EQ Saddle Science?

[yaya]

You can use all your regular stuff with these saddles. The panels will be more visible with a normal saddle pad, and you won’t have the open area down the spine, but it will work. Regular girth is fine, and you can use regular stirrup leathers, it just puts a little more under your leg, especially flapless. I couldn’t use the webbers when I tried an EQ saddle, they would not go short enough. You also cannot run up webbers, which I can’t stand.

An EQ just didn’t work for me, but I’m glad they are doing more demos with the adjustible stirrup bars -that was a specific request of mine when ordering a demo saddle.

[beowulf]

@Wicky

Hey there, long time no see! ATM, this is theoretical… I just retired one horse and the other will go Monday to Tufts and will probably end up with a myelogram… not sure what the future will hold for him. Crushing…

Fingers crossed today, thinking of you and your horse.

[Boomer]

Good to know I can use the accessories I already have! I’m curious to see what my guy thinks of this saddle - he has not liked anything aside from wool flocked. He’s also not a fan of thin line pads but likes the Mattes fine.

[rfath]

Pretty pleased with how my saddle came out!

P9200100 by stoutsma, on Flickr

[leheath]

Beautiful @rfath! I have my official fitting tomorrow for my gorgeous new jump saddle and will take some photos to share! However, I unofficially fitted it myself today because it was fairly easy to make minor adjustments based on the trial saddle and what I learnt from my last 2 fittings (love that I can do this myself!), and took it for a test ride (conditioning ride on the hilly cross country course) and it was fabulous - super comfy and balanced for me, and my horse was relaxed and happy (and he is pretty clear when he’s not comfortable, plus I check his back after every ride because he has kissing spines and I like to see any issues coming before they result in him throwing me on the ground)!

[leheath]

Super happy with my new EQ Saddle Science jumping saddle - fits my horse really well, looks awesome, and is balanced and comfortable for me!

[Xanthoria]

That’s awesome @leheath !

[rfath]

gorgeous, @leheath!

[fivestrideline]

Sorry to dredge up an old-ish thread, but I’ve been intrigued by these saddles (and the endurance version) and was wondering how everyone with them is feeling now? How have they held up? And back issues or balance problems? Still in love with the product?

[polkadotedpony]

I love mine. My horse’s back muscles have improved dramatically in the past 6 months. Definitely the best it’s looked in the 3 years I’ve owned him. It also still works great for me. I will say my trainer and I have very divergent ideas about stirrup bar placement but we just change between rides since she likes 1 and I like 3. It makes me realize with a fixed bar one or both order us would have been compromising substantially.
I actually got on and was chatting and forgot to adjust one bar back and I picked up the posting trot and was like “ahh, my right leg is all over the place! Wtf?” Then I realized the bar was still at one, moved it back to 3 and viola- I actually have a stable base again and everything above that clicks into alignment. Post-baby I struggled with my position and being effective while posting but sitting was fine and I could not for the life of me understand why, until I met Carmi and tried the saddle with the adjustable bar.
I have also found the quality of the leather on my saddle to be much nicer than the demo and the new “upgrade” flaps are nice and normal looking. I found the base flap versions pretty ugly and stiff.
Another lady at our barn ordered one and the custom came in and as soon as Carmi held it up to the horse she was like “nope, I’m not even putting this on, this does not look like what we ordered and won’t be comfortable” and she made it right- and fast. I can’t think of a single fitter that would be that honest and do the right thing for the customer and the horse. Sorry if this sounds like a crazy person infomercial lol. I just really am impressed with the product and service. The only bummer is it looks weird with normal trendy pads.

[soloudinhere]

It really would be incredibly easy to make a sheepskin roll “half pad” to cover the panels. I don’t know why they’ve not done that and instead gone with the bizarre looking quilted panel covers with the pads.

I am not adverse to weird looking saddles (most people hate the look of my Aviar) but I have an aversion towards anything that looks treeless or “endurance-y” so it would be great if they could figure that out.

