Santa Cruz Celine saddle reviews

[HicksteadFan]

I’m looking at the Santa Cruz Celine close contact saddle to buy and I can’t find a whole lot of reviews on that particular saddle (lots on Santa Cruz in general though). I currently have a Santa Cruz that is too narrow for my horse. I believe it’s an Edith, I bought in 2009. I really like the feel of my current saddle. It has a very soft seat, that’s fairly wide which accommodates my wide hips well (most saddles don’t and my seat bones are on the edge of the seat where it breaks over). I think it has a narrow gullet, I’m checking on that, which is a tad narrow for my TB. My kind of warmblood shaped TB.

What can anyone tell me about the Celine? If anyone can tell me how it feels compared to an Edith that would be amazing especially how it would accommodate wide hips. But who has one? What kind of horse? And how do you like it?

[Cabaret_SK]

I didn’t end up buying one, but test rode a Santa Cruz Celine on my wide Morgan. It fit him nicely. He was wide through the barrel, with a prominent wither.

I can’t remember how it felt for me, unfortunately.

[Happyhorselady]

I tried one to buy but it didn’t fit my Morgan thoroughbred shaped like a warmblood. Very nice looking saddle but it also put me in a wierd position because it didn’t suit my long legs. The saddle I tried was medium wide by the way and my medium wide colligate does fit him.

[Cabaret_SK]

[QUOTE=Happyhorselady;8580503]
I tried one to buy but it didn’t fit my Morgan thoroughbred shaped like a warmblood. Very nice looking saddle but it also put me in a wierd position because it didn’t suit my long legs. The saddle I tried was medium wide by the way and my medium wide colligate does fit him.[/QUOTE]

Ah. Yeah, Collegiate’s didn’t work on my Morgan - wrong shape and usually not wide enough. A wide Santa Cruz Celine worked, as did a 32cm Stubben.

[HicksteadFan]

I found out my current saddle is actually a medium tree. It seems very narrow though. My thorowgood dressage saddle is on a medium/wide tree (which is actually on the narrow side of the spectrum considering they go to XWide/XXWide). I’ve read the Celine trees can be a bit wider. Anyone have a measurement for a medium or wide Celine tree that I can compare to my saddles?

[Spud_amp_Saf]

The Santa Cruz Celine/Cenatauro (same saddle just different leather)/Richvale (almost identical saddle built on same tree I beleive), fit pretty generously. A Medium is more like a Medium Wide and a Wide is generally a true Wide.

I find they work on quite a wide variety of horses, and can accommodate a larger shoulder well. I think they are very decent saddles for the money, and are quite comfortable and secure. If you want a deal, Pleasant Ridge has a few Celines on clearance for like $799 currently.

[HicksteadFan]

[QUOTE=Spud&Saf;8581444]
I find they work on quite a wide variety of horses, and can accommodate a larger shoulder well. I think they are very decent saddles for the money, and are quite comfortable and secure. If you want a deal, Pleasant Ridge has a few Celines on clearance for like $799 currently.[/QUOTE]

Yup, Pleasant Ridge is where I was looking. I didn’t consider it before because the regular $1900 is a little (or a lot) out of my price range. But I think I’ll buy one and if I don’t like it I can resell it as pretty much new. Thanks for the help

[HicksteadFan]

Does anyone know what colour of stirrup leathers would match the Toast version?
http://www.pleasantridge.ca/index.php/saddles/new-english/close-contact/santa-cruz-celine-cc-saddle.html

Options are tobacco, Australian nut (I’m thinking this is the closest), oakbark (also close I think) and havana. I could always go with the tobacco to match the seat but I think that would be just a little eccentric (even for me, and my horse wears a purple with multi-coloured stripes fly sheet all summer). I think Australian nut would be the best match to the saddle flap.

[event_ryder]

Had a student come with that saddle. She struggled with a weak lower leg and despite working diligiantly on exercises to strengthen it she still had such a hard time. I finally decided to hop on saddle and I found the balance point was so far to the back of the saddle it nearly forced her into a poor position. We ended up finding a different used saddle that had a better balance and her riding improved markedly.