Saddle on Trial for Skate and Me

I sent tracings to Trumbull Mtn Tack Shop in hopes of getting some recommendations for new dressage saddles. Mine isn't a great fit for either of us - too small for me, too downhill for Skate. So, we got a few recommendations from their saddle fitter - one of which was the Frank Baines Reflex. I sat in the Baines Omni at Rolex (and met Mr. Baines, himself) and was very impressed, so I was excited to try this saddle (despite the enormous price tag, even used).

So I sped to the barn and pulled Skate out to ride after UPS finally dropped the saddle off this evening at 6:45pm...he had been in his stall all day due to the rain, so I was really torn on whether or not to lunge him. The decision was made for me when I realized I'd scratch up the saddle with my stirrups if I lunged him - so I decided to just hop on.

At first glance, the Reflex was very level on him, whereas my Prestige tips down badly. The flocking seems super soft and comfy and the buffalo leather is SUPER grippy. No fullseats needed. There was some confusion when I put my stirrups on as the saddle is a monoflap, which I have no experience with. There's no spot for the extra stirrup leather length - no tab or opening. I guess it just tucks back behind the flap?

When I got on - he seemed fine. No noticeable fidgeting or any more fussing than usual (he's generally fussy, so its hard to really guage whether its just the regular quantity of fussing or not!) At the trot, he shook his head a few times when we first picked it up, but didn't continue to do it so I'll chalk it up to something other than the saddle. His trot felt much bouncier than usual to me. It could be the close contact feeling of the saddle, bigger movement on Skate's part, or the larger seat letting me slosh about. The prestige seat is too restrictive (too small) so I think I may just need to get used to the whole extra inch of space. I had to stop and raise my stirrups b/c I felt so discombobulated and sloshy, though - so I'm not psyched about that. The best part of the whole ride, though, was when I asked him to canter. He's always resistant to that transition, but he stepped right into a gorgeous, suspended, collected canter. He's normally all over his forehand and rushy - so I'm very excited about this new dressage canter!

After untacking, I checked the saddle pad for obvious issues. This would have been much easier if the saddle pad was brand new and not sorta stained, but from what I could tell, there might be some bridging going on - although I was surprised to see that as the saddle seemed to be a perfect fit.

Anyhoo - I'm going to ride in it a few more times before I make my final decision. I like the way it fits him for the most part, maybe some reflocking would make it perfect. As for how it fits me, eh, the jury's out on that one. I don't know if when you find a perfect saddle you are magically balanced or not, but that certainly didn't happen here. Then again, I have position issues on my own, so I dont think any saddle is going to fix that in one ride.

I'll get Matt to come take pics/videos for the saddle fitter to check and I'll post some for y'all, too.