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Comfortable, durable hunting/event saddle...

Hunting
#1

I have a Big Birthday coming up and my DH, wonderful man that he is, would like to buy me a new saddle to trail ride in.

I’m an English transplant to this country. I grew up on horseback hacking across country and am most comfortable in an English GP-type saddle for this purpose. My Townfield hunting saddle that is probably 40 years old has really had it–the seat is starting to break down and it’s just none too comfortable any more, and I can practically see through the flaps… And of course that saddlery no longer exists or I’d just look for it’s clone.

My other thing is dressage. I have a lovely Trilogy dressage saddle that fits both me and my horse like a glove.

But when we are not in the sandbox, we like to hack out in the mountains–lots of steep up and down gradients and things for horses to spook at.

So I’m looking around for some ideas. There just doesn’t seem to be much on offer. I like a decently deep seat with some knee roll and preferably a thigh roll–though this is really hard to find. And a comfy seat…

Any thoughts? I thought you hunting folks might be able to offer some insight…

#2

I love the Black Country saddles which have very well padded flaps, knee rolls, thigh blocks, and a wonderfully comfortable seat. Not sure where you’re located, but I have bought mine through Trumbull Mountain and had a great experience with them.

#3

Albion Kontrol

I have been Eventing and Hunting the past 6 years in an Albion Kontrol and I just love it! This model has a deep seat and generous flaps, but I still easily get out of the saddle to gallop.

My wife bought an Albion for her new horse this past summer and it is working very well for her.

#4

Bates Caprilli Close Contact is the most comfortable saddle ever…

If the Bates fits your horse, I find it to be THE MOST COMFORTABLE SADDLE! It’s like riding on a couch.

Mine is the older Bates Caprilli Close Contact saddle. It has a deeper seat, and is just more “cushiony” than most close contact saddles. It is padded, has blocks (adjustable) for thigh and knee (front and back) I’ve removed mine though.

I do lots of trail riding and horse camping and I can ride for HOURS in this saddle, comfortably. We also do Hunter Paces, Team Chases, CTs, HTs, and H/J. The saddle is quite versatile.

It really fits my round, low-withered, broad-backed Morgan too. She’s in the XW gullet.

I do know it doesn’t fit all horses though, even w/ different gullet sizes.

here’s mine:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk150/elaineshickman/PICT0221.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk150/elaineshickman/Windance_26_crop.jpg

Good luck!

#5

I love the Bates Caprilli saddles too. Very versatile - we hunt in them all the time, and do all our summer forestry/farm riding in them as well.

#6

I love my Barnsby Omega. As an English transplant I’m sure you are familiar with Barnsby and their quality.

http://www.barnsby.com/products/subcategories/general-purpose/default.asp

I ordered one custom made with extra nice leather and extra D rings. Mine has D rings on both sides. They are still a small enough factory that they can customize to the leather, tree size, knee block, etc. that you like.

I’ve been hunting in mine for about 5 years now.

Another good one is a Berney Bros saddle.

http://www.berneysaddlery.com/saddles.php#gp

They are a little lower priced but I have heard nothing but good things about them.

#7

I love my Wintec AP 2000 w/ Cair, mine is almost ten years old and still like new even after miles of trails and jumps.

It has the removable blocks and two dee rings on each side in back and one one each side in front

LBR

#8

Here’s an outside the box type suggestion…

If you love your saddle but it’s wearing out, and you can’t replace it with the exact same one, why not have it refurbished?

It’s not inexpensive… I know a seat is around $700 to replace. I just had knee & thigh blocks put in a dressage saddle for $150. By the time you replace all the pieces that probably need it, you’ll be looking at over $1k in work, but if you truly LOVE that saddle, you’d just be essentially rebuilding it. This does require that you know someone who is really good with saddle rebuilding. We’re lucky to have someone who can do that around here.

#9

JWB, I’ve thought about it, but it really is beat to heck. The seat, botth the leather and the whatever is underneath it, would need to be replaced, the flaps are almost worn through, the bottoms of the sweat flaps are a bit ragged–I guess we could re-use the tree! It’s had a hard life and served it’s country well.

Thanks for all your suggestions–gives me some food for thought. I do like the look of the Black Country saddles, especially the Summit. And I’ve worked with Trumball Mountain before and they’ve always been great.

However, the first thing I’m going to try is the Trilogy Talisman, as I have a line on a local ex-demo and know I can get it fitted properly and serviced easily. But as we all know, there’s a reason why there are as many different saddles as there are horses’ backs and humans’ butts, so I’m not getting excited until it’s been applied to both surfaces.

#10

I ride in the Bates Caprilli CC too. It is very suited to what I use it for and it fits my horse well. No sign ever of a sore back, no matter how long our rides are.
I’ve got a feeling they are not the ‘in’ saddle for the show crowd.

#11

I ride in a Crosby Olympia which was the precursor to the Sofride. It appears that the Sofride had two seats available one is really deep. The Olympia is like the less deep one.

