[QUOTE=LouBeans;7605874]
Unfortunately I no longer have my dressage saddle, which makes me sad as it would have been ideal 
Great to know that on the bars… reading about it gave me a headache! I think I may do a test ride in the Wintec (I worked with one guy who went in a Wintec dressage saddle, I didn’t hate it :lol:) just to see what the fit is like, and I’m super interested in the German M25. I wish I had more test-riding options around here, but it’s nothing but hunt seat saddles :sigh: one of my BOs rides western, so I may ask to try his, it just might be a bit heavier than I am wanting.[/QUOTE]
Oh yes the M25s are really neat saddles. Here is a great website that explains sizing and shows the saddle broken down into parts: http://www.mp44.nl/equipment/army_saddle.htm
It also gives you a good idea how to take them apart and reassemble them which is super handy for cleaning and repairs. Everything buckles into place and the entire saddle can be stripped to the tree in a matter of minutes. To give an example of how easy they are to work on I changed a billet on mine last year in five minutes with a multi-purpose tool. If you know how to hand-stitch heavy leather you can even do the stitching yourself with simple tools.
The one thing I’ve heard to watch out for when buying one is the lacing holding the seat strap to the tree. I’ve had a few people tell me they very hard to repair and you will need a professional to do so if they are broken or in poor shape. The upside to that is it is so simple to get to the tree, that cuts down on labor.
The Japanese also made a version of this saddle during WW2 that runs smaller in the seat and overall length than their German counterparts. They are also a simpler design with the saddle flaps attached to the seat. I’ve had two of them and looked at several others, and have noticed that the leather is poorer quality. Also they seem to run quite narrow at least all the ones I’ve looked at so with the size of your horse I don’t know if those would even be an option for you.
The easiest way to tell the Japanese from the German saddle apart from size without taking them apart is to look for the German stamps. The Japanese saddles won’t have any stamps on the outside while German saddles (if they still have the original leather, which most every one I’ve seen does) will have a number stamped on the back of the cantle (1-5 indicating the size), underneath that the Waffenamt (small German eagle with the letters WaA and a three number code underneath) and the year it was produced stamped opposite of that. The two most common Waffenamt marks I’ve come across are WaA706 which indicates the saddle was made by Erste Nordböhmische in the Sudetenland and WaA750 which indicates the saddle was made by G. Passier in Hannover. Also sometimes the tree will bear markings that indicate what division the saddle was issued to.
Like I said before they very comfortable saddles. The suspended seat is awesome and they are virtually indestructible so long as you just give them basic care. I’ve had a few people ask me about mine when out riding and gotten some pretty odd looks after telling them what it is but if you can get past the politics of the people who used them at the end of the day it is just a saddle and a pretty dang well made one at that.
Happy saddle hunting! I hope you find something that fits both you and your horse perfectly!
By inexpensive, I mean ideally I would like to spend no more than $800, but also wary that you get what you pay for, so looking at used with really no idea what I’m exactly looking for.