I have an Obrigado for Bravo, and really like it. My position is much better than in my older Custom Wolfgang or my Lemke. Unfortunately it will not fit the new guy. I have only ridden in one other Schleese saddle, a prototype of the Pro Lite, and the twist really hurt my hips. For those who have ridden in Schleese saddles, how do the other models compare?
iām going to a Schleese fitting soon. I have asked to trial a couple of models that might be a good fit for me. One of them is a GP saddle, called Remonte, that appears to be dressage-y enough. Other being an Infinity II.
One of the good features of the Schleese saddles is that they can be refitted to another horse. (i suppose that assumes no MAJOR differences in body type tho?). Itās a question i intend to ask the fitter.
Only if the tree shape works for the new horse. Itās not as easy as Schleese makes it sound - speaking from experience - and they are willing to say what you want to hear to make a sale. Buyer beware.
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Well crap, thatās not such good news. Oh well, iāll go anyway. Already paid for itā¦
Iām looking for a used saddle anyhow. Want to only spend under 3k I plan on carving it up to take off the knee rolls, and maybe painting it too. So, they can stuff it to fit this mare @now, and when i bring up another decent contender, iāll start again with a new fit session for that one.
There isnāt really any difference in this regard between Schleese and other quality wool flocked saddles. Schleese fitters are more willing to put the saddle in a press to alter the wither gullet incrementally. My independent fitter wonāt do this as she says it compromises tree integrity. I think you can get away with it once or twice, but not say yearly. A good question when buying a used Schleese is how often thatās been done already. Schleese used to actually warn buyers away from used Schleese saddles on their website. I think they may have stopped doing that.
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OH!!! oh noā¦
They used to take off maker plates and replace them with Schleese plates. As someone who worked in tack sales at that time I say it was a great thing. It helped us know which saddles to refuse on consignment (and we did) because the innards were probably completely butchered and possibly unsafe.
That experience over several years has steered me away from that company permanently.
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whuT!
okā¦what do they do that ruins the innards than?
If the tree is the bone and the wool is muscle and leather skinā¦
The leather is visible soā¦thatās going to be ok
And wool is justā¦packing and is removed and exchanged
Then all thatās left is the tree. Which i think they adjust mechanically.
So, Are the trees made of plastic and get warmed and then bent when they refit them to your horse or something?
Bingo.
Back in the day, it was broken trees ārepairedā mostly on saddles with traditional trees.
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okay, but what do you mean by repaired? Like the old Scheese trees were wooden and when they got repaired they were glued or something?
The current models are āinfinitely adjustableā their ad says
Ok, let me spell this out. Someone would take a saddle in for adjustment (say a Passier or a Stubben), ārepairsā would be made and they would take the original saddle plate saying Passier or Stubben or whatever and replace it with their Schleese nameplate. That alone should be a clue about the ethics of the company. But the biggest thing is that trees that went in to them not broken would come back broken and repaired in any manner of appalling, unsafe, unethical, and downright horrendous ways. Staples where no staples should be, etc.
Have they āmendedā their own ways by this time? Maybe. Personally I would not trust them with the saddle for a wooden rocking horse.
And then thereās the measurement thing. They took measurements for a friendās girth in cm. The girth came back made to measure in inches. If they canāt keep that sort of thing straight ā¦
And again, I say this is all historical. Maybe theyāre better now, but in the early days when they should have been trying their hardest to make a good reputation, they were not.
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iāll take your experience under advisement and be adequately suspicious regarding their used saddles. I will go though, if nothing else than to get thorough measurements. Maybe the measures will be transferrable to another saddle maker. Maybe they can tell me some insights that they can see that iām totally blind to. Glad i said something on here. And good-to-know that Schleese is not always what itās crackedup to be. Tks.
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Well, this is all a huge bummer. I just bought a used Schleese for my TB. Iām 63, broke, and weāre schooling (probably permanently) second level.
I 
old Passiers and have a weakness for Canadians. Jochen Schleese apparently trained w/ Passier back in the day.
My biggest complaint about the fitting experience was how long they took telling me how terrible my current saddle is.
First, they thought my epic, ancient Crates endurance saddle was a āwesternā saddle. Iād sold my old Passier to make sure Iād shop hard enough to actually replace it, so was using my trail saddle in the interim.
Though I told them it was not my schooling saddle, they insisted on seeing me in it and spent 20 minutes pointing out its flaws. Itās a great saddle and fits my horse and me. Wish Iād told them I only rode bareback.
Oh well. My local dressage peeps warned me, not with these details, though.
The good news is Iāll be lucky to stay fit enough to ride this horse daily for even a decade. It should last that long.
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JRD is famous for doing this as well. Sleezy.
Like Schleese addles, there are tons of used JRDs on Ebay.
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Chin-up Sami-Joe, your mileage may vary!!
Letās see your new-to-U saddle 
Yeah, i say this very same thing often: Iām old, so how long does it(whatever It is) need to last anyhow!?
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basically, i actually do!
well theyāre gonna rip my saddle to shreds than! (itās a 189.99 synthetic lol). Though i doubt theyāll waste much time with me. Itās a gathering, so there will be others thereā¦others that are VIPs. My only fear is that there will actually be other peopleā¦and that is intimidating. As long as i can have some personal space iāll be fine. If not, well, i have my own transportation and can leaveā¦
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When not in the company of people who might take offence, that is exactly how we pronounced Schleese.
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Leave it running 
Humour aside, maybe they have changed. Youāve paid, so you might as well hear what they have to say. Your transportation is a dump truck loaded with salt though, right? 
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lolā¦wellā¦itās not fancy by any means. I haul cattle and sheeep in it tooā¦ But itās all steel, synthetic boards, then thick mats for a bottom and open 16ā box. My truck is a dirty F250 D. Well, if it rains between now and then truck and trailer wonāt be THAT dirty. We can get-there-and-back, but not stylishly.
What is the benefit of Schleese/JRD taking off the maker plates and replacing them with their own? Just getting their name out there or ā¦???
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