[polkadotedpony]

I literally told Carmi this exact same idea when I first ordered. She said she’d work on it but I think with supply issues and lots of new orders it’s fallen by the wayside. I was picturing a Lycra stretch cover with sheepskin in front and back of the saddle to make it look like a half pad without altering the fit. I wish I was handier with sewing stuff and could just make one myself.

[fivestrideline]

Hmmmm all good things I have a horse with some gnarly kissing spine and he’s SO insanely particular about saddle fit. Somehow he prefers me banging around on his spine bareback (literally right where the worst of his issues are) over any saddle I’ve tried. And I’m BONY. I do spread most of my weight over my thighs though so I have a feeling it’s something to do with trees and their shape. He’s gone best in a short point tree, flocked saddle, but never anything for very long. Hence why I’m looking at these.
I’m sure someone crafty could fashion a sheepskin pad, even just Velcro.

[anon68314200]

I like mine. It’s a very forward flap jump saddle and the balance is lovely. I love the “attached” saddle pad and the adjustable stirrup bars is great. I still cry about the price tag. But it’s on par with the rest of the market.

[beowulf]

What’s the Aviar like, want to educate me? How’d you end up with it, thoughts on it now that you’ve had it a while?

[leheath]

@fivestrideline

I have a horse with some gnarly kissing spine and he’s SO insanely particular about saddle fit. Somehow he prefers me banging around on his spine bareback (literally right where the worst of his issues are) over any saddle I’ve tried.

My horse has KS and that is how I found these saddles - he is extremely picky about saddle fit and doesn’t agree with conventional fitters’ opinions! I event, so I have 2 EQ saddles - a dressage saddle I was lucky to find used, and a jump saddle I ordered new. I love both of them and so does my horse. I have had them since May and October of last year, respectively. My horse has put on so much topline since moving to these saddles. I recently had to adjust the panels a tiny bit due to his shape changes and it was quick and easy to do myself. Both are comfortable for me and make it easy to sit in the correct position. The jump saddle has the best balance of any jump saddle I’ve owned in my nearly 30 years of riding! I love the close contact feeling when riding flapless - I only ever put the flaps on for dressage shows and they make it look pretty traditional. I mostly use the EQ pads, but have a few other pads that work well with the saddles that I use at home.

[hut-ho78]

@fivestrideline

Hmmmm all good things I have a horse with some gnarly kissing spine and he’s SO insanely particular about saddle fit. Somehow he prefers me banging around on his spine bareback (literally right where the worst of his issues are) over any saddle I’ve tried. And I’m BONY. I do spread most of my weight over my thighs though so I have a feeling it’s something to do with trees and their shape. He’s gone best in a short point tree, flocked saddle, but never anything for very long. Hence why I’m looking at these.
I’m sure someone crafty could fashion a sheepskin pad, even just Velcro.

I tried one. My horse had a mystery issue. She moved better for a day then said no. It turned out she had kissing spines. She barely tolerated one particular flocked saddle. The fitter/sales rep and the company owner were so incredibly nice, helpful, understanding, easy to work with, all praise. I may try one again later on down the line. You won’t regret trying one. They make it a good experience. I hope it helps you.

[soloudinhere]

The horses seem to love it. I’ve used it in a fair few and absolutely all have gone better in it.

That said mine is the 1.0, which has a deserved reputation for being hard in the seat, and the seats have a pretty specific structure that either agrees with you or it doesn’t.

I’ve had two different ones, my most recent for a year and another for 6 months before that (traded out seat sizes)

Drop me a PM and I’d be happy to show photos, etc and other thoughts as I don’t want to hijack.

[yaya]

Man, the Aviar Rook 1.0 I tried was like a brick! It also did not have the right seat shape for me. I have the Sparrow, which is a much more open seat. I love how light it is, and close contact.

[soloudinhere]

I’ve been waiting to try a Sparrow, but my new guy is just not fitting right into my current and I don’t want to order a new one for him just yet as he’s gotta grow some muscles. he’s going in a demo Equipe until I get my act together and try some other configurations.