I’m a re-rider and I’m riding 2 horses at a friend’s barn. One is a big boy warmblood and the other is an OTTB with high withers. The AP saddle she has for the OTTB isn’t great and I’d like to get my own. Is there a unicorn saddle I can buy and use on both horses (and any future ones she brings in)? I’m out of the loop bc I haven’t seriously ridden since the 90s.
No there isn’t. I’m in the same boat. I ride a variety of horses and ownership or long-term leasing is nowhere in my near future.
I currently have a white tree Antares model that I use different pads with to make due. If the owners of the horses aren’t able or willing to provide shimmable pads or other types of pads used to adjust the fit then you will have to invest in your own. Those thick wool ones with the long hole over the withers are also popular in multiple barns I’ve been in. They can help fill in the space of a wide saddle on a more narrow or under developed horse.
I don’t have any personal experience with saddles with adjustable gullets. Other posters here do though. I’ve heard mixed reviews.
Really depends on the shape of each horse. Does the owner use one saddle for both horses, or does she use two saddles? That may be your answer. If you only dislike the one saddle, which horse is it for? And do you really want to spend money on a saddle for a horse that is not yours and one in which you may not be riding long term?
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Maybe a Bua if you don’t mind something non-traditional looking.
Maybe something that is foam flocked with cut back pommel. Will still need shims.
She uses 2. That’s a very good point.
Thanks!
This is really helpful. Thank you. I kind of just want my own good saddle which is probably the wrong perspective.
Wow! Those are Wild!!
I’ve been stalking some Facebook groups looking for a good deal in a used one. My two horses are so different that if the fitter approves it for both it will be a miracle!
No snark intended, but what do you think adult ammies who don’t own/lease do? Not all coaches have a saddle that fits all students, especially if they are an unusual size. I’m 5’11. I can’t comfortably or safely ride, let alone jump, in the average sized 16” saddle with a regular flap. Outside of lessons, not all owners are willing to share their saddle with other riders. Or, you fall into the same situation of the saddle not fitting the rider at all.
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I’m super curious about them! They have some used thru their site but still spendy. Good luck and please report back
I think that even with the modular saddles, you don’t change them back and forth for multiple horses every day.
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Provided there are some similarities between the two you might could use one of those brands that has the RTF or genesis system adjustment feature on the pommel that just uses a key to widen or make narrow the pommel. You are only addressing one fit issue but if their backs are fairly similar other than just the pommel width it might work. Dover, Toulouse saddles offer this.
There is nothing wrong with the OP wanting to buy her own saddle, as long as she realizes it won’t fit every horse she rides. I did it when I came back to riding after a long break. Luckily it fit the two horses I ended up leasing long term, for those horses it didn’t fit I had my old Stubben or I used the horse’s own saddle.
OP why don’t you look for a good quality used saddle that fits you and one of the horses you ride so its not a huge outlay of money? The suggestion of foam with a cut back pommel is a good one. A North Run Ashland fits that description and if you can find one they are very reasonably priced used. As time goes on, if you are going to continue to ride other people’s horses instead of buy, you might even consider buying a second used saddle, maybe one with a different type tree and panels than your first one, so you have more options for other horses. That assumes that you are financially able to do so. Just keep an eye out as used saddles come along, you might find a great bargain. Good luck, its no fun riding in an uncomfortable saddle, so much nicer to have your own.
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Thanks BAC. I do want my own saddle and can afford one for the first time in my life. I want to lease down the road and possibly the OTTB my friend has, so it makes sense if I’m going to buy a saddle, to find one that fits him and is comfortable for me. Your post is very encouraging and helpful, I appreciate it
I no longer own horses. I tried various saddles that were supposed to fit most horses (Wintec, Wintec Wide and an EZ-Fit treeless saddle) but none of these gave me the security I need with my multiple sclerosis. The Wintec Wide made me feel like I was doing splits, the regular Wintec and the Wintec Wide–the end of the interchangeable gullet plate dug into my thighs, and with the treeless saddle I learned that I really, really need a saddle with a tree.
