Strada saddles

[abi king]

Margarita pointed me in the direction of these saddles on my WOW thread, and they look quite interesting.

Anyone had any experience of them, or know anything about them? What sort of price are they? How easy is it to get fitters?

[Heather]

Yes, I know the designer. It has also a carbon fibre tree and it is reckoned not to be needing fitting. Well made saddle, but I still needed a seatbone saver on top of the one I tried, but then I do, on every saddle other than my own with it already in!

Heather

[abi king]

Thanks Heather. Are the stirrups bars set back on the dressage model?

[Heather]

Not that I remember, but it could have been altered since.I met the new lady selling the saddles at the Natural Horse Gathering and she was very nice indeed, genuinely wanting to do the best for the horse.

Heather

[sueblue]

I  have a couple of them, have had for years and really like them, you feel quite close to the horse and they do an Iberian Tree, the horses seem to go well in them too.
Turville Valley Stud also use them, and Diane Thurman Baker is a very nice rider.

[sixfootblonde]

We had them too.

Our two complaints about them is that they are very narrow over the withers, and do press either side of the shoulder.  The other thing is that the foam softens with heat, and is lovely once it has been in a warm car, but can be a b****r to heat in the winter.  Therefore, it is pretty hard material inside.

[Toots]

Maria,

If your Stradas are too narrow by the withers and press on shoulders, you've got the wrong type of fit for your horse.  They do need fitting, as there are several types of trees depending on the horse's shape. 

I love mine, and there definitely is no pressure anywhere as it fits my mare perfectly.

The are from £1,550 depending on the model.

Mariaana

[sueblue]

I find that the lining warms and softens with the body heat of the horse so dont find that problem with my stradas, and I did have mine fitted too.

[abi king]

Thanks for the info guys.

Sueblue, did you find they fitted Iberians well? And was there a fitter in the SW?

[sueblue]

Well Dave who I contacted via their number came out, he was based in the New Forest I think, he can be contacted via the forum.
I believe he came out for Margarita too.
And mine was made to my requirements.
He has a Lusitano, so understands the breed.
The Strada with the Iberian Tree is good.

[sixfootblonde]

If your Stradas are too narrow by the withers and press on shoulders, you've got the wrong type of fit for your horse.  They do need fitting, as there are several types of trees depending on the horse's shape. 

Thanks for your reply.   It did not press on the shoulders - rather it pinched the withers.  This is a problem I have seen a number of times.  I understand it is narrow at the front arch due to it needing to fit closely somewhere.   It is considered a normal part of fitting this saddle.  Unless they have changed recently - there are 5 (?) tree sizes and no adjusting them.  So if your horse fits one - great.  But they do not fit dippy backed horses well or horses that are too wide. 

I had mine for about a year ad did not ride that regularly.  My horse went very well in it, and he has a dippy back.  I did find though, even with work, the panels did not soften much.  I did not work my horse hard though.  A friend saddles up her horses in the stable with a rug over the top, 30 mins before riding, and finds this works well.

[margarita]

Hi Abi,
         I have had no problems with my saddle. I have an I fit and David came out to fit mine. Its perfect and cannot fault it what so ever, believe me I am a fussy cow!!! I will take some photos of mine if you like so you can get an idea of them?