Which saddle for M&M WHP?

[haggismarmite]

Hi a little advice pretty please. We have a bog standard close contact show saddle from Native Pony Saddle Company (and have had a Fylde Emma before that) which has a teeny bit of knee roll but not much.

Now daughter is admittedly starting to get a bit leggy on our pony, but as they are having so much fun and she's not too heavy we're keeping him for some XC, hunting and generally messing about over the winter and will do some more WHP M&M classes next year.

Soooo, to cut an even longer story a bit short, now they're jumping larger fences and getting far too adventurous for my tastes, I feel slightly uncomfortable with her having no knee roll to help her position and to give her more to grip her long legs into.

I know absolutely nothing about jumping, I was firmly a flat showing and side saddle girl.

What sort of saddles can anyone recommend? I find it hard to like the look of any of the more forward cut GP or jumping saddles as they ruin the look of his front but I know I should just get over it. My budget is not infinite (in fact currently OH doesn't know I need one ;D) and it would be a 16" wide.

What do you all jump in that doesn't look stupid in the ring? She'll be doing M&M nursery stakes, and novice not exc 138cm so jumping up to 2ft6 (I'll be covering my eyes!)

[helle]

I know a lot of the 'bigger' workers have jumping saddles. In fact,this is the reason I bought my daughters Dever close contact jumping saddle ( advertised in the 'for sale ' section ). She feels far safer in this as it is a 'proper'jumping saddle and although more frowards cut it actually looks nice on the pony. (except from she REALLY dosen't like jumping and have therefor decided to sell it)

[ashadow]

I used to have a 16inch jefferies falcon GP saddle on my 143cm worker and looked fine, it had plenty of knee roll whilst still being a fairly neat & tidy little saddle

[5874julie]

fylde mick is good

[haggismarmite]

Thanks for the replies, i'll have a proper look at their websites tomorrow when I get my glasses out of the car, blind as a bat without them and it's SO cold I'm not going to get them in my PJs!

[StephWheway]

I jump my 138cm WHP in a Fylde Ray - I find this the comfiest saddle ever and lovely for the workers.

[bessieboo]

My daughter has an Ideal WHP saddle which has enough knee roll to help support her but is also neat and tidy enough to look good in the ring.

[tabbyx]

Fylde Mick,Fylde Ray or Ideal whp,all good saddles for workers,nice amount of knee rolls but still fairly straight cut,neat saddles that don't ruin the picture,hope your daughter enjoys workers x

[heath]

Can I recommend a Pessoa or something similar eg close contact jumping saddle? It always amazes me when Im judging the saddles that children come in on and the parents expect them to jump round on them with little or no knee rolls or very little to help them.
Its lunacy, you wouldnt expect to run a marathon in a pair of stilettos as they are totally unsuitable for the job and the same can be said for straightish cut saddles. I dont even think WHP saddles have enough knee roll if you are jumping a decent track.

People get obsessed with showing their shoulder off but dont forget the most important bit is to jump round well first because if you dont you wont get far in the class!!! A good judge should be able to see through a bit of knee roll and mark accordingly.

I would far rather see a rider in a good position in a decent jumping saddle then see one come in front of me to jump with stirrups too long because if they shortened them to jump their knees would be off the front of the saddle!

[haggismarmite]

Thanks Heath, that's my thoughts entirely, I would rather they were in one piece and a proper saddle will give her so much help. I always cringe seeing them jumping in straight cut saddles but it seems to be the norm in the classes I've watched, it's good to know you wouldn't mind a more forward cut. I'd never send her show jumping at these heights in a show saddle so it always seems odd to me that lots do WHP in a saddle like that!

Thanks all - I'm off to have a good look around today and will work on OH when he's half asleep off his Australia flight tomorrow!

[owston]

Farrington!!

I had one made for our Sec A wide stallion and it's fab and so comfy for the jockey (just wish I was small enough to try it!!!)

If it's made you can have it how you like, ours is straight enough for showing but has removable knee rolls (stuck on with velcro)

Hope that helps

[workingcob]

Echo that - farringtons are super saddles and the WH has a reasonable knee roll without being excessively forward cut. Ideal WH saddles are also lovely

I do think, for bigger tracks, a gp saddle at the very least is best tho. I have a falcon vsd that I use day to day, for hunting & for working cob classes; it is very comfortable, has a proper knee roll but does not spoil the look of the horse.

[sbloom]

Native Pony here . We currently have a WH for ponies under development - should have them out before Christmas. Our GPs are used by some for WH, they're really not that forward cut, and the M&M GP fits exactly like the Fen if that's what you have. The WH will fit similarly but with a fractionally deeper seat.

[jennipenny]

i had a fylde samantha on my old section A who was only 11.1 and she took me round the novice and even a few open WHP classes ! x and i was leggy on her! and felt fine in that ! and as it had the suede knee rolls it felt as though had a little more grip instead of the plain leather ! x

my new section a has an oakfield Amy and that feels fine to although i havent jumped a great height on him yet as he neds to learn to pik his feet up !! lol x .. x

[m&mwhp]

I do large height and open 15hh workers with an Ideal working hunter saddle, I feel it doesn't have enough knee roll so wouldn't recommend one, however it is a very comfy and neat saddle. It may be an alright saddle for your daughter because she'll only be doing littlies! I shall be changing to a pessoa or a more forward cut saddle for nexts season though!

[snowflake]

Ideal have fab worker saddles, & Fylde have a selection of worker saddles.

Oakfield are also great saddles, & you can get a new one for about £500!

[showingfanatic]

Have attempted jumping in a fylde samantha-didn't help me at all! Also tried a really forward cut fylde workers saddle-singularly the most uncomfortable saddle I've ever sat in in my life lol. So many of the bigger workers are jumping in proper jumping saddles like pessoas now, they're uber comfy and you feel really secure in them. I would not be fussed about a straight cut saddle for workers if a jumping one suited me better. I want to jump some novice workers on my sec B next year along side flat showing, if we take the workers seriously, I'll probably get her a separate jumping saddle.

[haggismarmite]

Thanks for all the advice - I must have tried almost every saddle style, shape and brand in the past 3 weeks and have been very naughty and ordered a new Native Pony Saddle GP/WHP saddle, they were the only ones that just fitted without any messing around, they sat on his back like a glove.

Let's just see if it helps, no more excuses long legged daughter

Good luck to you all in the Workers next year, stay safely in your seats!