Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Alice,

 

I'm a heavyweight rider and I have three different horses to ride in endurance and CTR. I ride each horse in a different saddle depending on what that horse requires. One is ridden in a custom western style endurance saddle, on which I've removed the traditional fenders and put on English leathers (helps my kneess). Another horse is ridden in an Abetta softee saddle. And my young mare is ridden in a Duett AP saddle. She has almost no withers, a very wide, flat back. She requires a 36 cm gullet. Her back has been great since I got this saddle. No flinching, no problems and she moves out so nicely. I never knew this mare  had a nice trot until I got the right saddle for her.

 

What I've found is that the standard Wintec or Bates saddle only goes up to about 32 cm with the very widest gullet. And the Wintec type saddles are too "scoopy" for a flat backed horse.

 

The other problem is that by changing the gullet, you aren't adjusting the fit on the rest of the saddle for a wide horse.

 

The Duett fits two of my horses, my mare with the very flat back, and one of my geldings with more dip in his back. I don't know how they did it, but it must be the engineering behind a tree for wide horses.

 

I love my Duett and I'm starting to see them in more tack stores. I got mine mail order from Nancy Temple and she was very good about sending me two different sizes to try. Here's her link:  www.duettsaddles.com

 

There's another option for training riding until you get the right saddle fit. It's a Littlejoe bareback saddle. I've got one and it's marvelous. Far better than the Cashel bareback pad. You CAN use stirrups with it and it is stable and safe. I've ridden in my Litttlejoe up and down very steep hillsides, across creeks, over fallen trees and anywhere I can take a horse. I felt secure on it. I can't say that for the BM and other treeless saddles. I could never get them to stay on my round horses without sliding.

 

for dinking around and quick tack ups and training rides, you can't beat the Littlejoe. i'm toying with trying it for an LD ride with one of my geldings.

 

Here's what some of my riding friends have said about their LIttlejoe saddles:  http://bayrab.proboards37.com/index.cgi?board=general&action="">

 

Here' s a link to the saddles:  www.better-horsetack.com

 

Hope this helps.

 

chris

Alice Yovich <ayovich@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Yes, I realize t his is the most over discussed topic on this list, but
> unfortunately, the question must be asked. is there a better way to go?
> English or Western? I'm working with a saddle fitter on my n ew horse, JJ
> Freeley, and she says that every saddle I own is totally not a good fit (not
> to mention that the English saddle I just purchased from teh barn trainer
> turned out to have a broken tree adn she hasn't told me if she'll give me
> back my money or not GRRR) I need something to begin to ride him
> comfortably, but it doesn't have to be "the" saddle for all time. He is out
> of shape and working LSD and he needs to be comfortable, but he's not
> competing ... the saddle fitter and I had discussed an English style
> endurance saddle or a dressage saddle so I could have one saddle for both
> sports. He's very wide and his back is fairly straight. I was all
>  set to
> look for an english saddle, but then was told that they aren't great for
> distance. Is that true? or is it completely individual to the horse?
>
>
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Chris Paus

BayRab Acres http://pages.prodigy.net/paus

Lake Region SWA  http://lakeregionswa.fws1.com