Anyone have any of these? Any feedback? My new pony is wide, curvy, and short backed and I am again on the hunt for saddles. Found these saddles through online searches and curious if they truly do fit baroque or cob type horses better than regular saddles? How is the quality?
The Kent and Masters “cob” is also an adjustable tree and fairly cheap, which appeals to me with a 3 year old!
have you tried a Stubben XW tristan yet?
[QUOTE=mbm;6463976]
have you tried a Stubben XW tristan yet?[/QUOTE]
I have not. Stubben did not have any left and I cannot find one (unless you want to drive yours down here?). To be honest, none of the Stubbens that we tried fit her back very well 
The tree shape was just not right. And I need to find something I can demo for a week or so or a used saddle.
It’s a bummer because I love my Genesis Special, but she absolutely hates it, and I am not willing to order a $4k saddle and hope it works…for a 3 year old!
if you want to borrow mine to try just come pick it up… you can bring your saddle and i will use that?
fwiw, the xw was the only saddle that fit tank boy when he had no wither…
eta my xw JRD is for sale at Saddles to boots… but i know how you feel about that company - but it is wide and small so would fit a short backed horse well…
Kent and Masters also makes Fairfax. A friend tried their cob saddle for her Arab and loved it. The horse ended up passing right before she placed the order for one in the right size seat. But she was very happy with the construction and the leather. Thge leather on the Kent and Masters is supposed to be not quite as nice as the Fairfax, but still nicer than you would expect for the price.
I am a huge fan of Lovatt and Ricketts saddles. I have never seen their cob saddle, specifically, but judging from their other saddles, I’d bet they’d do a great job fitting a wide, cob-type horse – and they’re very accomodating of curvy/withery backs as well. I have an older (25ish years) forward seat/AP model, and I will give it up when someone pries it frome my cold dead hands. Love the saddles!
Have you considered a Duett? Or a Thorowgood? The jumping saddle I use on Mac is a Duett and I tried one of their dressage saddles and it was in my top 3 picks for possibilities when I got my current saddle.
[QUOTE=Pocket Pony;6464368]
Have you considered a Duett? Or a Thorowgood? The jumping saddle I use on Mac is a Duett and I tried one of their dressage saddles and it was in my top 3 picks for possibilities when I got my current saddle.[/QUOTE]
Duett is another option, but I have sat in some and didn’t like them for me (but Trumbell sells them too). The Kent and Masters is the leather version of the Thorowgood!
I’m trying a Kent & Masters on the 15th, so will let you know. Horse is a M, but it’s in my budget and the fitter is getting one in, so we shall see. Horse is a fit problem because of his short back and my long leg (not tall, but do have a long femur) so he can’t have anything bigger than a 17-17.5 tops, but I really need an 18. They have a fairly open seat in this model, so we wanted to try it. If not I may end up with an old Stubben or Passier, but I at least wanted to TRY the K&M before I decided, just because the horses is young and I like the idea of the fitter being able to reflock and adjust the gullet so easily.
Oh yeah, and my fitter has really liked them so far! I like Lovatt and Ricketts, but didn’t want to search for one if I didn’t know they’d fit.
I have a thorowgood L4 (cob) cc saddle that was the trial model before they branched off to Fairfax/K&M. Seems Thorowgood tried to market their leather version but it didn’t go over too well as the public is so used to TG as a synthetic.
I purchased mine to fit my wide, curvy backed and surprisingly withered Morgan though he was retired to driving before I ever had a chance to use it on him. I’m currently riding a IDSH in it however.
I purchased this model specifically because the cob tree suits a round U shaped shoulder and curvy profile front to back.
I really like this saddle a lot. The leather isn’t particularly luxurious, but its far from crap, it oils nicely and stands up to use well. This saddle suits my long femur quite well, I’m only 5’3" but I have a 31.5-32" inseam, all femur, and the 17.5" fits me quite well.
PP you might also look into niedersuss - they tend to fit a wide variety of horses…
also remember - Flora will change a huge amount… for example the wonder pony with no withers actually is getting withers and isn’t quite so round anymore…
I do!
I have a KM Original dressage saddle originally purchased for my appendix mare.
What I loved about the saddle for me: soft seat (sitting on a cloud) narrower twist, and not too deep.
For the horse- very adjustable - the gullet bars, the billets, the thigh blocks, the wool flocking. Just fabulous.
I’ve also test ridden the S series dressage saddle. It is a deeper seat, I’d say even narrower twist - which makes me like it even more than my original- my leg can hang so nice and long - just lovely. It definitely is a closer-contact feel.
The way it sits on horses is different from the Original. The panels are straighter longitudinally- it bridged on my standardbred gelding. The head on my original also seems to be a bit higher than the S series - i can’t get that thing to sit level on my guy - though I may have to play around with different gullet bars to truly see.
All in all - I love these saddles. I wish I could make one work for my boy!
This is an old thread, but I wanted to bump it for a reason. Not only did I try the Kent & Masters, I bought it, then bought another for my daughter’s horse (she has grown up and just bought ANOTHER one for a jumping saddle). We (and our saddle fitter) have become fans of the brand. I’ve used them on 5 horses since this post, including a very high withered, rather atrophied behind them old hanoverian who has regrettably passed (but he was super comfortable in this saddle, with some shims), a pony, and a rather wide-backed TB. We had 2 new ones (flocked and fitted by two different saddle fitters who loved the fit, and who usually recommended County or Black Country but that was out of our budget) and now the used jumping saddle.
For a versatile, economy saddle, I’m a huge fan. The gullet is fairly easy to replace and straight (not kinked halfway down like the Wintec gullet), although it’s not a hoop gullet for a truly wide horse, and the wool flocking is very adjustable (and they are nicely made - my current dressage saddle is nearly 8 years old now and still holding up REALLY well with no repairs or issues).
I luuuuuurrved my K&M. After my horse passed, I held on to it for a while and finally sold it about 6 months ago… it sold for just a few hundred $$ below new price in just 5 days. I will definitely buy another in the future!
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