Enjoy saddle searching, it's fun! As mentioned above make sure you try riding in it first, as they can feel great in the store & totally unsuitable when riding.

Personally, I love my Isabell, although I opted for the Wintec version. Definitly try before you buy though, same with any saddle.

Dare - dare to keep all your love alive
Dare to be all you can be
Dare - 'cause there is a place where dreams survive
And it's calling you on to victory

Many people use stock saddles for breaking in for the extra security, but i felt like with the Isabel , the horse could turn itself inside out and I would still be sitting in that nice position

My favourite would have to be the county, extremely comfortable, and lets you find your own seat and position

i have one dicky leg, which I thought the isabell might help to keep in position instead of sliding back like it does, but found I just got stiffer instead
At least these days you can try them out at home, because they really do feed different in the shop

zoom

However, it all comes down to personal choice and in the end - the budget! As well as your horse of course.

Good Luck!

Luv ~dressage_star~

...and he whispered to the horse, trust no man in whose eyes you do not see yourself reflected as an equal...

For shows I have other ones, which are more contact.

lean forward, do you think, could be factors why someone feels like they are leaning forward, ie not fitted to the horse correctly

I love my Isabella so comfy, I rode in the Innova but it didn't suit my hips. Best to try before you buy, not all saddles suit everyone

Bobby if u are in Adel Hills I may have a gullet or a saddle )Isabel) with the size gullet u need to try?? I have 3 of them...love them

~<3~

If anyone is interested my Isobel is for sale... 17" smooth brown leather, Cair, matching stitched stirrup leathers, knife edge stirrups and the whole kit of all the sizes of gullets.... I thought if I had them all it would be able to fit any horse. Seemed like a good idea at the time (about 3 years ago).... Oh well, it has been a lovely saddle and I've enjoyed it. I'm not sure how much it would be worth, I'm thinking maybe about $1800. If anyone is interested feel free to pm me. I would be happy to make it available for any CHers wishing to try it out. If I've got the price wrong, I'd appreciate some feedback too.

Wembury

My saddle doesn't fit my second horse and I am currently looking at buying a second saddle. I did try to make my saddle fit her but it gives her dry spots on her wither.

I don't really want the expense of another saddle and then the decision of what to get.
I do like the Anky Salinero but I don't know I can't make up my mind.

When we first decided to bring saddles across from Germany we read up on a lot of different makers' saddles before deciding which ones we wanted to bring over, and ended up only deciding to bring Hennigs, Benzs and Hoepfners, which are all primarily custom made brands and are all really top end. We've had a few Hennigs and Benzs come across already and although I always figured I'd love the Benzs most personally (I'd read nothing but rave revues about them and everyone seems to especially love the 'feel' they get from their monoflap design) I actually feel more at home in the Hennigs at the moment.

They're both terrific saddles though and both feel great to ride in, but just very different from each other. Our first Hoepfner landed yesterday and is about to spend a month in quarantine before it gets here, so it'll be interesting to have a ride in that when it arrives because whereas with the Hennigs and Benzs you can actually 'see' the inovative design before you even sit in them, the Hoepfners 'look' pretty similar to most other saddles. But I've read reviews from quite a lot of people who prefer the Hoepfner of the three and these days they're priced almost the same as Benz and Hennig so they've obviously got to be pretty special too.

I always owned Bates/Wintec and County saddles before we bought these ones across and I was so keen on my gorgeous old Countys that I actually managed to 'wear out' three of them completely. I'd use my Wintec Pro for breaking in and for longing without stirrups but would use my County for everything else and I would be lucky to get a few years out of my Countys at the time, although to be fair I was riding a lot of horses every day in them. I'd ridden in Kieffers and Stubbens when I was working at Koombahla but neither of them really grabbed me, they just didn't feel as comfortable to me as the Bates/Wintecs/Countys and I found the Countys put me in a more natural position.

My favorite saddle I've ridden in so far though is my 12yo Hennig. It came across from the US and the lady who owned it before me used it for trail riding for years, so it's 'very' broken in and comfortable, and I just love it to pieces.

Kelly.

I love Kieffers, but can't comment on the Anky as I haven't ever ridden in one. I'm unfortunately having to sell mine (Wein) as it doesn't fit my horse, but if I could keep it I absolutely would as I LOVE it.

I also really like Crosbys, they are good for giving you a nice position without locking you in.

*Feed: Expensive substance used to
manufacture manure.*

to the above poster who said that they are suited for long legged people.

I think you are wrong, as far as I know they are designed for the shorter people, as it was designed with Isabell Werth and she is short!
But not specifically of course, perhaps just better suited to shorter people.

Personally I absolutely hate the isabell and innova! - If you want to develop a TRUE independant deep saet do not go near this saddle.
It will restrict you from developing a real "feel" for a horse.

This is due to the rediculously deep seat, huge knee blocks and set back stirrup bars which have all been placed in the saddle to give more novice riders a feeling of security.. In turn it locks you in!

I've just replaced it with a Prestige Doge, which I am stoked with

I feel locked in if I wear sticky bums on the Wintec version, but with a green horse I don't mind that so much

I am about to try Kieffer's (Kur and Innsbruck) but if neither of those fit I will be going to a leather Isabel. I thought I was relying on the saddle far too much after getting out of the Isabel and into my Maestro, but after riding in Counties and a tiny 15.5" show saddle with no issues, I realised my problem is the Maestro (doesn't suit me) not that the Isabel had taught me to rely too much on the security of it.

In saying that, I don't have big knee rolls in mine, I have none! They are removeable. Might put them in tonight to see whether I have a different opinion of it all together then....!

I can't get them to fit every horse though - they do better on low withered horses. I find large withered horses, no matter what gullet or what configuration, they just don't fit.

We're about to release a new saddle into Australia - it's the Keiffer Lusitano. Now, don't be fooled by the name, it's the most amazing saddle to ride big moving horses in. I've ridden for several people in Germany who will only ride in these because they are just fantastic. They're not sold here though because the distributors think that the name will put people off. The Kur though is actually the Lusitano Kur but it's just not the same as the real thing to ride in. The pure Lusitano model is just so much better....
I'm hoping we'll have our demo model in by DWTS if you're going.
Cheers
Shahron

www.dancinghorse.com.au