Saddle fitting help required

[carolinec]

I am hoping some of you will have experience of the Wintec Wide saddle.

I currently have a Wintec GP and although the XW (white) gullet plate fits Pip ok width-ways, the saddle feels "perched" and there is a lot of wither clearance.

I am thinking about getting a Wintec Wide saddle as I'm told that they are flatter & more suited to Native breeds but Pip is currently a little tubby and I'm concerned that if he loses weight the gullet plates in the Wintec Wide will be too wide for him & will have wasted my money. He's a big chunk of a pony & currently in a 54" girth if that's any help...

Does anyone have a Wintec Wide please & how do the gullet plates compare to the XW gullet plate in the normal Wintec?

Thanks

[harleydales]

I had a Wintec Wide - the main difference was it was much straighter cut and therefore gave much more room for the shoulders. It had big wide flat panels to spread the pressure - I loved it and did miles and miles in it - including a 100 mile ride over 5 days and a 40 mile race ride with no back issues at all.

The gullets are much flatter - to be honest Harley spent most of his time in the normal white Wintec gullet, I only used the purple Wintec Wide ones when he got really round after not working for a while. I also used it to back Lady, in the medium and wide gullets.

You can use down to a medium gullet safely in a Wintec Wide (gullet from the GP) - my saddler designed the Wintec Wide so she should know!

The only reason I gave up with it was I was offered a lovely leather saddle cheap for Harley, and the Wintec Wide wasn't just quite right for Lady once she started doing more work so she got a leather one too.

Shame I sold it, or I would have lent it to you to try.

[carolinec]

Thanks, that's very interesting information

I didn't think you could use the normal Wintec gullets in the Wintec Wide & vice versa but that's not true from what you've just said.

Saddles direct have a 2nd hand one in stock that I can trial first so I think I will give it a try but keep my original Wintec as a back-up. I've just sold Floyd's old saddle so that will cover the cost.

[valerie n scout]

did pip not come with his Saddle.. or can you not ask, what he wore x

[harveydales]

I don't have any experience with WIntec Wides but I hope Sheila sees this thriead because I am fairly certain she has a Wintec Wide for Jaycee (also a Twywell pony). Jaycee was also a bit on the tubby side when she got himand he has now slimmed down and recently was fitted with a narrower gullet. The saddle seems to sit very nicely on him, not at all perched.

[harleydales]

I checked - you can use the red and white gullets in the WIntec Wide, as well as the 3 gullets supplied with it. Red = wide, white - x-wide. I thought the red was medium, hence the confusion.

You can't use the Wintec Wide gullets in a normal Wintec saddle.

[carolinec]

Thanks for all the help.

I have ordered a Wintec Wide saddle in the Rideaway sale and I will be trialling it over the weekend.

It's the flocked version as they didn't have the seat size I wanted in stock with Cair & I'm too impatient to wait until mid March when they get more stock. ;D

[katiekynoch]

Good luck with the saddle testing!

I have been using a Wintec Wide (Cair version) for over two years now and find it to be comfortable for both horse and rider. It came with small knee rolls that fix to the panel using velcro. I removed them as they just seemed a bit too small to be effective and did tend to make the saddle flaps stick out a bit.

Robin is a chunky chap and I'm currently using the middle sized gullet.

I also like the lightness of the saddle compared to leather or even other synthetics I've looked at. And of course there is the great advantage of it being waterproof, although in heavy rain you can end up sitting in a puddle!

[carolinec]

Slight change of plan

Rideaway haven't delivered the saddle yet. In the mean time, I found a 2nd hand one on Ebay with Cair so I've bought that. I Will send back the saddle from Rideaway when it finally arrives (I paid for overnight delivery ). Hopefully I can trial it next weekend if the weather is ok.

[kizzi]

Just thought I would put this here in case you are interested.


My Kent and Masters saddle is here and was fitted early yesterday morning, it fits the exceptionally short coupled Mr Jones! like a dream.

It's beautifully made, very lightweight and very, very comfortable. I've ridden in it twice now and I know it's very early days but I really can't fault it and I'm extremely picky LOL

I'm having the McTimmony lady to check him over and make sure his back is fine before we start and I'm also going to monitor how he shapes up with the flexicurve. I'll have the McTimmony lady back in a couple of months to make sure all is well and there are no problems developed that I'm not aware of.

Mine is a cob plus GP and here is a link to the website (hope it's OK to put a link on here - if not please remove) www.kentandmasters.co.uk/


Oh and just to add Mr Jones! is also by Twywell Samuel Pepys and is an absolute superstar ;D

So all in all early days but very happy so far.
Will keep you updated on our progress.

Have a great weekend
Shelley x

[carolinec]

Hi
Thanks for the link, I've put it in my favourites for future reference
It's always interesting to hear about different types of saddles so worth looking at in case the Wintec doesn't work out.

[carolinec]

Hmmmm......
I'm not completely "sold" on theWintec Wide saddle yet.
I have tried it on all 3 purple gullets and it slips on all 3. Pip is literally like a table-top so I'm not certain if anything would be right. I currently have it on the widest gullets plate and once I'm on board it's ok apart from slipping backwards a bit but I daren't get off for any gates in case I can't get on again. The straighter cut panels are a bit too straight for my liking as I go up & down some steep hills and I'd like a bit more in the way of knee-rolls.

[cutemangurdi1]

Caroline,
It may be the shape of the tree isn't quite right rather than the width fitting.

The Thorowgood cob range have flat trees for the wide, flat backed native and they may be a better bet for you.

[carolinec]

It's been better since I started using the flexi-girth and I've added extra Wintec knee blocks.
I'm also using my trusty Heather Moffatt seat saver so I've resolved the comfort issue.
I am going to see how it goes for a few months until I can save up for something else & perhaps get it specially fitted once Pip has lost more weight. Pip seems happy enough in the saddle but I'm a little concerned that 17.5" may be a bit too long for him.

[heathera]

Feb 27, 2011 11:32:52 GMT -1 carolinec said:

Slight change of plan
In the mean time, I found a 2nd hand one on Ebay with Cair

Please be VERY careful here. The Cair system is NOT air, it is blown foam panels with all sorts of 'junk' used to pad it out to make it the right shape. I've seen photographs of a couple of these now once they've been taken apart and it's awful. When I was practising the shiatsu I saw a lot of Cair saddles that had caused muscle wastage and damage to the pony as they were so solid, hard, unforgiving and had no adjustment possible.

I only know of two people who have got on well with them and one of them is Katiekynoch!

Check out the saddle when it arrives, if there is no give or flexibility to the panels then please be wary of using it unless there's sufficient space for you to use something like a thick polypad underneath it to alleviate the fact the panels won't adapt or move with the pony's spinal muscles and, in trot and canter work, may hammer down on these and cause hollowing.