I am in the process of the ever-lasting saddle search… sigh. So far I have found alot of them I liked and I can afford them as soon as I sell my other horse. In the meantime I will just borrow my friend’s saddle who doesn’t jump (and my horse is just starting pole work so it will be a while). I wanted to try out a bates saddle. Are they any good? which model do you like best? I’m looking for something that I can go prelim in eventually. Also, what did you think of the Pessoa Legacy Event saddle? Are they foam or wool flocked? thanks so much!
I love my Bates Isabelle and Caprilli dressge saddles. I used to jump in the Bates Event until I had problems with it fitting my horse. I personally, wanted a saddle with more knee roll and calf roll to really lock my position in place. My next step would have been the Bates Momentum as it seems to be more of what I was looking for. However, a friend turned me on to the Prestige Event and I ADORE it!
Ebay is where I found all of my saddles as you can usually find them brand new and fairly cheap. Good luck!
The newer Pessoa Legacy Event XCH saddles are flocked with synthetic wool flocking. I think the older ones were wool flocked. I’m interested in sitting one to see what I think of it too.
I LOVE my Bates Caprilli close contact saddle
I can’t say enough about my Bates Caprilli. My Morgan mare is in the Extra Wide and it fits her great! When she’s at her fattest, she needs to go into the XXW!
Not only that, but it is the most comfortable saddle I’ve ever ridden in! Like a couch.
At my level, I used it for all three phases. But I mostly do Hunter Paces with the occasional schooling type H/J, Event or Dressage show thrown in the mix.
I found mine used for a steal! Good luck! Fitting it to your horse is the most important thing, IMHO.
I don’t know much about the Pessoa eventing saddles, but I can tell you that sometime in the mid-90s the general quality of the Pessoa close contacts started going down - the leather is nowhere near as nice as it used to be. However, if you got an older one, they were lovely.
The Bates saddles are pretty enough and reasonably comfortable for the rider, but make SURE it fits your horse. I have two TB mares, one easy to fit and one impossible to fit, and it didn’t fit either one. The tree is not very forgiving of minor fit issues, and I know several people who have taken out the cair panels and replaced them with traditional flocking to make their horse tolerably comfortable.
Everyone says the leather on the “new pessoas” is so crappy. I don’t have access to any “old pessoas” so I can’t compare. I do have access to almost every model of pessoa and I can tell you that the Legacy models have REALLY nice leather, nicer that most other saddles in the price range.
I have the Bates Caprelli Event saddle, and I really love it! It has fit both of my horses very well and it is comfortable for me. The leather is easy to care for and it doesn’t easily show wear.
At my old job, there was a Bates Eventer that was the old whip’s saddle, who LOOOVED it. New whip hated it, I adopted it. I also LOOOOOVED it, besides the fact that the flap was still too short for me.
Since then, I have heard nothing but horror stories about the CAIR panels eventually breaking down, and horses getting so sore they were not able to be ridden AT ALL.
The local saddlery that I use refuses to carry them anymore, after they sent 9 or 10 back because of the CAIR panels failing. At the tenth saddle they sent back, Bates told the owner that they were doing her a favor replacing saddles. They were DEFECTIVE, why is that doing her a favor?
So, she refuses to carry them. I can’t say I blame her. I know of more than one person who has had their CAIR replaced with wool, and they are tickled with their saddles.
I have a newer model pessoa jumping saddle that i just love.
The leather is lovely and it fits me and my pony nicely.
I also have a newer model Pessoa, a 2006 A/O, for jumping. The leather quality is just as nice as a friends 1980’s model. My panels feel like wool, not foam.
I love it for flat work, jumping, and all day trail rides. I particularily like the way it puts me in the correct position, where I don’t have to fight the saddle to keep my leg under me. I especially enjoy that I can get a full 4 holes difference between flat work and jumping length stirrups, and keep the same comfort and balance.
I expect it to serve my purposes well, but have no aspirations beyond Training level. I would think for a Prelim sized drop, you would want more knee roll then what this saddle offers. I grew up riding bareback and in an old Prix de Nation that was as flat as a pancake with no knee rolls. As a result, I can’t stand big knee rolls or thigh blocks. This saddle reminds me of that “nothing there” feeling the Prix had, so it’s not for everyone.
Good luck with your search!
