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| Saddle brands...how do they fit?; county vs. antares vs. cwd vs. amerigo | |
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| Topic Started: Jun 10 2009, 02:03 PM (201 Views) | |
| french_toast | Jun 10 2009, 02:03 PM Post #1 |
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I Visited Candy Mountain and All I Got Was This Lousy Incision
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I'm on the saddle hunt...horse is too wide for my current medium tree County Stabilizer. He did not like the wide tree Stabilizer, although it fit him well; he LOVED the Innovation (medium tree - fitter said they run wide). Unfortunately that is out of my budget unless I can find the steal of the century! So I am looking around at other brands. He's got an average wither, massive shoulder, and somewhat flat back. I need a forward flap, which can sometimes cause issues with that massive shoulder! I have found a couple of saddles that might work...an Amerigo Cervia DJ, Amerigo CC, an Antares, and a CWD. I know some people here have had experiences with these brands and was hoping someone might give me insight on how they fit (i.e. are the panels more curved vs flat? etc). I've read that the Amerigo CC fits the high-withered horse better and the DJ is better for the roly poly type. I have wither tracings going into a few places right now but I'm obsessing and an instant gratification kind of girl so I'm hoping to glean some more information 
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| abc bandit | Jun 11 2009, 07:29 AM Post #2 |
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Weanling
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I have the Amerigo CC and as much as I love it, it does not fit my horse very well. She has a flat back and the panels are too curvy for her back. I think it does give a decent amount of clearance for high withered horses. |
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| Bearhunter | Jun 11 2009, 07:36 AM Post #3 |
Thomas H. Cruise!
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I have an Amerigo CC (it is the Pinerolo) for my big withered, big shouldered boy. It was custom for him and it is perfect for his body type. My friend just got her custom Amerigo too (a DJ) for her little mare who has no withers but a fairly pronounced shoulder and a problematic back and the mare loves it. If you can find a used one in good shape it would be worth a try. New they run about the same price as the Innovation, CWD, or Antares. I owned 2 Countys prior to my Amerigo; an Innovation and a Stabilizer, and while they both fit my horse (and were custom for both of us) I will confess my true distaste for them. I had a forward flap in the Innovation (I am 5'8) but a regular flap in the Stabilizer. The balance of both saddles were so off. The Innovation threw me too far forward but I couldn't climb out of the bucket down the lines. The Stabilizer would not let me out of the back seat. My trainer also felt the same way about these saddles so I know I was not crazy. They are definitely quality saddles and the company has great service but I just couldn't get them to work for me. I LOVE Antares but there is not enough for wither clearance for my boy. Sounds like it is worth trying. I actually have a good friend who has one for sale right now. Most comfortable saddle EVER! I have heard great things about CWD. I have never tried one. Good luck to you! |
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| jn4jenny | Jun 11 2009, 08:19 AM Post #4 |
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Magical Leopluridon
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Not surprising since it was designed to fit a curvy-backed TB with large withers. If that's the only problem you have with it, see if you can trade it it in for a DJ--the DJ also fits a high wither but it flattens out toward the back of the panel, so it's better for the less-curvy horses. Amerigo would not be my first choice for a warmblood-y conformation. Run in the other direction from the Cervia. I've been told by many Amerigo reps that basically the Cervia fits certain horses like a glove, but those horses are needles in the haystack. I was told by one stockist that she sold about 2 Amerigo saddles every month for a year but couldn't get rid of the 3 Cervias for love or money. Amerigo headquarters couldn't get rid of their overstock Cervias, even at the wholesale price of $1600. What does THAT tell you. The model sucked so badly that Amerigo discontinued it and replaced it with the Farouche--you can still get the Farouche, which is a big improvement over the Cervia (it's basically an Amerigo CC underneath and a Cervia on the seat), but even that has become rare because most people who like the Farouche just buy the Amerigo CC instead. Sweden has a far superior Amerigo site than the US. I recommend trying theirs for better descriptions of which saddles fit which conformation. http://www.amerigosaddles.ch/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=29 Antares and CWD both have moderate wither clearance--nothing to write home about but fine for a non-extreme case. I can't generalize about their fit since I'm not very familiar with their brands, but Antares offers this helpful info about their panels: http://www.antares-sellier.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Itemid=9 |
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| french_toast | Jun 11 2009, 08:31 AM Post #5 |
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I Visited Candy Mountain and All I Got Was This Lousy Incision
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Thanks guys - all very helpful and just what I am looking for. My Stabilizer worked beautifully on the horse I leased last year, and it fit me perfectly, but I understand what you mean about feeling like you have to climb out of the saddle sometimes. As the current horse has muscled up I feel like I'm in the backseat a lot. I actually really liked the Innovation, deep seat and all, but a) most of the used ones are in the high $3k, or b) have the shoulder gussets that the horse really doesn't need. If I could find one that started with a 2 I would be happy. The fitter said the horse seemed to like when I was sitting "around" him, which I did with the Innovation. The Stabilizer kind of perches me up there a bit. Jenny, thanks for the links! That amerigo site is SO helpful. My horse's back looks almost exactly like the one pictured in the Cervia Dressage images. Looks similar to the DJ too, so that's good info to have. What's the difference between a Cervia DJ and DJ? Is there one? fine-used-saddles has a Cervia "deep jump" pinerolo. Looks nice but if it's a crap saddle I'd rather not waste the time and shipping fees! I guess I'll just resign myself to having to pay a few hundred in shipping fees in order to find a good saddle, but this info will be a huge help as I'm looking. Thanks again! |
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| Renn/aissance | Jun 20 2009, 07:08 AM Post #6 |
Hakuna matata!
