Saddle for light dressage work
 

Hi all!

I mostly ride Western, but back when I was a weeeee teenager I used to ride English hunter/jumper... :wink: and I think that both my horse and I could benefit from some cross training, specifically in low-level dressage.

I was thinking of purchasing an all-purpose saddle just to have something to sit on. My question is: do you think an all-purpose is the way to go, or should I look into an actual dressage saddle? I don't want to end up buying a saddle which I will quickly rotate out-of.

Thanks in advance!

If you just want to ride dressage without jumping, then get a dressage saddle. An AP will do nothing to help your position do you will be fighting with it constantly. If you want to piddle around with a few poles as well then look at an AP but remember that its not going to make life easy for you!
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All purpose is a major yuck.. the only way to get "dressage" down, is if you practice in an actual dressage saddle because they have a deep seat versus a forward shallow seat.

I am just getting back into eventing and instead of getting an AP, I first found a used wintec dressage saddle on eBay for a hundred bucks. It's not great, but definitely better than an AP :) If you aren't going to jump, though, I'd go with a dressage saddle. Even if you are, I also found my jumping saddle on eBay for a great deal :)
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Thanks for the advice, everyone!

I know you've already gotten a lot of great advice, this is just my 2 cents.

If you're just thinking dressage, definitely look around and try to find a dressage saddle for cheap over going for an AP. I have an AP now and while the saddle itself is good quality and everything, it's not good for my riding position AT ALL. The saddle naturally puts me too far forward, making it really, really hard to keep a nice, deep seat and keep my legs up at the girth where they need to be - it pushes my legs back, pushing my upper body forward and only making the problem of a shallow seat even worse. :?