If the cut back feature is something you like, have a look for the Prestige D1 or D2.
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Now THAT checks my boxes!!! Thank you!! If I search for Harry Dabbs Future panel dressage, I see their UK website and yours and that’s about it. I only see pictures of the Future panel on the jump saddles. Is it well established in their dressage saddles? Do you know of a US or East Coast distributor I can talk to about their models and trees? Sending you a PM…
I was on their website last night! Thanks!! They do seem to have nice cut-back models.
The D1 was a game-changer for my impossible to fit gelding, plus I loved it too
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Same here. The Prestige D1 made all the difference, and the cutback panels are greatl.
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I only see pictures of the Future panel on the jump saddles. Is it well established in their dressage saddles?
I just responded to your pm, but I missed this question. The difference in the regular vs. Future panel is much more apparent in a jump saddle than a dressage saddle due to the different flap positions so pictures for advertising all show the jump saddles but yes, it is well established in dressage saddles. I find that not as many horses require it in their dressage saddles as do in jump saddles, but for those that do it has a significant benefit. I only have two dressage saddles with the Future panel, once I get your tracings I will see if either is on a tree that will work for your horse.
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I am super happy with my PDS saddle for my deep-shouldered (cut back panels) short-backed mare. It has the gullet exchange system and we are using the xtra large.
Independent saddle fitter was out recently and she basically reflocked due to compression over time and lifted the wither area a little. She also said that this saddle with the TSF girth is a great solution for my horse.
My greatest coup in this saddle is that I did not visit the seven circles of hell to find it. First saddle I tried on my mare after it became clear that my Barnsby was too long and was hurting her back. Bought it after a quick trial. How often does that happen?? Saddle shopping is supposed to be hell.
I looked around online, and my model is discontinued. The saddle is supposedly designed by Carl Hester, and they appear to be much cheaper than the price when originally introduced. At one time Dover sold my model for $6K. Dover no longer carries the line.
Best of luck.
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Which model PDS did you get?
It IS hell. 
What model did you get? How can you tell that a saddle has cut-back panels?
i have looked at this saddle a few times. How short-backed is your horse?
(my mare had big shoulders, but medium length back, however all the mustangs except two that are coming up have short backs)
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The first horse I used it on actually had a back as long as a school bus. He totally didn’t need the short panels of the D1, but it fit him so well in the shoulder and sat very balanced on his back.
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Have you looked at Hennigs? They have cut back panels and some models have a hinged tree that moves with the horse. My horses love them. (I’ve had two Hennigs for very different horses.) Any reputable fitter can adjust one if you start out with the correct tree width. Most are custom made, so you need to find one to fit your body type, leg length, etc. When you find one to fit, they are a dream for the rider.
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It is the PDS Aldea. Here is a link so you can read the description and see the saddle. https://www.saddlecentral.com.au/product-page/pds-aldea-dressage-saddle I have no connection to the seller and don’t even know if this saddle is for sale. For reference only.
If you look at the front flap, you will see the curve away from the shoulder. On my mare, you can run your hand under the saddle and find that it does not interfere. My mare extends naturally and easily in general. In this saddle, she is unrestricted.
Then if you look at the seat, you can see how it is configured to keep the rider’s weight away from the lumbar region. I love this saddle. My chiro says that she sees no evidence of saddle fit issues.
Mine is an 18. If you are 17.5 or less, and love this saddle, you may be able to pick up a used Mondega Valentia which is the same saddle sold in Canada by Greenhawk. Remember, it uses the Pessoa exchangeable gullet system. And if so, you can get a bargain given the value of USD.
For the record, I have a 16 hand Appendix mare that conformationally favours her TB lineage with a deep shoulder and short back. She is on the cusp of the xtra large gullet.
Hope that helps.
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Same, unfortunately, I haven’t heard great things about them and additionally their customer service can be difficult to say the least.
I had 5 horses measured by a Schleese saddle fitter and I bought 1 used dressage saddle had 3 custom western / hybrid saddles made specifically for those horses and I just wanna say, I feel like a sucker.
