Dressage Saddle Help

[AllAboutTheBay]

I’ve been causally in search of a Dressage saddle to play around in. Tried my friend’s older Balance Nexus Dressage saddle and it was wonderful to ride in and fit my pony pretty well.
Friend has what she says is stamped D XX ---- Nexus saddle.

Today, same friend sent me a link for a Nexus saddle on Ebay for a pretty decent price. Ebay saddle is stamped C X ----. (though the description says 16.5" saddle with XX tree. But they did not measure the seat size correctly.)

Looked at the Balance International website and they have a much different way of measuring saddles than I’m use to seeing. They have the 3 trees R, X, XX and then the seat sizes A,B,C,D.

Can someone please explain to me how the Balance saddle might compare to traditional measurements (even though I know every manufacturer has their own system.), or how might the different Balance measurements compare? I asked the seller about a trial, and it might be possible, but they are in FL and I’m in PA, and I would still have to pay (expensive) shipping costs.

If it helps, I’m about 5’4 and around 135ish lbs. Pony is a 13.3hh POA. This would be our first dressage saddle. His currently saddle is a 17" (actually measures 17.5") 34cm (wide) Prestige Roma Jump

Thanks in advance.

[Posting_Trot]

I’ve had a Balance Nexus dressage saddle for about 12 years. Basically, in terms of the tree sizes (widths) as you probably know their idea is that most horses are in trees that are too narrow, or that rapidly become too narrow because as the horse becomes fitter and more muscular with work, they should go into a wider tree but frequently the owner does not think to do that.

So the Balance idea is that you have a really wide tree and then adjust the pads for the saddle rather than adjusting the tree size or the flocking. The Nexus tree is also a hoop tree (rather than an A-frame tree), which changes the way it sits on the horse’s back a bit and allows it to accommodate withers that have muscle tissue around them.

I believe that the seat size of the “C” is 17.5 inches, and the “D” is 18.5 inches. I may be mis-remembering though, and it might be that the C is 18 inches and the D is 19 inches. I can measure my own saddle seat tomorrow if that would be helpful.

[AllAboutTheBay]

If you could measure your saddle, that would be very helpful. Thank you so much! I know on their website they stated that they don’t measure the seats because their are other factors that affect how you fit in the saddle (again, true) but I would like to know at least some kind of actual measurement to get a rough idea of the size, rather then an arbitrary sizing system that I have comparison too.

[Posting_Trot]

I measured the seat of the saddle today. It’s a “C” and it measures 18 inches from nail to the center of the cantle… For reference purposes, I’m 5’10", 135 lbs, 34 inch inseam.

Hope this helps!