I heard they were a sore back waiting to happen. Is this true? Let’s just say I’m back in my ass got bigger, hence, meeting a bigger seat in wintec is easy on the budget.
At the moment none of my saddles have CAIR panels, but I have had them in the past, and the horses I rode never had any problems with them.
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I briefly owned one of the Wintec dressage saddles with CAIR. I wasn’t a fan, I felt too ‘separated’ from my horse and it rode weird compared to wool or foam panels.
My saddle fitter hates the Cair panels. She has run into too many that are partially deflated on one side.
Zero problems and I’ve been riding in them since they were first available. There is some ‘feedback’ that you don’t get with wool or foam panels, but horses love them and develop really well in them in my experience.
Bonus - with the newer ones is that you can adjust the entire fit with shims now, not just the gullet. That said, Wintecs do not fit all back shapes. If your horse is longitudinally curvy behind the withers, they’re not going to work.
I suspect saddle fitters don’t generally like them because they mean less need for saddle fitters.
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This.
She has a bit of a sway back yes. So avoid?
DEFINITELY avoid. Wintecs and most Bates and Thorowgoods are darn flat. And not amount of padding will change that (you’ll just put some crazy pressure on the tree points and cantle area).
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Sway backs are a hard no. The bridging would be terrible.
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Would a sommer flextra be better,
That is actually not the issue with the Cair panels. The reason why I don’t like them as a saddle fitter is because they break. Normally unless the Cair has broken, that is not why I don’t recommend the saddles.
They are compressible foam covered in a thin plastic like covering. I assume it is heat sealed. Once that seal is broken, you have to either replace it with wool, or send it back to Australia for a replacement.
When it comes to saddle fit, unless they are broken, the material itself doesn’t impact my evaluation if the saddle fits. The only reason why I wouldn’t recommend the saddle if the CAIR is intact, is the shape if the panels or tree doesn’t work fir the horse. I do find them pretty flat front to back and laterally.
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No idea, I’ve never heard of that brand or saddle.
You’d be best served working with a saddle fitter (depending on your country there are some great ones that even do virtual fittings or have a used inventory to ship for trial).
It really depends on the horse. You have A frame vs open headed vs hoop (and so many angles in between), short and long points, degree of curve in multiple planes, width of rails, panel length, seat size and depth, stirrup bar placement, flap and panel shape, etc - all before you even get to foam vs wool vs CAIR and all the details within.
If you can share a general location, someone might be able to suggest options.
I have 2 cair panel saddles.
My experiences is there tends to be more hysteria about the panels than necessary. Like any saddle, it works for some horses/riders and doesn’t work for others. I was really leary to try them because I have a super sensitive horse and heard so many negative stories, but surprisingly, she likes them just fine.
When you cut them open, they are just foam. It’s not a “balloon” or anything. It’s just a squishier foam than typical flock.
A valid concern is the longevity of the panels. Allegedly people have had them develop leaks; while it’s not a balloon, if the panel doesn’t hold air, the foam just goes flat. I know I’ve been wondering how to determine if that is happening to your panels without disassembling my whole saddle. But at the same time, other types of flocking compress, shift, and change over time, so panel problems are not unique to cair.
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If it’s one of the newer (10 years or so?) ones that can be shimmed, it’s no more difficult than changing a gullet plate. A pain in the ass, but not hours of work and does not require a professional. I’ve not had a problem and I’ve checked several times on my most recent one which is about 9 years old.
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My mare is curvy and is trending towards more of a “sway” as she ages.
Her Wintec worked well at first, but the more her back dips, the less comfortable she is. They have a pretty straight tree. I have a thread on here with me asking about better saddles for curvy backs.
You can just feel the panels to test if they have been compromised. If they are broken, you can fairly easily compress them. You can also compare them to the other panels. Their are 4 per saddle.
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I’ve owned two wintecs and one Bates. I had a saddle fitter out that isn’t a fan of them but at that time if they fit my horse, she gave her blessing. She did say that one saddle I had felt hard in the panels which she said could happen. It was at least 15 years old but in fantastic shape otherwise. She said she could switch it flocking but it was two small for me so I sold it.
