I’d like to hear from anybody who is using a Specialized euro light.
The lightweight aspect is attractive(12lbs), but I wonder how secure it is. My horse still has a drop-down spook in him, and I would like to not end up on his neck. Another important thing is how comfortable is it?
Since no one has answered, I’ll give you my opinion! I tried one out, with the shimming it was able to fit my horse great. Not so much for me. I found the twist too wide. I got an Arabian Saddle Company Solstice and love it.
But I do have some saddle fit issues (bridging), so I tried the Specialized again, thinking it was just me, maybe I could get used to it. Nope, doesn’t work. But I have at least 2 friends who swear by them and love them, both competing endurance.
So like any saddle: it’s such a personal thing. I was lucky that in my area there is an unaffiliated saddle fitter. She has many saddles of all types. My horse tried on about 20, I rode in at least 10. It really helped me learn what I liked/didn’t/etc.
I have not sat in one but I had a barn lady order one 12 weeks ago, she is still waiting.
I would love to hear anyone’s experiences with any of the Specialized saddles.
Didn’t work for me. It KILLED my legs, so I bought fenders. Made it even worse. Didn’t work for the horse either. Had back issues, so at a ride I found a “professional” Specialized saddle fitter. Within 3 rides of him fitting my horse, the horse had white hairs on his back, which he still has a year later. It was a Eurolight.
I ride endurance and had used this saddle for about 300 competition miles and at least that in conditioning miles…
Review for Specialized International Model
I have only ridden a Eurolight model one time. It was ok. I have two Internmational model Specialized Saddles and have logged almost 3,000 miles on them. I like the knee roll feature of the International for security .
I have seen some weird fitting done by people on Specialized saddles. For me, I just keep working with shims until everyplace on the fitting cushions are flush to the horse with as equal pressure as possible. I ride 50 -100 miles and have done the Old Dominion 100 twice and Tevis twice …Do not have a breast collar or crupper. Good back scores at vet checks, and no sore spots. They work very well for me.
One time I did try a Eurolight that had the wide tree, and it rubbed me raw in about 5 miles. Make sure you get the standard tree unless you are riding a 1,200 pound overweight horse.
[QUOTE=irish_horse;7020791]
I was lucky that in my area there is an unaffiliated saddle fitter. She has many saddles of all types. My horse tried on about 20, I rode in at least 10. It really helped me learn what I liked/didn’t/etc.[/QUOTE]
I’m pretty sure we use the same fitter - Susan? She’s great and I love that you can try so many saddles at once!
I got a Specialized for my mustang. At the time it was called a “Western Trail” model but I don’t know if that’s what it is called anymore. It has a horn and fenders and western seat, but it is lighter and had english rigging. I’ve ridden in it for 3 years now and loved it until just a month ago or so when my horse got a dry spot on his back and I can’t figure out why - everything was fine. I’ve tried different pads, different shims, and nothing seems to make a difference. I flipped it over and pulled off one of the panels and I think it might be a loose screw, but I’m going to have the fitter come out and take a look.
I find the saddle comfortable for myself and the twist isn’t too wide for me.
My complaint at this point is the lack of knowledgeable service from the company. I contacted them and sent them a ton of pictures when the problem came up and I got a crappy response of “well, sometimes there was damaged caused by a previous saddle.” Um, no. This only happens in your saddle and I would appreciate an educated guess, at the very least, of things I could do to adjust it accordingly.
So I may try to trade it in or sell it and get a different western saddle, we’ll see.
Until this experience, I would have said nothing but great things about it, but given my current situation I’m kind of “meh.”