Pessoa Event saddle
A year ago I got a new rather Large young horse. My old Berney Brothers (a 16 yr old Junior Jumper) saddle was ok but not quite “enough Saddle” for a 17 hh guy (oops) I tried many different saddle as and was prepared to write the BIG check. Frankie did NOT like any of the three Antares I tried, big NO WAY on the oh so pretty Devacoux -ok with the Stackhouse (hard for me), the Amerigo felt like a nosedive but much like Goldie-locks when I brought the Pessoa on trial he liked the one with OUT the adjustable tree but the conventional tree. this saddle makes me adjust my position a bit more behiund the waist–but that position helps me better balance my Moose cross. Well he is 5 now and I am hoping he won’t get a lot bigger.
So all in all this saddle is comfortable for both of us–not the hunter Pincess snob appeal or teh rough and durable quality I liked in the Berneys but if Francisco likes this saddle than that is the one I will like it too!
I have a Bates Elevation J. I love it. I have 3 tb mares that it fits well. One is a bit more narrowed withered and I use a sheepskin pad. The other two it fits perfectly, but they have relatively normal withers, especially for tbs). As a shortlegged person, I especially enjoy how forward it is. I tried quite a few saddles before this one and they weren’t forward enough. I haven’t had any problems with the CAIR panels. You can also find really good deals on them online. I got mine for 1500 plus shipping and it included 2 gullets and the bates stirrup leathers.
I had a Wintec Synthetic saddle before this one, as a poor student! I had no problems with the CAIR panels with it either, and I owned it for 4 years. It did not fit my first mare very well though.
[QUOTE=spacehorse;3097211]
Since then, I have heard nothing but horror stories about the CAIR panels eventually breaking down, and horses getting so sore they were not able to be ridden AT ALL.
The local saddlery that I use refuses to carry them anymore, after they sent 9 or 10 back because of the CAIR panels failing. At the tenth saddle they sent back, Bates told the owner that they were doing her a favor replacing saddles. They were DEFECTIVE, why is that doing her a favor?
So, she refuses to carry them. I can’t say I blame her. I know of more than one person who has had their CAIR replaced with wool, and they are tickled with their saddles.[/QUOTE]
Thats crazy! I’ve worked at at tack store for over a year now and we havn’t had a single saddle with CAIR panels (bates, wintec, etc.) come back because of defective panels. Maybe people were popping them because they new they’d get new saddles… hehehe
thanks guys! I am looking at the pessoa legacy actually! I reallllyy like it and it might just be in my price range. I watned to get the prestige but that is just a little too much $$ for me :eek:
Try used
The Prestige event saddles have been around long enough that there are a few used ones out there…
http://www.pelham-saddlery.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=UE
http://cgi.ebay.com/PRESTIGE-JUMP-EVENT-GP-CLOSE-CONTACT-SADDLE-17-BLK_W0QQitemZ140217002089QQcmdZViewItemQQssPageNameZRSS:B:SRCH:US:101
http://www.mmtackshop.com/prevsa.html
Just a personal word, I know a lot of people who don’t like the bates. I have personally never sat in one, I was told never to really look at them. I personally LOVE my Frank Baines reflex. I have done a one star in the saddle and am obsessed. There pretty reasonable pricing wise, because you can custom make them, and they are wool flocked, so can always be adjusted. I wouldn’t buy a saddle with foam panels. They break down, ans can’t be fixed. Put the extra money into something with wool.
I bought an early regular-flap Bates Caprilli CC with CAIR and really liked it for myself, except I couldn’t quite get my stirrups short enough. It was fitted with only a few flocking adjustments to a flat-backed ISH. When I got my current horse, a high-withered TB with pockets behind the withers, it made him sore. I now have a customized Black Country that was not really all that much more $ than the Bates is new.
Bottom line: it might or might not work. You can get different flap shapes for you, and different gullet widths for the horse, which increases the probability that it will work. But you will just have to try one and see.
I have a Pessoa Blyth Tait and although I love the way it “rides”, I will never buy another. The leather is absolute crap. I’ve only had it for a few years and it was only lightly ridden in for the first two and it still has such severe rubs where your leg rests that it won’t be long before the leather wears straight through. I’ve tried every kind of leather cleaner and conditioner imagineable but nothing has helped. I contacted the store that sold it to me, as well as the manufacturer with no luck. They stated that they’ve since changed leather suppliers again and couldn’t do anything about it. I bought mine in late '04.
um pessoa saddles i always used riding hunters like 5ish years ago. i liked them for that but i’ve been told by event trainers that they “mess up” horses backs. bates are pretty nice though. they make a great event saddle that a friend of mine uses and runs intermediate in.
