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English Saddle Advise

4K views 20 replies 8 participants last post by  Appy Luvr 
#1 ·
I am on the search for an English saddle...and I know nothing about them, lol!! I have a friend that has told me the approx size, width, etc I need so I'm good on that. I'm just not sure which one/what kind would be best for what I need?! I want to eventually start jumping but for now i'm just going to be learning how to ride in one, lol!! What would be the best kind to get? AP, CC, etc? I am looking at this saddle, a STUBBEN PORTOS, pictured below, would this work for what I want? It is advertised as an All Purpose but I looked it up on the Stubben site and it says it's a Jumping saddle. Any advise would be greatly appreciated!!
 
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#2 ·
That saddle is pretty deep for a cc, they are usually a little flatter, but it should work fine for you. It almost looks more like an all purpose saddle to me.

The first thing you'll want to do is make sure it fits your horse. Stubben's tend to be made a little more narrow than the average saddle (medium is more like a med/narrow) and the older models tend to be a little harder in the seat area (not as comfy....:lol: ) So make sure it fits both you and the horse. I'd maybe think of having a saddle fitter out to make sure it fits because english saddles are generally a little more difficult to fit to horses than western ones and have more pressure point areas. Is there somewhere that you can take a similar saddle ut to try and see if you like it? That would be your best bet. Good luck with your search! :D
 
#4 ·
No, nobody does English riding out here....(I'm going to have to hide when I'm riding English, LOL!) so having someone fit it or trying one out is kind of out of the question for me unfortunatly. Thanks for the info DressageAppy!

Can an all purpose saddle be used for light jumping?

Oh, and thanks Caesar :)
 
#5 ·
lol I feel funny typing all this because I'm dressed all fancy, lol! But where do you live? There are usually at least a few english people in the area. As for jumping in an AP, of course you can! I have jumped in my AP for like the last idk 5 years. Once you start jumping alot, you might want to get an actuallual jumping saddle, but to start and AP is great. You might want to find a trainer too..
 
#6 ·
I'm in eastern Montana, Western country :) I've already tried finding a trainer to at least teach me the basics but I'm not having much luck.
I have a good friend in CA that does English so she is helping me a bit...as much as someone half way across the country can help anyway, lol!!
 
#7 · (Edited)
The seat looks, not bad, but like it might not work for all people (well I guess technically that's true of all saddles, but still). Is this a local one you might be able to trial, or are you looking online.


Oh and as for the AP & jumping...well yes you can jump in an AP. However, if you plan to do it regularly, you want one that is going to help your position rather than encourage brand habits. I would say in APs even more so than CCs, stick to known brand names, and get one with a "jumping tendency"
 
#9 ·
Any of the older Stubben APs would be a good choice, Siegfried, Portos, Wotan (woton?), etc. They are well balanced and more secure feeling than a flatter close contact. The medium trees (30-32 cm) also fit a pretty wide variety of horses.

You can jump up to 3' in a good quality AP saddle, no problem. There is NO need to get a CC, unless you're going to show rated hunter shows or jump higher than 3' ;-).
 
#10 ·
Well I'm a huge Bates fan but for just starting out, you can get a great deal on a Wintec. I prefer the CC/Pro Jump to the AP model b/c in my experience the APs tend to put the rider in a chair seat which isn't really good for anything. You can do basic dressage in a CC/Jumping saddle so I tend to defer to them over the AP.

I like the Wintecs b/c between the CAIR and the changeable gullets, the saddle will fit most horses, and you can be sure that you're not causing back issues. Like any saddle an ill fitting one can do serious damage to the horse's back. The Wintecs make it easy even if you're not super experienced in saddle fitting, and they are durable and low maintenance and a decent cost in my opinion. :)

Good luck!
 
#14 ·
Haha Stormy, you would be very surprised.

I am in Montana also. I am attempting at getting into the English world. Right now I am working with a trainer but she does mostly AQHA HUS type stuff.
I know there are some people in my side of Montana, but I know nothing about Eastern Montana. I know theres some in Billings but....thats pretty west when it comes to Montana :P

If you're ever in the Bozeman area you will have a fellow English (kind of) rider.
 
#19 ·
Stormy, you would be very surprised. Montana is mostly ranchers and western riders. There are some AQHA breed shows, but as far as eventing/HJ whatever goes, it is very few and far between. The Dressage show I'm going to be going to in June is about an hour and a half from me and i am in western Montana where we have a bit more going on.

There is stuff, just very few and very far in between.

You weren't kidding when you said eastern, Appy. Good luck! I have been pestereing everyone with questions so at least you will have company :P
 
#20 ·
An older leather saddle is a better investment than a new Wintec. They will hold their value better and you will get more use out of them. You may have to get it reflocked, but with a good cushioning pad (like a ThinLine or Skito), you can get away with waiting a while on that. It costs about $80-150 to have a saddle re-flocked, depending on how much work needs to be done and the saddle fitter.

Plus those CAIR panels do NOT fit all horses. Just because they're air filled, does not mean they will completely conform to a horse's back. I have see three very different models of CAIR Wintecs fail horribly on different horses using a Port Lewis Impression pad. They do well on some horses, and then do fine on many others, but when a horse doesn't like them or they don't work, you can get some pretty darn STRONG reactions, lol.

I had a Pro-Jump and it worked well on my mare, but my gelding bucked like he had a mountain lion on his back, lol.
 
#21 ·
Well, I found a VERY nice older Stubben Siegfried (sp) the perfect size, great price, and it hardly even looks used! Can't wait for it to get here!!!
There really isn't anything in Eastern Montana...people don't realize there are places like this still around but there are!!! I am 40 miles from the closest TINY town, 2 HOURS from the closest Walmart, 4 hours from the closest mall....I could go on!!!
 
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