Hi all! Looking for suggestions for saddles for my ottb. Hoping to find what seems to be a needle in a haystack—what fits my horse well, but is also comfortable for me. It seems for the most part, it’s one of the other. The French saddles are comfortable and fit me well, but not him. The wool flocked saddles fit him, but I miss the cushioned feel of the French seats. Hoping someone has a great idea/option for us to explore! Thanks in advance!
Amerigo is what you want. French feel for rider; wool flocked for the horse. I have an OTTB and have been thrilled with the Amerigo we got after many, many different saddle trials.
Could also look Harry Dabbs—they’re highly customizable. I didn’t go with them simply because I couldn’t sit in something that fit me (whereas amerigo did have something that fit me).
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Thanks! What model did you go with?
Also do you happen to have the contact for a rep? Can’t find anything on their website that lists reps. Thanks!
https://www.worldequestrianbrands.com/amerigo/
^^this might be more useful, as I don’t know where you are.
Jen Scholz is the fitter I work with, and she’s got a wide variety of brands to try. https://www.slsaddles.com/
Thanks! What model Amerigo do you have?
Prestige fits this description. They have a pretty wide range of models with different combinations of twists, padding, seat depth, etc, so you can find what works best for you as a rider, and they’re built on a few different tree options for the horse. They’re wool-flocked and the trees are adjustable by the fitter.
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Black Country is great. I’m not sure how popular they are in Hunters though.
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I had a Stubben for my TB (and I recently bought one for my large pony who also has fairly large withers) - Stubben offers a soft seat upgrade, and the seam of the seat blends with the skirt so that your leg isn’t sitting on a large seam.
I think it would be best to have an independent fitter out, but if you can’t access that, a rep from each of these brands, so you can see and feel the differences. I didn’t have a rep out for Amerigo, but I put a few saddles belonging to friend’s horses on my TB and they were much too curvy. I wanted to try Prestige but there wasn’t a rep near me at the time.
I also think looking at Adam Ellis and Fairfax might be helpful!
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Plenty of BC in the hunters!
This. @Stylestable you need to have someone independent take a look at your horse if at all possible. TBs come in all shapes and sizes! And so do people, so once you narrow down options for your horse you need to sit in as many as possible. Little things like twist, stirrup bar placement, even seat width can make or break a saddle for a rider.
I own two OTTBs right now - one goes in a Tad Coffin but needs a slight curve, flat rail, open headed/borderline hoop tree. He’s got almost no withers.
The other is currently in what is basically a wool-flocked Pessoa, and he is FLAT and not super wide. He’s got some withers, too.
I point these things out because these two horses fit entirely different saddles, despite being both TBs. I’ve also had a TB that was curvy with Mt Doom withers, and he needed something entirely different! I’ve had brand reps tell me they could fit all of them in the same saddle - but I know just enough about tree shape to shoot that nonsense down.
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This is what I’m using with my OTTB. It was my mom’s hunt saddle for her retired mare, and fits my gelding very well.
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I know exactly what you mean about fitting you and the horse. I also like the feel of the French saddles but my OTTBs have not. I used an Amerigo saddle for a while and liked it a lot. Great feel for me, close contact, comfy. However, my fitter didn’t feel like it was a good fit for my horse so we tried a Kent and Masters S Series Jump. This saddle is loved by every horse I put it on, but not by me. It’s been ok as a temporary fix/saddle and I can deal with it, but I don’t love where it puts my lower leg.
I have an Ideal saddle on order right now, still waiting for it to come in. I really liked the one I test rode and I’m hoping it will be the perfect combo of wool for my horse and close contact “French feel” for me.
this doesn’t tell us anything about what shape saddle is fitting him
My first TB was entirely differently shaped than my current one. Current TB is a stereotypically finely build girl. Past one, the real JB, was often mistaken for a larger QH.
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Back in the day, my budget only stretched to a single saddle.
Both for low level Dressage (schooled to 3rd) & Hunters (2’9"-3’).
I got a Stubben Portos A/P & competed successfully for years. I Evented in that saddle too, used for all 3 phases.
It fit all my horses - 16h TB, 16 & 17h TWHs - until the ginormous - 17’3 - WB w/sharkfin withers.
Even a liftpad did not make him happy.
This was over 30yrs later, so I was able to replace it with a Stubben semi-custom Maestoso. My O/F days were over, so Dressage (& trails) were the deciding factor.
Stubben rep brought a variety of models & I rode in at least 4 before the Maestoso that immediately worked for both me & the horse.
I modified by asking for no thighblocks & a pencil kneeroll.
Lost the WB, but fortunately saddle fits my current 16h TWH.
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To me, popular is irrelevant as long as the saddle fits the horse and fits me.
BC is a good choice and County can also fit the bill as well. My friend has a high withered appendix who she rides in a County, and I rode my high withered TB in a BC.
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