Thorowgood saddles?

[BalooEyes]

OK, so I am looking at saddles for jumping. I have an All Purpose Wintec now and am thinking of selling it in favour of a regular jumping saddle with more forward flaps.

So I got my Dover catalog today and saw the Thorowgood T6 jumping saddle (http://www.doversaddlery.com/thorowgood-teqnic-close-contact-saddle/p/X1-15747/cn/1705/ ) is in my price range and looks nice. Anyone know about these saddles, or where to get them in the high wither option?

[Pinky]

Heidi had a Throwgood. She was a notoriously hard-to-fit TB :D.

Great saddle, I would buy one myself if I had a horse. I did find it a bit uncomfortable for the first few rides but I was used to riding in an AP :). I'd say go for it if you think it'll fit your horse :).

[shynbvs]

my friend and my riding teacher have thorogoods. i love them! ther're really comfy, and sticky. if you are looking for a jumping saddle, i would definitely consider it!

[BalooEyes]

Do you know if the one Dover has is more AP or CC? Its listed as a Close Contact, but in the description it says a multi purpose saddle, and looking at the Thorowgood site, it looks like their GP saddle. Does anyone have any comments on the forwardness of the flaps?

My whole reason for getting another saddle is that I want more forward flaps, like a CC or jumping saddle. My dream saddle right now is a Stubben Siegfried or Roxanne, but I cant afford that... maybe in a few years when I have a real job and have saved a lot of money, lol.

[cloedoll]

Heh, I had that saddle. It's actually not the T6, it's just called the Teqnic and is sold exclusively through Dover. It's not on Thorowgood's website, I do not know why, though. I really liked it, the channel is super roomy, it's comfy, easy to clean, affordable, I think it looks nice and I was never fighting to keep my position. With the Wintec Close Contact, even though it fit my horse (just like the Thorowgood), I just could not keep my position for the life of me. It was always throwing my lower leg back and I dunno, the design of the saddle didn't work for me. I can't say how well it holds up because it is new and I no longer have mine :(, but I really did love it. Also, Dover forgets to mention in their ad it comes with the Fish system, I do not know if you'll be needing that or not, but it's pretty neat. As far as the changeable gullet system goes, I like the angle/shape of their gullets better than Wintecs, I think it made a difference (for the good) for my horse because it fit him better. It's a really small thing, but just thought I'd throw that in there. Another thing, I did not like the flexiboc things it came with (in the pictures I am sharing the back ones were still on I believe), but you can just remove those. Lastly, I was happy with the foam panels. They weren't uneven and were comfy.

Here are some pictures.

Saddle up close.
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/cloedoll/Horses/Tack/Saddle%20Fit/DSC00163.jpg

Roomy channel.
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/cloedoll/Horses/Tack/Saddle%20Fit/DSC00150.jpg

'Nother picture (probably not the safest tying situation, heh).
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/cloedoll/Horses/Tack/Saddle%20Fit/DSC00162.jpg

Odd, ranom picture, but you can kind of see the saddle.
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/cloedoll/Horses/Riding/wee4-1.png

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/cloedoll/Horses/Tack/Saddle%20Fit/KeidasSaddleFit2-1.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/cloedoll/eBay/DSC00175.jpg

Again, the channel is really roomy, IMO. If you look how wide the wood is and how much room there is between the saddle, it's sweet, hehe.
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/cloedoll/eBay/DSC00176.jpg

Here was the picture I took for it's eBay ad for when I was selling it (you can see the Fish insert thingys, lol).
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/cloedoll/eBay/DSC00183-1.jpg


I hope this is somewhat of a help. =)

ETA: I just saw your comment on the forwardness of the flaps. I mostly did flatwork and jumps no bigger than 2'6, the saddle worked fine for me. You could also jump higher jumps, though, but I know the flaps look extremely forward and only like they would be suitable for larger jumps, but they're versatile. I think it was perfecto. (:

2ndETA: They do not make a high wither version in this model, but do in others (T6 GP, T6 Dressage, T4 GP and T4 Dressage). Here's a description of one of the high wither models:

Tailored for high-withered horses, such as Thoroughbreds and Warmbloods. Also, especially kind for veterans and ex-racehorses, who may have muscle wastage or more prominent withers and spine.