The whole process took almost 10 months from initial contact to saddle delivery, was very expensive, and when it was all said and done the saddles were very hit or miss. In one case an extreme miss. I expected after all that, these saddles would fit like a glove.
I was also frustrated with the customer support angle. When we tried to tell our saddle fit rep that things were really off with one of the saddles, we got tremendous pushback bordering on gaslighting. When we contacted Schleese we were just directed back to the representative. We went back and forth with extreme push back from the rep and Schleese, ultimately ended up keeping the problem saddle because we just didn’t want to deal with the rep anymore. It never remotely fit the horse it was made for despite trying all the ‘fixes’ the rep recommended.
This is the actual email I sent to Schleese (identifying info redacted):
“Hello,
My name is abc. This year I had my 5 of my horses professionally measured and fitted by a representative from Schleese, abc. Since then I have bought four saddles from Schleese. One was a used dressage saddle and the other 3 I had custom made for my horses.
The used dressage saddle is for my Friesian draft cross, and I’m happy with it.
I had the Fusion saddle made also for my draft Friesian cross, and I’m happy with it.
I had the Sheridan made for my mutton-withered downhill 14.3 quarter horse, and when the saddle fitter came out, I asked if it could also possibly be adjusted to fit my 19 hands shark-fin-withered Percheron. She told my partner that the saddle would fit them both just fine. It fits decently well on the Percheron. But we haven’t been able to ride the QH in it because he’s recovering from an injury. But all-in-all we’re happy with the saddle. (Though I’m skeptical that it will fit the QH).
The Devin, however, is another story.
We bought it for our downhill semi-mutton-withered Arabian pony, who is generally difficult to fit. My partner, who has trained horses professionally over 10 years, spent years working out a saddle solution for this horse. She worked out something that has been working well. She has ridden this pony hundreds of miles in endurance races over many years. It was my hope that Schleese could provide us with another, hopefully even better, saddle solution.
Right off the bat the saddle didn’t look good—I can share pictures and videos—and when we lunged her, she was showing obvious signs of distress, and as the saddle flopped around on her back, she was pitching, pinning her ears, and swishing her tail. The pad actually fell out from under the saddle. This was after the saddle fitter had spent an entire day at our property “adjusting” the saddles to properly fit the horses. We were told that the girth wasn’t tight enough and this was the problem. However, the Schleese girth (provided by the saddle fitter), was on the tightest holes on both sides. When my partner tried to ride in the saddle, it felt very unsafe. She was having to hold the saddle in place with her body.
We also had abc measure my downhill Quarab pony with a similar size and shape to the Arabian pony, and we tried to adjust the saddle to him, but it didn’t fit him well either. It slipped from side to side and also had to be held in place by the rider. It wasn’t as bad as with the Arabian, but it was still a much worse fit than the western saddle that we already had. It didn’t feel safe to go faster than a walk on either horse in this saddle.
We’ve been told to get a new girth, and new pads, and to try a variety of adjustments, as well as allowing it to “break in.” We are willing to try what we can with the tack that we already have, but after getting the horses professionally measured, spending thousands of dollars having custom saddles made specifically for them, and having a saddle fitter spend a whole day adjusting them, I feel that this saddle is way too off the mark.
Our guess is that downhill Arabians just aren’t what Schleese is used to fitting. But nonetheless, I would like to return the Devin saddle before I am outside of the window of time to return it.”
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I wanna add a few things:
We asked for the saddle to have a crupper ring, and the thing they put on was this pretty little decorative D ring that is non-functional.
For all their talk of “saddle support area” and telling us our ponies had a very short saddle support area, the saddle provided was longer than the measured saddle support area of the horses it was made for.
I also want to second what a lot of people said here about them sitting really high off the horse.
I also want to second what some people said here about how they claim to be able to provide a perfect fit for ALL horses, when they really just can’t.
And just generally; it felt like they branched into western saddles to try and be a jack of all trades, when really they probably should have stuck with English.
