Saddles for natives

[lucky]

Cody had the saddle fitter out this week and he said the current saddle is ok fit for him but too small for me as I tend to sit on the back and my knees come off the front when jumping.

He tried some others on and decided the best fit was a Dever XW however it is a bit out my price range at £795.

I wondered if anyone can recommend any saddles that are a little cheaper .... I have heard of the saddle co and native pony (are these the same company) - do they come out and fit for you?

[akehurstannabel]

i got a native pony saddle from the saddle exchange. they are based in weston super mare and came down to weymouth to fit. i think the prices will be pretty much the same as the dever, possibly a bit more.

[mrsh]

Have you seen the Trekker endurance/dressage? Its a handsome saddle as ive seen them in the real and ridden on one. They sell on ebay for £450 complete with the £69 pad, leather girth and leather stirrup leathers. I have table top ponies and use an SBS, Fhoenix and ive just bought one of the Trekkers in endurance/dressage style. Its not arrived yet, but as soon as it does i will be useing it a lot. You can adjust the seat from 16 inch to 18 inch and the width at the front.
My friend shows her fell pony in her one and she is always placed well in all the classes so the judges must like it.
Good luck in finding a saddle? Its no easy task at the end of the day.

[kermie]

I can recommend the Native Pony Saddles but they have increased in price since I got my 2. I used to find other saddles slid up my ponies' necks, but not with Cody cos he has his 2 little love handles which help his saddle to stay in place I think there is one Native Pony saddle that is a little cheaper than the others, but I've no idea what it's like.

I would say you should try to stick with a WH (even if your knees are a bit off the flaps) as even with a VSD I found it impeded Cody's shoulder from moving freely.

[lucky]

I know what you mean about his shoulders they are ample and that was a problem with a lot of the saddles. I just want something I can do a bit of small xc (one day!) in maybe I just need a little bit bigger WH saddle that fits me in!

[akehurstannabel]

Hollys Native Pony Saddles is a Glen which is quite straight cut to give her shoulders room, does that make sense? The only trouble is it has no knee rolls, so when she bucks there is nothing to hang onto! Jo x

[harleydales]

I ride Harley in a Wintec Wide, which suits him very well as it is wide, broad pannelled, VSD and not a strong banana shape. It's the only thing I can get to sit right on him! It was £400 inc fitting and flocking.

[juliansteve]

We have a Wintec wide for Zoey but it would be useless for Cobweb. It really depends on their shape. It is a nice saddle - it took me a while to get used to it but now its softened I like it!

[harleydales]

It took my poor inner thighs a while to get used to it LOL! It's fine now though, and a narrow horse feels very strange - H is XXW and Apollo is narrow!

[jay]

I used to have a Farringtons VSD for Jay which I loved. It fitted him really well and was extremely comfy, but when I learnt to jump my knees were way over the front and I got no support from it at all! At the moment I have a 2nd hand Ideal event saddle which is great. Its much better for jumping but is still comfy enough for hacking (but not quite as comfy as the Farringtons!).

When the saddle fitter was round we tried a whole host of different saddles but not many were really right on him. He's very over-sized though, so I'm lucky in that respect as I can safely go for a 17 1/2 to fit my rear end into!!! He only turned out to be a medium to medium-wide aswell which suprised me! The saddle I fell in love with, that fitted him like a dream, but couldn't afford, was the Albion K2 GP. Typically the most expensive one at £1000! When I'm feeling a bit more flush I'll keep my eye out for one 2nd hand.

Good luck...I hope you find something!

[Deleted]

I would look on ebay there are deffinatly bargains to be had as long as you are careful and ask sellers the right questions.