Dressage saddles for broader horses.

Short:

Euroriding Achat.

Also available as GP model.

Euroriding Remus.

For a short horse with medium withers.

Sommer Opus.

Sommer offers a variety of saddles that are suitable for horses with a round ribcage. Take the one that have the ‘ Flexus Move tree’. GP Version available.

Hintermeyer Anatomic.

Like Euroriding Diamant but wider. Straight back, big shoulders, medium withers.

Saddles for Ponies.

Kent and Masters Cob GP.

Build on the sima tree.

Euroriding Opal.

Dressage  and GP

Massimo.

A German brand. offers a variety of good quality saddles for the broad horse; Pre- owned on Billy Rider for example or you order through their website. Older models on wooden spring trees.

Jorge Canaves.

Saphir. a classic saddle for ponies or small horses. Not for high withers.

Jumping saddles.

Folks that do eventing or show jumping are very different form dressage riders. They have more in common with people who do endurance. They value function over style. To them a saddle is a tool- not a work of art.

Passier Avior.

Classic, versatile, straight back, high withers.

Bates Caprilli or Advanta.

Great saddle for a straight back with good muscular foundation. Medium high withers.

Sommer Opus S.

Flexus Move tree only. For a broader sport horse with large shoulders and high withers.

Prestige Paris

Beautiful, elegant,high withers. Popular with female riders.

Prestige Versailles.

Only for long,  slim, straight thoroughbred types.

Prestige Roma Jump.

Small knee rolls. More of a GP saddle.

Prestige Michel Robert.

Classic. High withers.

Prestige Elastic Pro?

Only for curved backs- or it will rock. Stick with Paris.

Why the emphasis on Prestige?

Jump saddles compete with the french saddles. The french brands set the bar for looks, comfort – for the rider- and craftsmanship. The are considered  ‘ for professionals’. The Prestige saddles do reliably cover the ‘ high wither’ segment – mandatory for warmbloods. They are designed very well and the trees are one of the most sturdy and symmetrical ones. They are confortable for the riders and have a good brand image. They are on the market for a long time- so problem finding pre- owned ones. New prestige offer very good margins . So Prestige will get you all the benefits plus the adjustability. They are a safe bet in terms of business- if you know how to handle them.

Spotting the lemon.

Whether you trade pre- owned saddles or just fit saddles that the clients already have: it is crucial to recognize the  things that make a saddle unusable or unsellable. There is the obvious: broken trees – which you can detect by trying to bend the saddle. Second: damaged leather. A  damaged seat is unsellable. And of course the broken stirrup bar, it is fixable but why bother? Its costly – just buy a different saddle.

Notice the massively deformed right panel. This can have multiple reasons: wrong flocking. The horse or the ride or both have made the panel into this shape over a long time. Production failure.  In traditional saddle making the panels are cut from the same hide. In industrial saddle manufacturing this is not relevant, the take what is available.

The most common reason for this asymmetry is a twisted tree. Caused by mounting without a mounting block or somebody tried to press the tree wider without taking the panel of.  The saddle in the picture had a twisted tree. Unfixable unless you put in a new tree. This is not a brand specific phenomenon and can occur in all kinds of trees regardless of the price. Though Prestige trees are the least prone to twisting. You will also have to accept a certain asymmetry in the tree- or there are simply no saddles left to sell.

Notice the asymmetry in the gullet bar of this Sommer Salvadore. It is possible to press a tree asymmetrically. This saddle was constantly sliding and rocking. I corrected the gullet bar – it stopped.