Back to the original subject (kind of), a fellow boarder insists that dressage saddles are not English saddles because jumping saddles are English saddles. Dressage saddles are, um, dressage saddles.
4 Likes
The thing I posted mentioned red/strawberry roan and blue roan, and left off bay roan. Thatâs why I mentioned it.
1 Like
I divide 'em like this:
If it has flocked Panels, itâs âEnglishâ. If it has Bars, itâs âWesternâ.
IMO, thatâs the only critical distinction, as it affects the way the saddle fits the horses back.
3 Likes
Truth is, these days there are a lot of âkindsâ of saddles, many of which are some kind of combo of English, Western, and Aussie. I remember when it was just western and english (which meant either hunt seat or saddle seat). But that was looong ago now. My own saddle is a flapless endurance type which has super-dense foam rubber panels glued to a tree, with âdressage bumpsâ approaching Aussie poleys in size. What old category it falls in I couldnât tell you but I do dressage in it just fine, as well as trails.
1 Like
Iâve never heard of using lowercase âpâ paint to describe a pinto but I know local dialects differ greatly. I guess it doesnât bother me as much as I claimed/thought it did. You canât tell if someone is calling her a capital âPâ Paint or a lowercase âpâ paint when talking. If you want to really make me mad, youâd call her a âcow ponyâ. Now thatâs just rudeâŠ
âŠshe was bred to be a PACK HORSE, now a COW HORSE 
1 Like
I thought English vs Western saddles were distinguished by whether or not there was a horn and fenders (Western) or irons and leathers (English).
4 Likes
In our barn it would appear that they are distinguished by whether or not they ever get cleanedâŠ
6 Likes
My Paint mare would tell you in no uncertain terms that she was a cow horse. I knew nothing of her background (so yeah, not having papers I shouldnât call her a Paint, but just looking at her, she screamed Paint!). But the first time my neighbor got some cows, she was at the closest fenceline to the cows, telling me clearly âI know what to do with those!â I never let her go play, as much as she wanted to.
Me, anthropomorphize? Never. /s
Rebecca
2 Likes
Iâve seen this in ads where people are selling tack. âNeed goneâ
6 Likes
Well, by my yardstick itâs English then :-D.
But yeah, there are many many variants. I see a lot of . . . unusual . . . (to be polite) saddles when I look thru the inventory at our local consignment tack store. Some of 'em you have to wonder if anyone ever actually used them.
George has a Synergist Endurance saddle that was made to fit his rotundity. Itâs Western underneath. My TB gelding (RIP, Oily me lad), had a Crestridge Endurance saddle (Western), and Passier Dressage saddle (English). The Crestridge was more comfortable on a long ride, but the Passier, being a close contact saddle, was a lot more fun. The Oil was a large child; 17hh, and 16h of it was legs. Someone once told me âWestern, you ride the saddle, English you ride the horse.â I donât know how universally true that is, but it was certainly true for Oily; he was a dancer in his Dressage saddle.
I had an elderly Paint named Banjo (also RIP) who was a retired âCow Ponyâ from Wyoming. Or so I was told. Banjie was very close to being a perfect horse; very sweet and a most willing boy. Probably heâd never even seen an English saddle before coming to live with my herd, and I have no idea what sort of bit/bridle he was accustomed to. I rode him in Oilys Passier saddle, and a bitless bridle, for short, easy âneighborhoodâ rides (owing to his age) right up until the end. He was 36yo when he passed.
My young Kentucky Spotted Mountain Horse âRosyâ was trained in a Western saddle, and a Pelham bit. I immediately put him in an old StĂŒben Dressage saddle (it fit well), and Banjos bitless bridle. He had no trouble at all making the adaptation to bitless, and he gaits just fine in the English saddle. So much for the gaited horse âexpertsâ.
I have no use for a saddle horn, and have never really ridden far in a saddle equipped with one. However, I have seen Aussie saddles (with panels, leathers, and irons, âEnglish.â), that also had a saddle horn.
One comment I will make is that in my experience an English saddles âPanelsâ will generally fit a broader range of Equine backs than a Western saddles âBarsâ; the shape of which have to match the critters back very closely for good results. Sure, you can run a pad with shims, and/or a super thick felt pad to change the width, but thatâs not really âFitâ then, is it?
My young horse has already outgrown his StĂŒben, and I will have to find him something else before we go out again. He might be close to being able to use Oilys Passier, now, and I do have a Pirelli âTheraflexâ pad, which does allow a bit of cheating when it comes to fitting an English saddle.
Just for fun: Banjo wearing Oilys Passier saddle over the Theraflex pad, and a Dr Cooks bridle. Ready for fun. He was ~32yo in this photo:
4 Likes
hahahah they should really change it to;
âneed moneyâ
3 Likes
indeed!
That saddle looks like my old Passier. I showed it to a person at an event a year or two ago and he literally sneered at me. "No one rides in those anymoreâ. I tried to sell it on line, and eventually gave it to a friend that rides western. It was the most comfortable saddle ever.
1 Like
Yes. But in this discussion (heretofore at least) we have been distinguishing between English, Western, and Aussie. So the Aussie saddles donât count.
1 Like
Well, Aussie saddles come in âEnglishâ flavored (with panels), and âWesternâ style ( with bars), so theyâre starting out confused any way :-D.
All joking aside, some day Iâd like to try an Aussie saddle that fit me. The one I have sat in, the seat was too small for me (or something ?), and the position was way cramped. But one with a little bit more room might be a good thing.
Mine is the âLennoxâ, and yes; it is a very comfortable saddle as English saddles go. But comparing it to something like Georgies Synergist, (which was also tailored to fit my skinny butt), is like comparing a bar stool to an easy chair. Iâm shamelessly biased, and will undoubtedly order a Synergist for the new kid, once he stops growing. Four years old when he arrived at the gate last June, just barely 14hh, and kinda skinny. 14.3h when I measured him a couple of weeks ago, and âskinnyâ is no longer part of his vocabulary. He has learned a new word: âAl_fal_faâ. And he eats like a . . . well, like a horse :-).
1 Like
Iâve seen that used in reference to horses. Makes me grind my teeth either way.
1 Like
I once had an Aussie saddle that fit me well and it was divine. I loved it. But, I sold it when I no longer had a horse that it fit. I regret it now, because I think it probably would have fit my current horse. Just like the Circle Y western saddle that I loved, but sold because it didnât fit the new horse that I thought was going to be my âuntil Iâm too old to ride anymoreâ horse, but wasnât. 
2 Likes
In addition to the grammar aspect, this one also drives me crazy because itâs like the person is trying to force or guilt people into buying it. âNeed gone by Tuesday.â Welllll⊠if nobody wants it at that price, guess what? Youâre still going to have it on Tuesday.
5 Likes
@George_T_Mule, my experience is the exact opposite of yours as far as saddle fit goes. Due to the larger weight bearing surface area, Western saddles are generally MUCH more versatile and forgiving when it comes to saddle fit than are English saddles.
4 Likes
Not sure if this has been addressed or not but I love /hate /am amused when someone who thinks they are well versed in the world of horses chats you up talking about how they have this 16.6 Morgan (or some other typically smaller breed) Stallion their kids used to show barrel racing and jumpers. And as you let the conversation go it just gets worse (or more amusing) as they go along. I used to ask about the height or whatever not anymore, I usually wait for the time when i can reply with a comment that pretty much let;s them know I know what theyâve just said is BS. LOL
5 Likes