It forgets to mention that it has a cutback pommel. They're other models do, too (except cob/safari and some T4 models, though), but they are only partial cutback not a full one.

Anyways, Keidas has an average wither and muscle wastage and the non-high wither model of this design did not affect the fit for him. He has to use a corrective pad to correct the muscle wastage issue and again, no issues.

His average wither/muscle wastage (hard to see).
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/cloedoll/Horses/Conformation%20and%20Color/DSC08749.jpg

[BalooEyes]

Thanks for all the info, Cloedoll!

Yes, comparing my saddle now (the Wintec AP) to the one in you pictures, its flaps are definitely more forward on the Thorowgood, which is what I'm looking for.

Hmm, Keidas' wither actually look similar to Baloo's, though it looks like Keidas' back is more normal than Baloo's. Baloo's back doesn't come back up much from the dip behind his wither because his butt is a bit lower than his wither.

Here's a photo of Baloo's back, I don't know what you can see here, not great photos, but what would you say about his wither? It's filled out so much since I've been working him its more average than high lately.

And Its good to see the roomy channel, Baloo's back/spine is a bit broad and the roomy channel is great for him! So you can change the gullets out like the Wintec, then? Where do you buy the gullet plates, or do they come with the saddle?

[cloedoll]

I agree about what you said with his withers. A lot of horses actually don't have a high wither, but a lot of muscle wastage behind the shoulder blade and along the back, making it look like they have a high wither. If the horse were to fill out, though, they wouldn't have such a high wither. Anyways, since you said he is filling out, I am guessing he doesn't actually have a huge wither, just an average one that appears to be high.

In the first picture I can see muscle wastage and his wither looks high, but second one it definitely looks like he filled out and not so high of a wither. Is that correct or do I have it backwards? Lol.

Overall, I do not think he has such a prominent wither to need a cut back pommel. Could it help? Possibly, but I never had an issue with Kiki.

So you can change the gullets out like the Wintec, then? Where do you buy the gullet plates, or do they come with the saddle?Yep! =) You can purchase them from Dover (here's the link: http://www.doversaddlery.com/product.asp?pn=X1-15748&idu=1A6151BYIE49&ids=3281265&bhcd2=1226329013). This is kinda confusing, but if you look at the link it says "S Bars Thorowgood Gullet Bars," the Teqnic can only take the S Bars. If you have a Thorowgood with a changeable gullet system, it is either going to take S or R Bars. S Bars are for all saddles with square cantles, R Bars are for all saddles with round cantles. It's kind of confusing, but basically the shape/angles differ between the two.

Here are the R Bars.
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/cloedoll/Horses/Tack/rbar.jpg

Here are the S Bars.
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/cloedoll/Horses/Tack/sbar.jpg

So just don't buy the R Bars, but the S Bars, lol.

[BalooEyes]

cool! Thanks, I'll have to drive down to Dover now and sit on one! Argh... another road trip.

[cloedoll]

Oo, so lucky! I wish I had a Dover store nearby. xD

[BalooEyes]

Well, its not exactly close, but its not forever away, lol. Google maps says about an hour and a half drive from me to the Hockessin, DE store.

Ooo, and I might have half of it paid for for Christmas :)

[shewasmyshadow]

Just wondering... Does Dover let you test ride these? I thought they used to have ones you could test ride, but that was 10+ yrs ago that I was showing and check them out. LOL. :P

[sugarsgirl]

I have an ap thorowgood saddle and I like it for schooling. I am selling mine though because I need a leather one for shows this summer coming up. Its nice for helping you stick in the seat becaus eof the material, but its not the most comfortable saddle I've ridden in.

[BalooEyes]

shewasmyshadow- no, Dover does have test ride saddles, but not the Thorowgood.

sugarsgirl- Thanks for the info, I like to hear all opinions of the saddles. How was it uncomfortable for you? hard seat? too wide or narrow? put you in an awkward position? Too bad you arent trying to sell a close contact, I'm trying to get away from my AP saddle too...



Ooo... this is gonna be so hardgoing to Dover.... I'll see my dream Stubben while I'm there! Ah!

[PaintedHearts]

BalooEyes....sugarsgirl is selling one over on horse.com. I'm not sure if it's what your looking at/for but just thought I would pass that info along. Here's the link http://forum.horse.com/tm.asp?m=797900

I just saw that she has it listed here too. :innocent: