Have you considered a Frank baines? I have a very narrow chested straight backed Morgan and it works well for her. I have a monoflap pirouette.
takt is just retagged frank baines so it was already on your list, sort of.
Thank you, @soloudinhere. I haven’t had a chance to see or ride in either of those brands yet. (One downside of living in the boonies, I suppose. Another is that shipping a saddle in and out for a trial costs $300-400.)
My list of saddle possibilities is, yikes, 29 pages long right now. :lol:
I think I responded to this thread earlier so I may be repeating myself but I have a Morgan with a SHORT back, huge shoulders and actual withers. I have him in a Frank Baines monoflap pirouette also. He is VERY wide, so the first day I rode in the saddle I thought the twist was too wide for me to be comfortable, but by the third ride I realized the saddle is magical and we both love it.
Good to know! I think that’s two votes now for the Pirouette.
My Morgan has a super-long back — for those of you who’ve done wither tracings, I can’t even fit his full back profile to the 18th rib onto the diagonal of a manila file folder! So I’ve been wary of saddles like the Pirouette, and like Prestige, that seem to have upswept panels, guessing that those have shorter panel surface area overall and therefore increased pressure on that smaller surface area when my guy needs it more spread out along his excessive real estate. So I’ve kind of scooted them down my list. Maybe that’s unnecessary, though — ?
My baines pirouette does not have upswept panels at all, fwiw.
You know, I apologize, @mlb722. I saw a 3/4 view of a Pirouette that made it look upswept, but after your post I checked some other photos and looks like I was wrong. So I bumped the Pirouette up my list.
Next up, I will be trialing a 17.5" regular-flap Wolfgang Omni. I’m a little worried that it might be too big, since I just trialed a 17" petite-flap Omni (with, as it turns out, the wrong knee block for me). However, the petite flap actually measured almost 16", even though it was stamped 15", so maybe a regular flap (this one was measured at 16.5") will be doable. And this one has the R2 knee block, so I’m hoping I’ll love it, and that it will fit my boy. crossing fingers
1 Like
The upswept panels are an option I had to request, so you probably have choices there…
Oh! Thank you for that clarification, @islgrl. Good to know that’s an option — one I should avoid but others might want.
I think you’ll be fine. My Icon Eclipse that I had before the Advantage you tried was a regular flap and it was fine/didn’t look goofy.
That said keep an eye on the Custom sale as prices are getting very low and they had a petite flap Matrix (super flat tree) last I checked for less than $2k.
AAAUUUUGH. A used 17.5 Custom Saddlery Wolfgang Omni regular-flap arrived today. The first thing my trainer noticed when I rode in it is that it was bouncing at the trot.
So she got on to test it herself in case the problem was me. (Sometimes I post like I’m in my hunter saddle, thereby hitting a dressage saddle’s more prominent cantle, d’oh.)
Nope, it still bounced for her.
On Monday I sent back a 17" petite-flap Omni that didn’t bounce at the trot. It seemed to fit my boy beautifully, but its Solo long roll knee block was too darned straight for me. (Today’s Omni has the R2 knee roll and suits me fine.)
Why would this Omni bounce when the previous one didn’t? Should be the same tree, right??? tearing out my hair, and I have a pixie cut so there’s not much to lose Can flocking really make enough difference to cause bouncing in only one of two saddles that should otherwise have the same tree? This saddle just doesn’t seem to sit down in the back quite as much as it should — though it looks as balanced pommel-to-cantle as the other one did.
The Advantage petite-flap I tried before it bounced even worse at the trot, and the fitter figured it was because the tree was too curved (and it had pony panels, which my uber-long-backed boy doesn’t need). The Omni has a straighter tree than the Advantage, and it doesn’t bounce as much as that Advantage… but it definitely bounces.
I just checked video of me riding in the fitter’s demo Omni a few weeks ago. No bouncing.
And just to add another data point to this, my trainer and I have never noticed my trainer’s 2014 Steffen’s Advantage bouncing on him. (And I’m going to use it to take a lesson on him Sunday, just to be extra sure, but…yeah, we’re already pretty darned sure.)
Maybe the Saddle Gods are gaslighting me. :ambivalence:
IME, Custom Saddlery saddles vary a bit in their manufacture. Individual saddles can have really different fits.
That said, I do think that bouncing that you can see and feel has to do with the shape of the tree, not merely the panels. I ride a horse who is very well-sprung relatively forward-- she’s very round by the time you get to where the stirrup bars or center of the seat would be. The two things that make saddles not fit there are 1. a gullet that’s too narrow; 2 (prolly) rails on the tree that are too angled toward the vertical. But this very common mis-fit between her and saddles usually makes saddles want to roll side-to-side. Does that happen with yours?
Have you ridden in Custom’s Icon Eclipse or Wolfgang Solo (or Wolfgang Matrix)? I think those must be built on the same tree. And if you have not tried a Santa Cruz or Icon Echo yet (again, I think these are the same tree), I’d give one of those a shot. They might be hard to find. I would not buy one at their sale just to try it.
I do have a 17.5 Santa Cruz with R1 (short) blocks, 16 flap and hybrid panels that I think I want to sell. It is in demo condition and has some red and patent bling on it, so it’s not for everyone. The hybrid panels (a layer of memory foam on the outside of the wool flocking) might be just the ticket for your horse’s unusual combination of well-sprung rips and tent-shaped/non-sausagey back muscles.
If you think it might work and want some pictures, shoot me a PM.
Also, Adrienne Hicks, a saddle fitter in Eagle, Idaho carries Takt saddles as well as Lovatt and Rickets saddles whose Berkeley with changeable knee blocks might work for you. I found her to be honest and knowledgeable. She fits saddles, but also works on them. This is a genuine saddler who can do things like redo a seat. She rides herself. I have contact info for her if you want it.
Hey, will you tell me more about the Eclipse’s tree, soloudinhere? Is it built on the same tree as the Matrix?
Thanks!
Nobody should quote me on this but the eclipse is as flat as the matrix but on wider rails/hoop configuration. The echo is also flat but slightly narrower twist.
I almost snagged an echo out of the sale but I am waiting on a new icon alpha (mine actually came in but had an issue so we are waiting on new saddle #2 - I’m riding in the first one now)
The alpha was described to me as if a solo and a flight had a baby with a flatter seat.
Also, for the shorties out there, Custom now has an xtra petite flap at 14.5.
Ooh… kind of helpful, except I don’t know what a Solo feels like. I do remember being put in the back seat by a Flight.
I believe the Echo and Santa Cruz are built on the same tree.
I do want to know what an Alpha feels like.
I’ve given up on Custom. I got the Custom Advantage R I had been waiting for and took it on trial and it moved all over my guys back. Plus, it pushed my hips back and I could not sit still in it. This was in contrast to one that fit me and my guy beautifully in Oct/Nov but was promised to someone else.
So a Black Country fitter came out before my trial with the Custom ended and I tried 5 of their saddles. We found out the monoflaps don’t give me enough stability. Apparently this is a thing, the sweat flap provides more stability and I hav an Eloquence on trial. I will probably order one for my guy. Internal knee block, not quite as deep as the Custom but the stability was amazing. And it puts my leg in a much better position. It was moving around so much in the custom and it simply stays put in the Eloquence.
Just my experience. And gosh, I was sold on the Adv. R since last August. Sheesh…
FWIW, I personally love Black Country saddles. I think they are comfortable and have good longevity. I’ve also not had a bad experience with a Black Country fitter but they’ve also all been Certified Master Saddlers or Fitters. I cannot find one near me or even within a few hours of me at the moment, which made me a little sad. I’m fine with my Fairfax, but I’m longing to get back into Black Country at my next opportunity. I’m too chicken to blindly buy one off of the internet for this particular horse.
@CanteringCarrot - fwiw, the one who came to fit me travels far and wide for her clients, she’s in Aiken, SC and I’m in MD. She goes all the way to Boston. I reached out to her to see if she knew anyone in the area and she referred me to someone who didn’t work out. Then 4 months later on her next trip reached out to see how I was doing and fit me in. AMAZING!!! My experience was excellent.
Welp, life is weird sometimes. I reached The End of my saddle search. (For now, anyway…unless my horse’s shape changes, heaven forfend.)
I bought my trainer’s 2014 17" Steffen’s Advantage from her. Hers was the saddle that made me realize that dressage didn’t have to hurt!
Somewhere along the way she decided she didn’t like the saddle’s external blocks and wanted to go old school again. I’ve always loved her saddle — it puts me in a great position and doesn’t move around my horse’s back. He seems happy in it. And even though the Advantage is supposed to have a curvier tree, the cantle doesn’t bounce on him. Go figure. Every saddle I’ve trialed was getting judged compared to the fit of hers anyway.
I bought it for less than my original budget and about 40% of my “oh god, I just need a saddle that fits” ballooned budget. Win-win. The only thing I wish it had is petite flaps, but oh well. The regular flaps on this one are definitely workable for me.
Unfortunately, I won’t be riding in it for 2-3 months. I broke my ankle at an event, had surgery, and now have to heal. 
But at least it’ll be waiting for me!
