does this saddle do anything different in moving with the horse’s back? How is the tree good for the horse? Does it come in different sizes? What is the padding material of the panels? Are they adjustable?

In their little testing machine segment they said they did 2 million (iirc) repetitions of moving the seat up and down (presumably like posting the trot). I think 2 million up-and-down of trot postings is actually a small number when you think that you probably do thousands in a day or week (depending on how many horses you ride).

Nice video, but it actually didn’t tell me much that I’d really want to know about how it serves the horse better than a traditional saddle.

[pj1]

I don’t think it is an ugly saddle but for some reason I don’t like the way the leather is fit on to the seat. It looks as if someone put padding on and then kind of wrapped leather around and under the seat…looks sloppy. Looks as if it would be comfortable though.

[HorsesinHaiti]

It sounds like the tree is flexible, and I would think the cantilever would concentrate flexing of the tree near the attachment point. Have COThers found, or found research to show, if regular flex trees prevent pressure points, or actually create them? IE does that part of the design work before anyone puts a cantilever point in there, or do (some) flextrees already prove to flex too much on their own? I’ve heard both opinions though i’m sure it depends on which tree.

[Epona142]

It looks really interesting. I look forward to hearing more and if it ends up being an improvement or not. Only way to find out is to try.

[IronwoodFarm]

I’d love to see one first hand.

[GaitedGloryRider]

It looks a lot like a trooper saddle but with an independent cantle, unattached from the back of the tree.

There are loads of saddles out there with all sorts suspended seat designs, from Buena Vistas to certain troopers, heck I’ve got an old German WWII cavalry saddle with a hard leather seat suspended by rawhide lacing, super comfortable and built to last for ages! My all-time favorite are the old Mininan and Applegate “Kentucky spring seat” saddles built back in the 1880’s. The tree is flexible and made from two pieces of hardened leather that function a bit like a hinge with a quilted sling seat over it. I’ve got a few myself, one is still in decent using condition and it is insanely comfortable for both horse and rider provided it fits the horse properly. The outside of the Minihan vs. the Bua look very, VERY different but from what I see on the website I’d venture to guess the inner workings are similar. That Bua of course is much more modern, complex and made from far fancier materials.

I love suspended seats (on a well made and properly fitted saddle of course), nice and comfy for me and I’ve never had a horse come up with a sore back from them even after hours upon hours and many miles of trail riding in rough terrain.

[pezk]

I’d love to know about it. How it fits the horse, what sizes etc. I have a very sensitive horse and it’s very hard to make her comfortable, any saddle any brand doesn’t matter.
This saddle would be interesting. I don’t think it’s being sold in U.S. Yet, right?

[melhorse]

I do not like that the seat aid are directed to the saddle points up at the shoulders. Maybe for jumping this saddle would work but it just looks like another fad thing to me. They say it fits every horse-another down vote for me since no saddle will fit every single horse.

[Lady_Eboshi]

[QUOTE=GaitedGloryRider;8257752]
It looks a lot like a trooper saddle but with an independent cantle, unattached from the back of the tree.

There are loads of saddles out there with all sorts suspended seat designs, from Buena Vistas to certain troopers, heck I’ve got an old German WWII cavalry saddle with a hard leather seat suspended by rawhide lacing, super comfortable and built to last for ages! My all-time favorite are the old Mininan and Applegate “Kentucky spring seat” saddles built back in the 1880’s. The tree is flexible and made from two pieces of hardened leather that function a bit like a hinge with a quilted sling seat over it. I’ve got a few myself, one is still in decent using condition and it is insanely comfortable for both horse and rider provided it fits the horse properly. The outside of the Minihan vs. the Bua look very, VERY different but from what I see on the website I’d venture to guess the inner workings are similar. That Bua of course is much more modern, complex and made from far fancier materials.

I love suspended seats (on a well made and properly fitted saddle of course), nice and comfy for me and I’ve never had a horse come up with a sore back from them even after hours upon hours and many miles of trail riding in rough terrain.[/QUOTE]

THIS^. No idea too-new under the sun; suspended seats have probably been out there, off 'n on, since the Mongolians.

Sounds to me like it would have an awful lot of “bounce.” The appearance doesn’t put me off, but I’d sure hesitate to use that for jumping. I’d be concerned that some horses would buck in it as well, and I’m not seeing how that “cantilever” wouldn’t be constantly transferring weight to the pommel, which is the last place the horse would want it.

I’m not sure more “tech” is always the answer. Better RIDING, maybe? :winkgrin:

[rhymeswithfizz]

Dislike.

First of all, it appears that the stirrup bars are attached to the base tree, not the cantilevered part of the tree, so all that hype about the tree acting as a shock absorber for jumpers is just hype. Our weight is in the stirrups over jumps and (hopefully) upon landing. Unless of course you intend to flop your butt down hard on a regular basis, in which case, yes, that would be a helpful feature.

Second, the cantilevered part of the tree effectively removes all influence of your seat, the most important aid you have. Why on earth would you want that?? Maybe for long trail rides or endurance, but otherwise – ???

[netg]

Pressure points. Pressure points. Pressure points.

Any time you are lessening the area of contact, you are increasing the pressure in those points. The cantilever does just that.

I love the spirit of innovation, and hope more comes up. But thoses suspended seats GGR was describing sound like a better inspiration to start from.

[Skeezix]

It looks like a knock off of a Reactor Panel to me. Love my RP.

[poltroon]

I think it’s super interesting and would be very interested in trying one. The ability to swap out padding and flaps is part of what makes it so attractive - you can see how wonderful that would be for changing horses and for multiple disciplines.

I share some concerns about the cantilever design - it doesn’t necessarily make everything softer, and it might make the saddle rock against the horse.

I hope it’s successful - I’m very interested in the ideas they worked out.

[Bluey]

I agree, it seems that it puts too much pressure on the front by floating the back.

I think a better design would have the back attached all along with something flexible, like air shocks in the new trailers, that would distribute the pressure around, not float up there and put so much pressure on the front only.

Then, in real life, if they do test with pressure plates, it could possibly show it works ok, but their video or spiel doesn’t mention any of that.

A top rider can make most any kind of contraption work by adjusting it’s riding.
Most other riders, maybe not so much, their balance and so weight may be moving that floating seat all over the place, which may not matter, or it may, we don’t know.

I think the idea is interesting, the results questionable and need much more work before declaring that ready for general use.

[BAMO]

Reviving this thread! I just got a demo BUA saddle from Badlands Equine in Oregon (www.badlandsequine.com). First of all, Marlene at Badlands is fabulous, so if you’re interested in a trial I 100% recommend contacting her.

Also, the BUA really is just about everything it claims to be. Easily the most comfortable saddle I have ever sat in (and having just gone through the saddle hunt, I have sat in A LOT of saddles!). I work at a lesson barn with 35 horses. So far we have tried it on 8 very different horses, and it has fit all of them very well. These horses range from TBs with tall, long withers, a round appendix, a holsteiner, quarter horses, etc.

But don’t take my word for it. Contact Marlene for your demo!

[danacat]

At first glance it looks like this saddle perches you way above horse’s back ??? thus changing leg and seat contact with horse ??? Does look VERY comfortable though.

[Dr_Doolittle]

Hmm, very interesting! I think I’ll wait for it to become more popular before giving it a test drive (since I just purchased two new/used saddles )