Specialized saddle

[Foxyrab]

In the thread "Question-the best endurance saddle? , jlrcoats wrote: “I am sooo happy with my Specialized Saddle.”

I’m thinking about getting one of these (the Eurolight) and would appreciate any feedback you (or anyone else) can offer.

How difficult is it to determine how to adjust the shims and cushions to best fit the horse? The video makes it look easy, but videos can be deceiving.

How comfortable is the saddle for you? How much of a rise is there in front of the seat area, and do you feel “stuck” in one specific spot?

What kind and size of seat did you get? I’m 5’2" and 125 pounds and “think” I want a 16" seat, in that I don’t like feeling stuck in one spot.

Any recommendations as far as what dealer to work with in order to purchase one of these saddles?

Any other thoughts or considerations? Again, any feedback would be appreciated.

[IrishKharma]

A 16" would be too big. You would need a 15.

They are great saddles, I’ve had two of them ( a western and the trailmaster) I bought the western one to use until my custom saddle was ready- which took over 4 months. It was frustrating!

Great saddles though.

[2Jakes]

I have a Eurolight and it’s the best treed saddle I’ve ever had. Jake also seems to like it a lot. It is lightweight and very close contact, as close to bareback as any treed saddle I’ve ever ridden in. Jake is a foxtrotter and he gaits out beautifully in it.

I didn’t have a big problem fitting it to him but I guess that part would depend heavily on the individual horse. If they are all kinds of weird shape it could get more complicated. All I had to do was rasp down the shoulder area and bevel the other edges a bit. Of course when and if I get it checked by a fitting person it may not be as good as I think, but, no dry spots and no complaints from Jake.

As far as the seat goes, the Eurolight has the endurance seat, it is flatter than the trail seat (I think that is the correct terminology) so you are not locked in at all. I demo’ed a Trailmaster with the trail seat first and that one did give you the locked in feel. I demo’ed the Euro after that and I hated to send it back!

Now, having sung its praises I have to qualify the statement about the “best treed saddle I’ve had”…it is not 100% comfy for me but I have seatbone issues with any treed saddle. This one is about 80% comfy for me but I still am trying to find just the right padding to go under the fleece seat. I am using felt now and tweaking the shape, it’s getting better. I would much rather ride bareback or treeless but my seatbones can actually dig thru any padding I have tried and my horse will have dry spots, so we have to have a tree and this one is relatively the best we’ve found.

I agree with IrishK, you will be fine in a 15". If you think you are really interested call and get a demo. It will be worth the shipping charges to be sure you like it.

I dealt directly with Specialized. There was a solid 2 month wait while saddle was being built but it was worth it. I searched those whole two months for a used one and never found one until the last week.

[Painted_Horse]

I bought a western Specialized Saddle, Oh at least 10 years ago. It has held up well. Become the favorite saddle for any of my daughters. Partly because of it’s weight . since it’s so much lighter than any my other western saddles.

[chicamuxen1]

A friend of mine demoed one and asked me what I thought of how good it fit her horse. Her Arabian is a narrow horse, prominent spine and NOT a flat back. Her rib cage angles downward and the tree in the saddle was built for a flat back. The fitter had added all kinds of shims, trying to get the panels to match the mares angles. It just wasn’t enough and the fit was bad. the horse obviously wasn’t happy with the fit. It might be that better panels could have been customized and the fit improved but adding on shims created hard edges that the horse could feel.

So, if you have a horse who’s back conformation would require a lot of customizing then you may want to consider this.

Bonnie S.

[Foxyrab]

Thanks to all who gave input on these saddles – I appreciate your taking the time to help in the decision making process!

[Pocket_Pony]

I worked with saddle fitters who are independent of any saddle company but who carry select saddles that they have seen to be liked by a lot of horses and riders. They said a large percentage of the saddles they sell are Specialized (for those who want western/trail/endurance). I just got one a couple months ago - it was used so I didn’t have to wait for it. Now that I’m looking on the Specialized website I don’t see it (I swear it used to be there!) but it is a western trail model, so a western seat/horn/fenders, but english rigging, very little leather under the leg, and a very close-contact feel. I love it! I’m 5’4"-ish, 110 lb., and I got the 16" and like the bigger seat size. I like having room to move around in the saddle and I also wanted the bigger size so Mr. PoPo could ride in it and not feel squished.

Here’s a picture of me in it in my super-green mustang:

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2110920760029199246iGuWTJ