Saddle brands to steer clear of?

[Amberley]

@sascha

IMO, they are fabulous and if you spend the time tweaking along the development road, horses do exceptionally well in them.

They are fabulous if you are pretty short and a particular kind of female body type- which is what they were designed for. I have stood near Ms Werth and I have probably 5-6" of height and even more inches of inseam on her. I have a long calf and somewhat inwardly rotated hips and I can’t even sit comfortably at the walk in an Isabel in any seat size. The trainer I ride with the most is 11" inches shorter than me and toes out like a ballerina and does like the Isabel saddles.

OP, a not bad idea for looking at saddles is to look for a rider with your body type / height and similar way of sitting and see what they use. Most people my height/inseam ride with an open seat and a forward flap including men. Learning that was very helpful for me in choosing saddles that might fit me.

[sascha]

@Lunabear1988

She said it looked in decent shape but she wanted to open it up and check the tree points just in case. She said they were cracked and just given the age she was worried about the tree eventually cracking too. So I threw it away sadly. She said she’s not a super big fan of the wintec quality wise.

The nice thing about the newer models is you can open up and inspect yourself. Fitters don’t like that much lol! And at the price point, meh, replace if necessary. Even if you replace every 10 years, you’re still further ahead than spending a gazillion $$ on a “fancy” saddle and having it not fit within a year, having to sell at a loss, replace, etc.

[Lunabear1988]

That’s my thought. And I have young horse… I really don’t need anything to necessarily last over 10 years anyway. I mentally accepted the possibility of a few saddles over the years.

[sascha]

@Amberley

They are fabulous if you are pretty short and a particular kind of female body type- which is what they were designed for. I have stood near Ms Werth and I have probably 5-6" of height and even more inches of inseam on her. I also have somewhat inwardly rotated hips naturally and I can’t even sit comfortably at the walk in an Isabel

I can’t ride in the Isabel for the same reasons as you. I’m 5’9" and was born clubfooted. My internal rotation is crazy.

I ride comfortably in the Pro. Would I like an even slightly narrower twist than even the Pro? Yes. Sadly my horse doesn’t give a flip about my conformation, the selfish wench lol. All she says is, “You knew we were going on a 2 hour ride. Why didn’t you shorten your stirrups ahead of time? Your stupidity knows no bounds. Gimme me a mint to chew while you figure out how the hell you’re going to get your hips to behave enough to gtfo off me.”

Editing to add this issue is with pretty much all saddles except those with a supremely narrow twist (which generally aren’t going to fit the kind of backs I ride) and not just a Wintec/Bates thing. If I am smart and ride with shorter stirrups than I did when I was young, it is almost a non issue

[Amberley]

Saddles with blocks are not made for the internally rotated, imho. Period. They never work.

The Pro is nice but they changed it a bit maybe 10? 15? years ago and I don’t love the new ones nearly as much.

I do have an older Wintec GP that I use a lot on the narrower babies since my beloved Crosby Softride/ Olympia disintegrated. I almost always ride young and lower levels horses in some form of VSD/ GP and not a “real” dressage saddle because it’s easier to shorten my stirrups and sit light and also stay on during shenanigans.

[Bogie]

I do miss Gary Severson. He had a real knack for making saddles work for you. And he always laughed at me because I tried so many saddles – I have a bit of a problem when it comes to saddles. I’m always finding ones I want to try.

[MsM]

Right now I don’t know of any independent saddle fitters that will come to my barn that have a selection of saddles. There is a brand rep that could come but I wouldnt buy based on that persons recommendation especially since my instructor doesnt think the trees offered would be good for my horse.

The fitter I have used now rarely comes to my area and didnt carry sale saddles. The one my instructor used is now not working for a while.

No consignment nearby any more. So it seems like perhaps the best plan is to try to coordinate with a fitter appearance and drive two and a half hours to Pelham beforehand to bring some saddles to try.

[beowulf]

I really liked him too. He was very good at what he did and like others, left a huge hole with his passing.

[sascha]

@Amberley

Saddles with blocks are not made for the internally rotated, imho

Which is why it’s nice they can come off so easily

Yeah, slight changes - my current Pro is about 8 years old now. It is far and away different from the first generation of Wintecs, but I didn’t mind the changes. I’m a little worried about next gen, but will reserve judgment until I actually sit in one. I hope that the additional padding in the seat doesn’t take away any of the close contact feel. Otoh, I’m older and wouldn’t mind a little extra padding under my seat bones … as long as that doesn’t make the twist feel any wider!

[KyrieNZ]

While I am a one brand saddle fitter, I don’t like it when people diss other brands. What works for you, doesn’t necessarily work for another. I maintain the saddle has to fit three aspects: the horse, the rider, and the budget.

Good luck, xx

[Riker12]

Neidersuss are fantastic saddles for the price. They do not have the cushy seat or giant blocks but mine will need to be pried from my cold dead hands.

[beowulf]

I also really like my Niedersuss (Symphonie)… It was given to me by a very generous woman. I wish it fit my current crew.

[SimonSays]

What brand did you get?

[lenapesadie]

I ended up with a Duett!

[Ziggy793]

I’m in Area 1 as well (MA) and am currently saddle-hunting. Would you be open to sending me some details on your experience with fitters?

[Bogie]

I am in area 1. You might want to try Diane Williams.

[quietann]

Another Gary Severson fan here! I really miss him.