Opinion - CWD Hunter Mademoiselle - What are your experiences?

[Natty_s_Batty]

Hello all!

A couple months back I had the realization that my saddle was causing me some issues, I was sliding back, I had had severe back pain. I had been riding in a Butet for some time at this point (a good couple years) and when I bought it I had not yet stopped growing (I’m only 17 now - I know, chronicle of the horse forums aren’t a popular hobby for people my age, but I find reading all this stuff very entertaining) - and since I had begun riding in it I had grown a couple of inches. One day I was riding and I had the thought, “maybe I’m sliding back because I am now too tall for my saddle?” - essentially my thought was that if my knees are over the knee roll then there is no way that my lower half is in the right part of this saddle - which must in turn cause me to slide back. I consulted my trainer about it and she didn’t seem to agree with me, and somehow had never noticed that my saddle was a pretty horrible fit for me, but never the less I decided to go to a used saddle dealer (Redwood tack - Leah is the best!) to see if a different saddle might help my sliding back issues - and maybe some of my other pain.

Disclaimer - I realize that I am very lucky to have a mother able to go the extra mile for my horsey adventures and help get me a new saddle, nevertheless the amazing saddle that I ended up with, not everyone is able to have these opportunities growing up and I am extremely grateful for them.

After sitting in a few, and taking some on trial, I discovered that my saddle had been horrible for me. I immediately loved the CWD mademoiselle, it had the right fit for me with longer legs (I’m 5’9"), and I ended up with a very nice 2025 CWD Hunter mademoiselle. When I first got it I was so glad that my sliding back issue had stopped but that was about it. Here I am a few months later and I was just thinking about it and I have zero back pain - zero. While this seems too good to be true, all of my issues that I had now discovered were saddle related- completely gone. And this has left me with a few questions…

While I am sure much of this is simply related to having a saddle that actually fits, I am curious how much some of this may have to do with the very gimickey sounding “just for female riders design” that CWD broadcasts for the mademoiselle. I believe that Schellse is hot on this marketing as well, much of it centering on the differences between male and female pelvises - which makes a lot of sense imo - but I haven’t found much discussion about the differences some people have found when switching from a “normal” saddle to one “designed with the female morphology in mind” (as CWD says). Different saddle makes of course have a tendency to be a good fit for different people, and maybe I’m just a CWD girl- but how much of it is because of the “special design” just for women? I haven’t changed any of my habits either, I still workout and do a lot of strength and mobility work so I attribute the improvements to my saddle change.

Essentially, my question is- what experiences have other people had with this, and the CWD mademoiselle in general? Did it solve anyone else’s problems, or does it just happen to be the perfect saddle for me specifically? Does anyone else have any thoughts on saddles designed for female riders actually having benefits? I know that there are actually a lot of men who ride in mademoiselle saddles, so not to say that they can’t be a good fit for everyone, but what about the benefits for women specifically?

Side note - the reason that fitting a horse with my new saddle is not mentioned in this post is because I have a lease horse (who’s lease was ending in a few months), so the priority at the time of getting the saddle was fitting me and making sure that he was as comfortable as possible in my saddle for the next few months- but we weren’t going to try to fit him perfectly with so little time left.

Thanks for reading my rant everyone, and let me know what your thoughts are!

[steelerino]

Welcome to the forums! I can’t say if the “female anatomy” marketing is legit or not as I believe men ride in the Mademoiselle. Saddles are a very personal thing and a bad saddle fit will cause a boatload of position problems.

[Ponyplusaninch]

@steelerino said it best: saddle fit is such a personal thing, both for horses and riders! I think the reality of the situation is that many product makers, including saddle makers, are waking up to offering a wider variety of fit to attract more of the market which is a good thing–I’lm all about inclusivity!

That said, it’s important to be cognizant of products particularly targeted towards women because of the “pink mark up” ie the product is more expensive because it’s designed “exclusively for women.”

Load of malarky IMO. As an example, I frequently buy men’s workout clothes because I have broad shoulders and HATE feeling restricted in womens’ workout shirts that feel constrictive in overhead positions. My SO buys face and soap products specifically targeted “for women” because they’re gentler on his sensitive skin.

