I have a new Wintec 500 dressage saddle, flocked. I am contemplating ordering the EASY-CHANGE™ Riser Pack to help shim the front of the saddle to simulate wither gussets. Curious if anyone has used this yet and what they thought.
I actually bought some rear riser shims on ebay to use to rise the back of my Wintec dressage saddle. Was not impressed. They did not fit well and I could not close the velcro completely after I placed them. I rode with them a few times, but my horse was developing a bucking issue at the time so I removed them to make sure they weren’t exacerbating the issue (the shims did not cause the bucking). My advice would be not to pay full price, find a cheap set on ebay and see how they work for you and your horse.
The placement of the shims (3 separate pockets, at the front, center and rear of the panels) allows you to adjust your saddle as you would with a correction pad. But there is no pocket that would simulate a wither gusset (located vertically at the front edge of the panels and used to help a horse with hollows directly behind the scapula).
I’ve fit several Wintecs and Bates using the shim system effectively (especially useful when a horse is unevenly muscled, or has a bit of a low back due to lack of condition). If you’d like to post some pics (or PM for my email address) I’ll be happy to tell you if they can accomplish what you’re trying to do.
I have them and they’re hard to change and pretty much useless. Just my opinion…!
I also got mine off of eBay…absolutely shop around and do NOT pay full price.
I have a Bates saddle with the same system. EXTREMELY difficult to do by yourself, so grab a friend to help you add the shims.
Like a poster above, it basically does the same thing that a saddlepad w/ shims does, and will not fill in any parts close to the wither. There are front, middle, and rear shims.
My horse has a “pocket” behind his wither, exactly where the front shim goes, so I thought I would try filling that in using the shim, but it didn’t seem to do anything. But I only paid $6 for my front shims so not too big of a deal.
If you can find them for a decent price I say go for it. Absolutely don’t pay full price.
I know this is two years old, but I’m bumping this back up to see if there is more info available on this topic.
I recently purchased a new Wintec, and while it fits better than ANYTHING else I tried in my budget, it could still be improved. Not sure if I should try the shims or just use pads to address the minor adjustments needed… (yes, I hope to consult with a saddle fitter in the future, but it will be at least a few weeks before that can happen)