I love mine for cross country. I wouldn’t mind a flatter more close contact saddle for ring work. But I can go out for 3+ hour trail rides and be comfortable. It has enough of a knee roll for up & down steep hills. However it is close enough contact that I can still feel my horse.

Finnegan was a being a bit goofey in his lesson last night and I stayed in the middle where I belonged without feeling trapped. Some saddles I feel so locked in that I feel like I can’t get out of the seat enough to jump effectively. This saddle is a nice happy medium.

The Olympia fits my hard to fit high withered with hollows, croup high arab cross. It is felt flocked. I don’t know if the Sofrides are foam, felt or wool.
Good luck finding a saddle.

#12

You’d be surprised…

[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;5489297]
I ride in the Bates Caprilli CC too. It is very suited to what I use it for and it fits my horse well. No sign ever of a sore back, no matter how long our rides are.
I’ve got a feeling they are not the ‘in’ saddle for the show crowd.[/QUOTE]

Even though the Bates Caprilli Close Contact is KNOWN for it’s comfort…there are alot of show peeps that use it too. No, it’s not the “in” brand-name like Antares or a Tad Coffin or even a County…BUT, it does work for showing too.

See? We fit right in the H/Js with it:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk150/elaineshickman/Fancy%20Family/F_canter_huntseat.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk150/elaineshickman/Fancy%20Family/F_walkingoutgate.jpg

I just LOVE my saddle!

#13

I love my Jeffries Hawk Event so much I’ll probably be buried with it. :winkgrin: It’s older, I bought it about 17 years ago and the leather is still like new. A minor amount of fading since it is black. It’s not flimsy by any means, it crossed some rivers, and went through brush and gosh knows what else I tortured it with over the years.

Unfortunately, it does not fit my new roundish QH mare. Although when she is umm, not so chubby, it may just fit. We’ll see. I have MW tree and she is more of a W. It fit my 16.2 Appendix with a nice wither and topline like a glove though.

#14

[QUOTE=Little Valkyrie;5487256]
I love the Black Country saddles which have very well padded flaps, knee rolls, thigh blocks, and a wonderfully comfortable seat. Not sure where you’re located, but I have bought mine through Trumbull Mountain and had a great experience with them.[/QUOTE]

Yes,I also use black country saddles,esp like the knee rolls

#15

Custom Stackhouse - you can design your own.

#16

I hunt and event in a Stubben Genesis. My favorite saddle ever. Has the biomex seat, the pebbled finish in the leather. I am glued in it. Just bought a custom Antares for my show. Hunter baby and don’t like it nearly as much. Also have a Bates CC which I use on the growing/changing youngsters and it has been a very comfortable saddle for me and the horses. But the Genesis is the best, I liked it so much I bought the dressage version for that phase…that way it isn’t such a huge switch when you go from your jumping saddle to your dressage one.

#17

I hunt and event in a Amerigo Vega Monoflap. I love it. It’s comfortable and doesn’t hold me in.

#18

I’m oldskool; you’ve really got to go with the Krauts. :cool::lol: A nice vintage Passier or Kieffer; I’ve got one of each. The Kieffer is marginally more comfortable - Passier seats are hard hard hard - but they’ve both lasted me almost a lifetime!

#19

Lots of good suggestions here, Thank you.

So far, the best I’ve seen in theory shape-wise is the Black Country Summit. Big, open gullet, wide front.

Horse has super-meaty withers and big round girth, and flat back.

I have a wide-tree Neidersuss GP here that is going to have to go back. Whilst it is very wide, the gullet is such that the panels are too tight either side of his withers, and it’s too up-swept at the back. Shame, it’s a beautiful saddle in perfect condition, ad would have been a steal if it had fit!

I have yet to try the Talisman–we are shooting for next weekend. If that doesn’t work, I guess I get to try the BC. But it is rather more than I was planning to pay, and I can’t find a used one of an appropriate size–yet.

Equibrit, custom would be nice, but that really is stretching the budget beyond what is feasible, sadly…

And no, I’m not riding in a hard German saddle ever again, WA :slight_smile: I have a bony butt and I did mention that this was a Big Birthday, so I’ve only got a half-lifetime to go, and no-one to will an indestructable saddle to…

#20

I have 2 saddles that I hunt/ event in. No. 1 is a Schleese Eventer monoflap - a wonderful saddle in so many ways. I also have a very well used Stubben Siegfried CS, my “fat horse” saddle that fits the wide ones like a glove. I don’t find it hard at all, and it’s very close contact, but not in a bad way. I like the flap length ( I am very tall ) and how it wraps around my horse. I feel like I am really sitting “in” rather than “on”.
That said, the Schleese is lovely to jump/gallop in - secure, balanced and very comfortable, but there’s a lot more saddle between you and the horse then the CS, even though the Schleese is a monoflap. It’s very lux, and very comfortable. Everyone who sits on it loves it.

Both are great saddles, for different reasons. The Schleese was big $$$, the Stubben was bought used for a very reasonable price.

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