Is there a difference between cc and jumping saddles…?
Was looking just now at the Riva jumping saddle by sellieria de Garda?
What would a saddle like this one be most suitable for? Other than jumping obviously lol.
http://www.pleasantridge.ca/index.php/saddle-riva-jumping-md-wd-tree-brown.html
Anyone ridden in one?
Hello, I see you are local to me. I have not ridden in or seen this type of saddle before, so I can’t help you there. But I have ridden in a number of different English saddles over the last 50 years.
Beware of new English saddles that are cheap $. They are often not the good deal that they appear to be to the uninitiated. If you do not have extensive experience with English riding and English saddles, but are keen to try, your best plan is to engage the help of a qualified coach to give you an opinion as to what would be a good idea for you in terms of saddles to try. Beware of taking advice from the clerks in the tack store, most tack store employees have little or no training or experience with saddles, though they may claim different, and their job is to sell saddles. These days, “close contact” means something different than it used to. Saddles are sometimes called “close contact”, but are not “close contact” like close contact saddles used to be. Older style close contact saddles have little or no padding in them, no knee rolls, no thigh blocks, and little padding or deepness in the seat, and have been referred to as “pancake” saddles. Many are “Hermes copies” from 40 years ago. Saddles like this are currently “out of fashion”, but new saddles are still marketed as “close contact”, which don’t qualify as “close contact” IMO. So, if you are looking at an “old” saddle (a used saddle) that is called close contact, it is likely to be built different from a newer style one described in the same manner.
An old person, like me, has ridden in old style close contact saddles for decades, and I can do any sort of riding in one of these, hunters, jumpers, cross country riding and jumping, trail riding, light dressage, lead pony riding at the track. I do not like other saddles, or “new” saddles. I find most of them too fat with their padding, knee rolls, blocks and deeper seat restricting my ability to move in the saddle. I find that old style close contact saddles, like Crosby PDN, Courbette Stylist, keep me closer to the horse, and thus more secure in my seat. Put me in one of those “padded” saddles or just about any “new style” saddle, and I find the horse can move out from underneath me easier than with a true close contact saddle, because I am held “farther” from the horse’s body by all that padding. Many riders these days find the opposite, think that the padding, knee rolls, thigh blocks, and deeper seat makes them feel more secure. But IMO, that is because they have never developed a truly strong seat in the first place, and are hoping that the saddle is going to “hold” them on the horse, which in truth, is not the case. The only thing that makes you secure in the saddle is your seat and leg.
In your case, if you are NOT wanting to jump, but are wanting to ride in English tack, you need to find something that you are comfortable in, and fits you and your horse. Then develop your seat and your skills. Look for a quality, older used saddle, that you can try, both on yourself and your horse. Your choice would be between a “pancake” close contact, an “all purpose” which has knee rolls, some padding and often a deeper seat, or a dressage saddle. Quality older used saddles will last you a lifetime, and are often cheap to buy, because the competitive horse show riders like to follow fashion, and what is “not in fashion” currently has no value. BONUS for you! You do not need to be following fashion. I just picked one up this fall for $200 (but it is a true close contact saddle, and unless you like this particular style of NO padding or blocks, it may not have suited you). It is NOT for sale. Other types of older saddles that ARE quality built but not necessarily “close contact” in the classic sense are also available for similar $. Makes to look at are Stubben, Passier, Crosby, Barnsby to name a few. Places to look are in the used section of some local tack stores, tack sales, or local advertisements or word of mouth. Older saddles from a good maker are built to last a lifetime. Older saddles that are 50 + years old are still in good shape, and still perfectly usable, comfortable, great saddles. Some newer brands are falling apart in 10 years. Well made good quality new English saddles will cost you $5000 +. You don’t need that.
We run riding clinics here at our farm in summer months, with an A circuit professional rider, trainer and coach that I bring in from the coast. We cater to all levels of riders, and have several riders who are also making the change from western riding, to English tack. One rider in particular I am thinking about now, came to the lessons with a saddle provided for her by a friend. She and her friend thought it was a good fit. It wasn’t. The rider was so uncomfortable and unsteady in the saddle that she said she might just go back to western. I introduced her to an OLD saddle that I had picked up at auction about 18 years ago, for $100. It was a “made in England” saddle, but the maker’s plate had fallen off it. It was probably 60 years old. I had used it on a particularly narrow horse I had at the time, and LOVED the saddle. But have had no horse that it fit since then. It fit her narrow built horse, and this rider and I were the same size. The rider was skeptical because the saddle was old, and had no padding or knee rolls, but when she tried it, the smile on her face was epic. Her riding, her balance, her seat security dramatically improved in ten minutes. I sold her the saddle for $100. Moral of the story, get the right saddle for you and your horse, and don’t pay a lot for it.
@NancyM thank you for your informative response. I have consistently had the advice that it is not a good idea to buy a cheap new English saddle. What would you consider cheap? Like under $600 maybe for a new one? … Though I will probably get a good quality used one as everyone has been suggesting:)
I’m going to say a CC is going to be flatter thru the seat and a jumping saddle deeper and probably have a more forward flap.
you need to make sure the saddles you are looking at are going to be a good fit for your horse, try to get a feel for the shape of the tree, panel and the gullet width and what will work for your horse and you.
I didn’t read all of the answers. A close contact saddle is a jumping saddle but a jumping saddle isn’t necessarily a close contact saddle. Typically, close contact has a squared cantle, smaller blocks and more open seat and forward flap. A lot of all purpose saddles and even endurance saddles are suitable for jumping but will usually have deeper seats, rounded cantles, a less forward flap and larger blocks or long pencil blocks.
Cheap meaning quality, not necessarily the monetary value. You can often find high/better quality used saddles for a mid range, and if you are lucky a low, price. You can find low quality crap saddles going for more expensive than they are worth as well. Saddles that are mass produced are usually seen as lower quality - but, that isn’t 100% the case. Do your research and read up reviews and (like you are here) ask questions about them.
I don’t know anything about this saddle so I can’t give a review on it.
What is “cheap”? Well, I saw one for sale in a local tack store, a new saddle advertised as a “close contact” saddle, which had about 6 inches of padding in the seat, knee rolls and blocks, and the price was $2000. Piece of junk. Makes me shake my head in an incredulous state, and laugh. Some sucker bought it. Advertising and marketing works to sell stuff to you that you don’t really need. Beware. Get some professional coaching help, to help you to select a quality, used saddle that is going to work for both you and your horse. Which is tough enough to find, because claims are equally made by those who claim to be professional coaches that are equally suspect. Unfortunately, this is the state of the sport. Those who need the help most are those who are least able to discern professionalism. Good luck.
IMO, any saddle that sells new for $1500 and is made of leather is going to be cheap; cheap in price compared to most saddles today, and cheaply constructed and designed.
It is possible to find deals on decent new saddles; the Smith Worthington bargain barn is one such place online. If you are willing to import, Berney Bros in Ireland and other foreign sellers have well built saddles for much less than standard new saddle prices in the US.
But I agree with Nancy M that the place to look for truly affordable saddles of decent quality is in the “used” category. You can find older models of well built saddles for prices that won’t break your wallet. This is an example of what I would consider a used saddle deal: http://www.pelham-saddlery.com/jumpi…18310used.html
Swaine Adeney Brigg is a very high end English leather company that no longer sells saddles.
The price of good, new saddles has doubled in the past 15 years.
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