I narrowed my possibilities down to a Tad Coffin (yikes, really expensive!), I also looked on the web at the Bua saddles, maybe later if I ever have the extra money. I was slightly worried how the cantilever seat would affect my MS crippled body and nervous system.
I ended up with a Pegasus Butterfly Claudia jumping saddle, plus I invested in a Contender II BOT plus ThinLine six pocket shimmable pad. So far I have been able to use this saddle on several horses, putting shims in or taking them out as needed. This saddle’s front is hinged so it can fit most horse’s shoulders, the six pocket shimmable pad helps with fitting it to back oddities, and once I got used to its peculiarities I find it comfortable to ride in and, most importantly, the horses like it too. The horses’ strides became longer and they stride out with more confidence than in the regular treed saddles. It is also several thousand dollars cheaper than a Tad Coffin, and it is maybe a bit more expensive than a Bua. Once I am sitting in the saddle it looks pretty normal to someone on the ground.
Initially I had some problems with the Pegasus Butterfly saddle. I made the saddle more usable for me by getting the above mentioned six pocket shimmable pad, I started wearing silicon full seat breeches (I have horrible balance, with the extra shoulder freedom the horses were sort of pushing my seat to the other side of the saddle and because of my horrible balance I did not realize it.) Later I added the stability stirrup leathers to replace the stirrup leathers that came with the saddle, and I got the Tech Venice safety stirrups to replace the Fillis stirrups, MUCH more comfortable for my feet.
Due to my MS (as in regular people do not need them) I also use a RS-tor rider safety aid that I can hold in my hand much easier than the normal bucking strap, and the Rider Grips, round shaped flat rubber pieces that glue onto the saddle leather, these look really odd but I feel SO MUCH more secure with them on the saddle.
Now, with my Pegasus Butterfly Saddle and all these additions I can ride securely and with comfort on horses who like being ridden more because the saddle does not limit their shoulder movement. Since I have MS with horrible balance, coordination problems and little endurance to fight a saddle this has worked out really well for me AND I do not have to worry about the horses I ride getting pissed off at me because the saddle is uncomfortable to them. I also have to use a lot less leg to get them to extend their strides which saves me energy.
It has worked for me. I would not mind eventually getting a Bua, but I no longer NEED to find a saddle that can fit multiple horses with greatly different conformations of withers, shoulders, and backs, and it would not bother me at all to only ride in this one saddle the rest of my life.
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This may be an unpopular opinion, but if you want your own saddle and want to ride multiple horses, you should probably just get a fairly average shaped saddle with foam panels and live with the fact it won’t fit everything perfectly. This is what a lot of professional riders do. Most horses will be fine, and a few will be either so weird or so sensitive that your saddle won’t work. The owners of such horses usually know who they are and insist on always using their custom saddle anyway.
Too wide is easier to fix with padding than too narrow, so I’d look for something on the wider side of average. I’d also look into a shimmable half pad.
This may not solve the problem of these two particular horses with such different conformation. But I agree with @ParadoxFarm’s suggestion that you can probably find a saddle that works for at least one of them and will also work well enough for a lot of other horses, too.
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Hi! Long story short I ended up buying the exact saddle my old boss had because she had such a variety of horses (30 horses ranging from OTTB to Warmbloods). I had a Tad Coffin that I loved, but outgrew. I ended up trying my boss’s saddle and never touched my Tad Coffin again. It’s a Butet Premium and you can get them used for a decent price.
If you’re interested you can PM me and I’ll send you a pic of the numbers inside the flap. Given we used different half pads on some of the horses (Ogilvy, Invictus, huge ugly foam pads, etc).
So…there isn’t a unicorn saddle, but I love sitting in mine every single day and never had any back issues with horses I’ve ridden in it consistently. Good luck!
I am considering doing the same! I have been looking into saddles with interchangeable tree widths! right now I am considering the Bates hunter/jumper saddle. Prob in the mid range as far as price. It uses the EASYCHANGE system which are the interchangeable trees ranging from narrow - wide. I have yet to buy one, and definitely following this thread!
