Over the years, I have ridden in three Ansur models. I first tried the Ansur about 15 years ago. The saddle constantly spun around the barrel of my little Morgan mare and she detested the use of any type of anti-slip pad. Sold that one. In 2012 or so, I tried and bought an Ansur Excel. I now had three horses and, at first, it seemed to work well for horses and me. However, the more I rode in it, I had trouble finding my balance. Finally, after seeing a video of one of my lessons, I realized that the stirrup bar position was putting me in a major chair position, which explained why my balance was so off. Both the Classic and the Excel were bought new and resold for about 70% of the original value on Ebay.
Last year, I tried and purchased a Carlton dressage from Pelham Saddlery. The saddle came with a gullet filler (makes it fit like the Classic), gullet panels and shoulder columns. The saddle is a fantastic fit on my Morgan x TB/Clyde cross gelding. He is comfy and I am balanced. The saddle does not fit my Morgan mare very well. She is very uphill and the saddle puts me in a chair position. I suppose I could get fancy with padding but in my opinion, if you have to get creative with padding, the saddle is not the right fit.
For what it is worth, I use a regular PRI saddle pad with the Carlton. The saddle does not slip and the gelding is happy.
Karen
