Has anyone tried the Dover circuit customizable saddle? Opinions? I trying to fit a hard to fit ridder on a budget. She’s tall and very long legged. At 12 she’s 5’7" and fits the flap in my 17.5" a/p saddle great but the seat size is to big, a 17" would be perfect and give her a smidge of growing room. Budget is about $1500± a little. Wanting a new saddle.
I have a client who just bought one- she’s 14 and 5’7" with long legs, and got one of the Circuit close contact models, 17 seat, in a forward flap. It fits her horse well and fits her well, and I think as she grows it will be a great saddle for her for years to come. The seat came super soft and sticky, but the flaps/billets have needed a LOT of oiling. It has broken in nicely as she lessons 2x a week in it. Dust seems to cling to it a bit, so she cleans it quite frequently. I think it was a good purchase for her family- budget friendly, but still a nice product, and they wanted a new saddle. It gets a thumbs up from me, sounds like our clients are similar.
Thanks for the input. I think im going to give them the green light to get it. If they don’t like it or it doesn’t fit well, I’ll help them sell it.
I just recently bought the Circuit Premier Special Eq and it fits my horse pretty well for not being custom. She is definitely hard to fit and I went through several different (very expensive) brands until I went to Dover and picked up that model. It fits my horse better than it fits me though I will say. It puts my hips in an odd position that makes connecting at the knee hard sometimes. I am 5’4 with a longish leg and I fit the 16.5" standard flap well, the seats run a smidge big.
It has required quite a bit of oiling on the flaps since I purchased it about a month ago and lots of conditioner. Like ilovetheadd27 mentioned dirt definitely clings to it and im constantly cleaning it. But overall I am happy with the saddle and that fact that it comes with lifetime warranty. YAY!
I have one and I’m 5’7" as well. It fit the horse that I bought it for, but it’s not great on my shark-fin TB. I’ve also found it more difficult to get my leg back in this particular saddle (even on the first horse)–it seems like no matter where I put my stirrups, I’m fighting the dreaded “chair seat.” It could definitely just be operator error, but my leg problems weren’t as bad when borrowing a friend’s jump saddle.
If I could do it all over again, I’d get a used jump saddle (not AP) and try a whole bunch to figure out which put me in the best position. And of course, which fits your horse as well.
Best of luck.
