Do I Really Need a Dressage Saddle?

The prestige OP has should allow good dressage work, its not an AP/CC saddle. It’s a real jump saddle.

Jumping saddles are designed for: jumping. An activity in which your arse is out of the saddle nearly all of the time. An activity in which your stirrups are, of necessity, much shorter. Dressage, even at the lower levels, is about being able to use your seat and legs. That is something that you are going to have a hard time doing in a jumping saddle. So, to answer the question in the OP, yes you really need a dressage saddle.

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Can you borrow a friend’s dressage saddle for a few clinics or shows to see if you want to save to buy one? I loaned a CoTHer one of my dressage saddles for a clinic since she did not have one. Otherwise, keep using your saddle until you can afford another dressage saddle. Keep checking consignment stores and Ebay for a good deal.

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If I were in your position (and I kind of am, I have a youngster and have delusions of doing eventing with him someday and know that eventually I will need a dressage saddle for optimal success), I’d keep the saddle you have and save up/keep an eye out for a dressage saddle to add to your tack room. It’s not like a jump saddle has tacks in the seat to prevent you from sitting down and using seat aids, or that the stirrups MUST be kept short. There’s a lot you can do in terms of “dressage”. Now, if you were asking the vice-versa question, “I’m a dressage rider and have a dressage saddle, and have a bug in my ear to do some jumping, do I need a different saddle?” The answer would be yes, absolutely, because neither you nor your horse are going to be comfortable going over anything much higher than cavaletti.

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