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[appolonia]

Hey guys! I'm looking for a new cheapish dressage saddle to ride my training horses in. Wintec, or something similar. I ride so many horses every day that I don't know that I care if it has the "easy change" gullet system... I don't think it changes the saddle as much as people give it credit for, it's still not so easy that I want to mess with it

Comments

[belle7067]

I highly recommend the Thorowgood brand for inexpensive, quality synthetics - I HATE Wintecs, but the Thorowgoods are really very nice. I just got a used one for my horse, and I had one of their APs for a draft horse I used to ride.

[appolonia]

Would you mind being specific about what you hate about wintecs and why the Thorowgoods are better? That's what I've ridden and shown in for years, and I've liked it fine, but it was a used saddle I bought from someone on here like 6 years ago for two hundred bucks, and it's just getting worn out, plus it isn't really wide enough for some of my horses and it's a little restrictive to me on the bigger-moving ones.

[belle7067]

If you like Wintecs, that's personal preference - I have always felt that they rode like a cheap saddle. Lots of squeaking, ill-fitting, and unpleasant in general. The Thorowgoods ride like a much more expensive saddle for a lot less money. Their newer models look absolutely awesome and are ridiculously affordable, and they are very well made and durable. I just picked up an older model dressage saddle in the Thoroughbred shape for like $80 on ebay.

[edgeofthewoods]

Seconding this - I've been riding in a Wintec at my lessons and they are simply awful saddles to ride in. I find them to be stiff and bulky. Bearing in mind that I'm not a fan of synthetic saddles in the first place, I have to imagine there has to be something better out there than a Wintec.

[suraineko]

Thorowgoods are flocked with a higher quality of wool (Jacobs wool). They are built on a Symatree which flexes entirely when the gullet plate is changed (very quick and easy to do), and slightly with the movement of the horse. As a bodyworker I've found that horses ridden with wool flocked panels have healthier backs and those ridden in a saddle built on a Symatree tree (Thorowgood, Kent and Masters, Fairfax, Hastilow) do amazingly well.

I do recommend that you make sure the saddle fits the horse you're riding and adjust it to fit if necessary. Being ridden in a ill-fitting saddle of any make for a period of time can permanently damage a horse's back and create irreversible lameness.

[greyskyridge]

Thorowgoods are flocked with a higher quality of wool (Jacobs wool). They are built on a Symatree which flexes entirely when the gullet plate is changed (very quick and easy to do), and slightly with the movement of the horse. As a bodyworker I've found that horses ridden with wool flocked panels have healthier backs and those ridden in a saddle built on a Symatree tree (Thorowgood, Kent and Masters, Fairfax, Hastilow) do amazingly well.

I did not know anything about a "Symatree" when I test rode a K&M on my horse, but I can tell you the new gear he found instantaneously is what made me say, "THIS ONE, HE LIKES THIS ONE!"

I test rode several saddles and it was obvious to all onlookers, not just me who sits on him all the time and knows him inside and out, which one he liked better.