Close Contact saddles

what's the difference between a close contact saddle and a jumping saddle?

Ok, well all along, i thought i had an all purpose saddle. I was wrong. I actually have a close contact Ovation saddle.

What are they good for and stuff?

That is an excellent question!

I don't really have an answer... just an opinion. I think there's a very fine and vague line between 'close contact' and 'jumping' that varies from person to person . I grew up being told that a close contact saddle was an english saddle you jumped in that didn't have knee rolls (so you could have more and closer contact to the horse), as opposed to an all purpose saddle that has a dressage influence, had knee rolls, and usually a deeper seat. But almost all the close contact saddles these days have knee rolls! I still consider them to be close contact. I consider a 'jumping' saddle to be anything that's suitable for jumping, for example a close contact saddle or an all purpose saddle. Sooo... that's my personal definition. Perhaps other people will disagree.

I think a lot of times they're considered the same.

The only difference I can discern is that close contact saddles are made with less padding so there is less material between the horse and rider allowing more sensitive contact.

ohh ok. So close contacts aren't good for flat work then?

I think they're great for flat work! Unless you do dressage (and only dressage) I would say get a dressage saddle. If you're mainly hacking and there's a possibility of jumping I'd say close contact or all purpose. I personally like them much better then all purpose saddles.

for some reason, i missed your first post upnover.

Mine does have knee rolls and stuff, and idk, i just thought it was an all purpose.

I'm glad you can still use it for flat work. I might do a little dressage.. like extended trots and stuff like that. Nothing serious though.

Thanks for the info!!