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French Toast, can you post a picture of the horse in question? It is my experience on the East Coast that the Antares fitter here is not very good at fitting big shoulder/forward flap/wide tree. Your mileage may vary; I do have pictures I can show you of this saddle and how it fit my big shoulder/big ribcage/average wither/curvy back horse, if you'd like to see them. I will say that Antares has great customer service and I wish that I had been able to be a repeat customer as my first Antares was a great saddle for my horse until his back changed. CWD has an excellent reputation. Amerigo makes super saddles--pricey, but great quality and great fit. They also have more tree options available off the rack than the average company. |
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| french_toast | Jun 20 2009, 01:03 PM Post #7 |
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I Visited Candy Mountain and All I Got Was This Lousy Incision
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I'll try to get a picture this weekend - not sure I'll be out as I have a triathlon tomorrow and I'm getting ready for that! I got an Amerigo DJ with a M/W (+ 1 1/2) on trial. SUPER comfortable but huge knee rolls, which was a little tough to get used to on my part. It seemed to have slightly better balance than my Stabilizer (stabilizer is a hair pommel high so I always feel in the backseat). However, while the points of the tree had plenty of clearance, it seemed as though the flap farther down was more narrow than my county, so it made more contact down there and pulled quite a bit of the upper part of the flap off of his shoulder. And this is not a horse with huge gaps below the withers (although he does have a bit of chub in that region...)! I figured I'd try it out anyway, though, and when I tacked him up and tightened the girth the back of the saddle came up off his back. Uh-oh. He actually seemed to like it ok, but it just didn't look like it fit him any better than my Stabilizer, and at least that one doesn't bridge when I tighten the girth! I have my eye on a CWD that I'm going to try and get on trial this week. It's wider than the Amerigo and hopefully their panel system will help a bit with fitting around his shoulders. The Antares that I wanted to try was sold from trial last week, although there's one more that might work out but it is a hair narrower than the CWD according to measurements. Renn, your pictures would be helpful - didn't you have a long post on COTH about your saddle fitting? I seem to remember reading about your troubles in the saddle fitting threads I've read over there. |
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| Renn/aissance | Jun 20 2009, 06:36 PM Post #8 |
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Hakuna matata!
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French Toast, I did have a long thread on COTH about my epic saddle search (it's been an experience.) You can actually find pictures of both the hard-fit horse himself and the way the Antares fit him in that thread: http://www.chronicleforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=205250 |
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| french_toast | Jun 27 2009, 09:53 AM Post #9 |
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I Visited Candy Mountain and All I Got Was This Lousy Incision
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Thought I'd update - the wide tree CWD came yesterday and I had a rather quick ride in it. Holy cow, it is like a barcalounger! Puts me in a great position and everything feels effortless. I thought my County was comfortable, but this is like a whole nother level  Fits the horse beautifully on the shoulders, like it was made just for him. I didn't see any bridging at all and he seemed quite willing to move forward in a nice swingy fashion. I only rode for about 10 minutes, but the impression was very favorable. A couple more trial rides this weekend, and if all goes well, I think I'll have a new saddle!
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