Gendered marketing is highly effective but it’s important to be a discerning consumer–rare is the day a company does valid research that supports their product being better for women or for men

[fivestrideline]

@Ponyplusaninch

That said, it’s important to be cognizant of products particularly targeted towards women because of the “pink mark up” ie the product is more expensive because it’s designed “exclusively for women.”

Load of malarky IMO.

This. The Pink Tax is real, and there’s plenty of products out there marketed For Men that seriously don’t need to be… Dude Wipes, anyone?

It’s an interesting phenomenon. And many things are gendered when they are simply variety in design: “women’s” deodorant is often designed to work best on shaved areas, while “men’s” deodorant is often formulated to work over hair. Why can’t they just SAY that, and let the customer make their own decisions? It’s not like the packaging TELLS you what the product was designed for, they just slap a gender on it and pick a color scheme.

Same thing: I use men’s razors because they’re cheaper and sharper, generally. The women’s marketed options tend to be way more expensive or have a bunch of extra gunk on them that just gets in the way or irritates my skin. That’s not a gender thing, that’s a design thing - I wouldn’t care so much if there wasn’t such a price difference.

Plenty of men ride in the Mademoiselle - IIRC it’s a wider seat and different shape to the twist vs their standard seat. Again, that’s not a gender thing but rather a preference/individual anatomy thing. Ride in what is comfortable!

I like variety, and I think companies that make options for different shapes are doing a good thing and opening their market too! What I don’t love is slapping a gender on something that doesn’t need it. But whatever - ride in what works for YOU. Don’t get sucked into the marketing!

@Ponyplusaninch

Gendered marketing is highly effective but it’s important to be a discerning consumer–rare is the day a company does valid research that supports their product being better for women or for men

Said it better than me

[Renn_aissance]

There is, or was, also a CWD design feature that was apparently meant for the male pelvis, too. A (female) friend had one. Don’t ask me the stamp code for that one.

I’m not an expert on this but I’ve spent a fair amount of time thinking about saddle fitting to horses and humans. It’s my understanding that the Mademoiselle and other saddles that advertise optimizing the fit for women’s bodies are largely talking about the twist and the width of the working center… and at the end of the day that’s your pelvis and your hip flexors talking. There are sex differences in human conformation and pelvic width and flexibility are definitely among them, so these saddle companies aren’t just making this up, but there’s a hefty spoonful of advertising on top of it (and as other posters have noted, the Pink Tax.)

Biomechanically, if the saddle is asking you for hip adduction your body cannot do, your back is going to hurt- you’re going to be compensating with everything else. I’m wider-hipped than my mom and sister and have a ton more hip mobility than they do on top of that, and both of them absolutely hated riding in a particular saddle I had because it had a wide twist. The combination of the twist, length of working center, and depth of seat meant my mom couldn’t use her leg well in it because her back was under such strain trying to rotate her femur out from her hip. Put the two of them in a narrower twist saddle and they’re both fine.

Saddle fitting is just a geometry problem.

[Natty_s_Batty]

Totally agree, as I recently learned- saddle fit is supper important! Thanks for taking the time to read my rant

[Natty_s_Batty]

@Ponyplusaninch, I definitely thought about the marketing being over the top to target women, but the pink-tax comparison is a great one. Also an interesting idea because of how insanely expensive the mademoiselle is, and is generally thousands of dollars more than the saddles that aren’t marketed towards women which surely can’t be entirely made up of just material and craftsmanship differences… thanks for your perspective!

[Natty_s_Batty]

All very good points, thanks @fivestrideline

[Natty_s_Batty]

@Renn_aissance, I had no idea that CWD also marketed a saddle for men, that is so interesting! Your points about hip adduction make tons of sense, and also explain some of my experiences. I am also on the wider hipped side, and my Butet that I had before had a pretty narrow twist- and the switch to the wider twist of the mademoiselle helping a lot of my problems lines up a lot with what you mentioned. I’d also add that my old trainer, and some of the exercise riders at my barn loved my Butet and didn’t have any issues but they were much narrower in the hip than I - which also makes quite a lot of sense. I also have had a decent number of riding injuries related to hypermobility and have very mobile hips which is also similar to what you mentioned - all very interesting! All of this to say- as everyone mentioned- that the fit of my new saddle is most probably what has solved my issues, and not the “designed for women/pink tax” part. I love learning about all this stuff, I have also never heard of the term “working center” so will look into that as well