Has anyone had one of these or currently use one? Wondering what the pros and cons are, longterm wear and if its one of those where you liked it at first, but then things changed. Currently ride in an older Hennig and considering a change for better fit for my horse and myself.
I have a WOW jumping saddle and a good friend of mine has a dressage one. We both love them. I do not have the air panels in mine - they require an experienced fitter to adjust and I move around enough that I wasn’t confident I would always have access to such a fitter. So mine is wool flocked. My horse and I both love it (as does my friend and her horse) and I really like that just about everything can be changed to accommodate a different horse or just big changes in your current horse’s muscling/shape.
We have a good fitter in this area so there are quite a few people that have both jumping and dressage WOW saddles and everyone I have ever spoken with have been very happy with them.
I tried one for my young horse and he told me he hated it in no uncertain terms. A barnmate purchased one this spring and it was not fit well and has caused what looks to me like a fistula on her horse’s withers. So, I’m not a big fan…
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I’ve ridden in one for five years. My horse and I love it.
I absolutely LOVE my WOW saddle! I have a jumping saddle - had it custom built so it looks like a standard hunter/equitation saddle, but I can switch between english billets (for show) and monoflap/dressage billets (for schooling & basic dressage). That’s not a standard thing - I told my WOW rep it was a requirement so I could still use it in “hunter land” and he invented the combo for me, which I love. I’ve had the saddle now for over 2 years - I got it when my young gelding was still developing and I’d spent over a year trying to get something that fit him. Since then, we have adjusted the headplate 2-3 times as he grew (all for no cost!). As an earlier posted did, I also have mine wool-flocked (instead of air). I am pretty passionate about wool still being the best, but know folks who have the air and like it.
I agree that it’s important to have an excellent WOW rep / saddle fitter so that you can truly take advantage of all the customization. What I loved was that all the customization is included in the flat price for the saddle - so I could do anything I wanted without any change in price (I paid $4000 new, in comparison to the Voltaire quote I got which was upwards of $6000 and that saddle would have still needed a special pad because they couldn’t adjust it perfectly to my horse’s back).
Your user profile doesn’t show where you are, but it you are anywhere in the Pacific Northwest / California, then definitely get ahold of David Gilpin. He is awesome, friendly, knowledgeable, and covers Idaho/Utah/Washington/Oregon/California for WOW - plus he’s also a great saddle fitter for any brand, not just WOW.
There are a couple other strings here on COTH that cover WOW saddles - you might do a search to see what other posts are available to review.
A completely not helpful post I’ll admit but every time I see this saddle brand I think of World of Warcraft and the saddles available there. . . It just makes a funny picture in my head. And it’s obviously not a market that crosses, I’m guessing those who ride and play WOW are few. . .
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Thank you for all the feedback. I think I just need to see for myself. I am in Midwest and I found a fitter in Windsor, ON. Wish me luck!
Well, I am still looking. Frank Baines Aire anyone? WOW fitter coming out in a few weeks with some additional pieces that we can try to put a saddle together. Still like the concept of WOW, but in the meantime I need to keep searching.
Dare i resurrect this old thread? @tcgrrg if you’re still out there what did you end up with?
Does anyone have any current feedback on the WOW saddles? I’m fascinated but unsure if they are too fiddly and modern for me?
You should sit in one. I found it incredibly intrusive and hard to sit on. I also experienced a fitter taking literally hours to fit one. The airline got a kink and that was another nightmare.
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I bought a WOW jump saddle this spring for my very wide Andy-cross. He’s in a 5 Ubar (headplate) which is the equivalent to a 3Xwide. The saddle doesn’t feel that wide at all. My short little legs have no problem with the width and I’ve had many moments of feeling like I have a very long, deep leg.
I’m a good 3 days drive from the nearest fitter, so I’ve been figuring it out on my own (with lots of emails to her in the beginning). I still don’t have the Flair quite right I think. This is the one thing I wish that I had someone knowledgable to help me with as you are supposed to make the adjustments while mounted so you can’t really do it yourself. There are a couple of Flair fitters in the area so if I get into trouble I guess I could try them.
I used the WOW gauge to figure out what pieces I needed, then found the seat and panels used online in the UK. I need child sized flaps so I ordered them new. I saved some money this way, but not as much as I hoped. I would like to replace my panels with a set that has deeper rear gussets so that I don’t have to have as much air in the rear, but I doubt that I’ll find them used so I’m waiting until I get some cash together.
I really like the saddle for the 4 months or so that I’ve had it. It’s rock solid on my very round horse, even better with an H-girth (again, bought used). I really like the fact that if I want to change or upgrade parts then I can change just the part that I need to and keep using the rest. Provided that the horse doesn’t change his mind about it, I plan to keep it for a long time.
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Friend of mine has one and says it is like sitting on a Kotex… :no: Way too soft. From all the whozits & whatnots that go into fitting these things, I would pass. Way too much fuss.
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Ha! Well that is a heck of a description and I’m just old enough to get it 
I have decided to pass. Which leaves me back to saddle shopping…sigh. Thank you all!
Being from New Zealand, I have no idea what a Kotex is. But if the saddle feels too soft, it sounds like it has too much air in it.
It’s a brand of sanitary pad for your period. Old fashioned term. :lol:
