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Saddle Recommendations

Hi! I’m in need of jump saddle recommendations and opinions. I currently have a County for my 17hh Appendix, but while he was being leased out, the leather got all torn up, unfortunately.

I am looking for a brown saddle with a 17.5 seat that is adjustable and wool flocked. He is also very high withered, so it will need to give him some room.

I was also wondering if anyone has any opinions on prestige, kent and masters, and amerigo saddles, as there is a rep near me. If anyone has any other brand recommendations, that would be great.

Thank you!

Where are you exactly?

I got an Amerigo recently and am over-the-moon happy with it. My guy is very high-withered, too, and for the first ever he has clearance. They are able to customize for that. It also fits me (and I’m hard to fit, too).

What I will say is that the balance point of the Amerigo is different than the County. If you like the County’s balance point, you might want to stick with English made saddles (Black Country and Harry Dabbs are two that come to mind).

If you really liked the County and it fit, look for a County of the same model. Horses often fit one brand of saddle better than another. My big Paint likes Passier and County but according to the local French saddle reseller, finding a foam saddle for her would be almost impossible.

What do you mean by adjustable? All the quality wool flocked saddles can have significant adjustments made to the panels. But none of the top quality saddles have “adjustable trees” like a Wintec where you replace a wither gullet (the rest of the tree doesn’t change).

I’ve pretty much only ever ridden in a county, so I’m not fully sure what I like. I rode in a Butet a few times but that’s it, and it wasn’t enough to form a strong opinion on. I used to live in California but am now located in New Hampshire, and the saddle fitting options are kind of limited.

I do like the County, but at that point I might as well just get my current saddle fixed. My goal is to find something that gives my big strided horse more space and movement in the front end.
I kind of just need to hear what other people like for their horses to widen my options.

Talk to Karen Withstandley at The Refined Equine. She’s great.

I had the same experience and my former part boarder just couldn’t get the balance of the Amerigo. I would try before you buy.

The amerigo fits me and my horse like a glove. And the new part boarder has no complaints