Wanted - Comments on Synthetic Saddles

Alibi

Alibi

Here, there & everywhere
Nov 19, 2003
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Cheshire, UK
www.homesteadsaddlery.co.uk
Does anyone have any experience with Thorowgood Griffin Saddles or Wintec 500's / 2000's? Any comments good or bad would be appreciated.

I'm looking for a saddle for a friend, ideally she would like to go treeless but can't afford one at the moment. Her horse has fairly high withers and has a fair amount of muscle wastage in his back area, but is also fairly broad backed. His current saddle does not fit, bridges quite badly and is tight on his withers. He has recently started bucking too, which i believe is down to the saddle fit, not behavioural as i've ridden him in a bareback pad and he was fine.

Any other suggestions??
 
I have a wintec 500 gp and a dressage version. I think they are really nice, and comfy. I have a tb with high withers who the saddles fit but I also have a hw cob who thay don't go anywhere near. Also the gullets are smaller than normal gullets, like I have a med/wide for my mare and she will take a med in a normal leather saddle.
Ive just purchased a trekker treeless tho and trying to fit it to my tb, she has high withers and is quite wide. The saddle fitter who fitted her wintec to her said the med/wide gullet was 'the nearest she could get', if find it ok tho.

Oh I used to have a throwgood maxam, still have it but don't use it, it was ok but I had it for 6 years and could feel the tree through the seat!
I have also ridden in a griffen gp, didn't like it, it was hard and tacky looking, the suede looking stuff helped grip a bit tho.
 
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I've actually got a couple that will (when I get my butt in gear :eek: ) be up for sale. One of which may be suitable.
I only changed up as my filly grew out of each saddle and I'm now using treeless.
I love the synthetics - light, easy to clean, don't mind getting them rained on.
My thorowgood did come up quite narrow and I had a problem with it creeping forwards up her withers, I had it widened, but she kept on growing!
I've also got a wide Heather Moffett / Saddle company Easisit which is semi synthetic - absolutely great saddle and can be adjusted by the Saddle co. Very comfortable, serge panels and suede top.

Also have a wintec 2000 dressage - medium fit - never wide enough :rolleyes: note to self...must stop buying saddles :eek:
 
I dont own a saddle, but at my old barn I've ridden mostly in wintecs, cant comment on the fit, but you can the gullet kit to find the right size, but even that does not guarantee a correct fit.
As for quality and comfort they are great, they hold up better than some leather ones I used, easy to clean, lightweight, cheap, durable and comfortable, especially the one with soft seat. :)
 
I have a thorowgood griffin cob wide-size for Murphy and it's a really nice, comfortable saddle. The only thing I've done with it is to swap the synthetic stirrup leathers for proper leather ones, as the synthetics were a complete b*gger to change around (my horse is ridden by both long-legged people and me, stumpy-legs!). Apparently you're not supposed to do this (not sure why?!) but it's made no difference to the saddle that I can see.

It's very easy to keep clean and smart-looking - I've got a Thorowgood synthetic bridle as well which I use for hacking as it's very easy to just wipe down after a session in the mud!

I have had to have it refitted twice since I bought it (a year ago) but that's been down to my horse changing shape and muscling up - in each case it was only about £30.

I also have the same saddle that Larri has, I love it but no-one else does...:(
 
I've got a thorowgood griffin cob saddle which is nice, I think the thorowgood saddles are great for difficult to fit horses as they have different types, and if none of the standard ones fit then they do made to measure as well. I've ridden in wintec wide and wintec dressage saddles and they were okay as well, not tried the wintec GP saddles. I prefer the thorowgood saddle to the wintec one I had but I'd be happy to ride in a wintec as well. Don't like the thorowgood maxam saddles though, they have rubbery stuff on them rather than the pretend leather stuff they usually have on synthetics and don't think it looks nice at all.
 
I've liked all the T'goods I've handled. I have a medium Griffin AP for our wider-backed TB with (recovering) muscle wastage. Fits her like a glove; very impressively actually, particularly considering that I purchased it used.

Throughout equine muscle study AND saddle fit study I have on various occasions tried to get this mare to respond negatively or anxiously: to probes of typical tender areas, to the appearance of the saddle & to saddling, etc. She passed all the various typical "I don't like my saddle" or "my saddle hurts" examinations with flying colors; this saddle FITS her.

It is also not hindering her back muscle/wastage recovery in the slightest; it seems to be allowing her muscle to "expand" and fill out really well. She has a lot of visible improvement since I started working on her :)
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I think i've persueded her to take her neddy to the saddle fitter to try a couple of Thorowgoods.

Galadriel - this horse had nearly all the responses he could pointing to poor saddle fit, he nearly fell to the floor when i checked on point, so he's on a strict gentle work plan.
 
Hi

I have a Wintec 500 GP, which I find throws me foreward, but I use it for jumping, X country and hacking nevertheless.

I also have a Wintec Pro Dressage which I bought secondhand from someone at the yard which I think is absolutely brilliant and keeps my position upright.

Although I am sat on the fence a bit about synthetic saddles, I am not sure that they mould themselves to your horses back as well as a leather saddle, they are so much lighter, so I am still unsure whether, when the time comes to swap the GP. perhaps when I have owned Adam for about a year, whether I should change it for a leather or keep the same GP and change the gullet if necassary. I don't hold with what I consider the snobbery that you should have a leather saddle for competitions, I'm afraid,


Opinions greatly appreciated?
 
Originally posted by lizzy
synthetic saddles, I am not sure that they mould themselves to your horses back as well as a leather saddle
Click to expand...

My T'good has panels which are clothy, not leather nor synthetic leather. I've read opinions that serge panels are much better than leather ones; I wonder if the clothy panels have contributed to the great fit of my mare's T'good.
 
Like Galadriel I am a great fan of the cloth type Thorowgoods and use them on most of the school horses and ponies. Their fitting guide will give you a good indication of the likelyhood of them fitting before you visit the saddler.

Regarding the wasted muscle. I had this problem earlier this year with a new horse and found that by putting a 'Flair' numnah under the saddle I was able to make fine adjustments as the horse built up muscle.
 
Just thought I'd add that I love my Griffin saddle. We bought a saddle from the Native Pony Saddle range for our Miss no withers! They came out and measured her and made the saddle from scratch. Cost around £600. It still slipped, needed a non slip pad, and jumping in it was a nightmare. I had to get off every jump. Then swapped to our Throwgood, cost £250, fits her perfectly, jumping and all - no 'non-slip pads' needed!
 
My thorowgood griffin saddle has cloth panels, seat and knee rolls, it's just the flaps and the bits that cover the stirrup bars that are the fake leather stuff.
 
I've just bought a cheap Wintec saddle for mine owing to the fact that I'm broke at the moment and he'll probably grow out of it soon. It fits us both beautifully at the moment and it's really comfortable. I just wipe it over with a damp cloth, or brush it and it's fine.
 
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