Yay I finally got an English saddle! I'll keep persevering with mastering the Western one, but I can't wait to just have some fun. It should be here on Tuesday and I can't wait, but I don't know what size girth to use. I've only had regular AP saddles and I believe my new one will need a shorter girth. Does anyone have any experience with monoflap saddles? Please don't tell me I have to wait until it arrives and measure
Personally I'd wait til the saddle arrives and measure, I hate having to return things But, if you really want to buy something now, you know the simplest thing to do is look at a sales-literature photo of the saddle you bought, see where the billets lie on the demo horse's body, then guesstimate those points on your own horse (correcting as needed for your own horse being especially wide/narrow/tall/short, if that's the case) and measure. Should put you in the right ballpark. I wouldn't do that except for something very cheap or very returnable though... when you have the buckles low down there, similar to long-billet dressage saddles, just 4" difference in length sometimes makes quite a difference in fit and horse comfort. Good luck, have fun, Pat, who long ago rode regularly in an old (ca. 1960s or 1970s?) Italian-made saddle that was essentially built the same as these monoflap things they've just 'come up with'; it was nice to ride in, but not especially durable, dunno whether that problem has been solved in the new ones.
I guess i'll just have to wait and see, although Tuesday is so far away I'm hoping to use it on two fairly different shaped horses, so maybe I can measure and find some middle ground. One is 16.2hh and hunter-ish, the other is my 15.2hh mare that's built like a cowhorse. It should be an adventure either way, the gelding has been a fairly mediocre ranch horse all his life but he is quiet and nothing much bothers him. I think he's my best bet for an 'English horse' out of what we have, he at least looks the part. Lucy is Lucy. ETA It's new to me but not new. The only new saddles I could afford were those nasty all-in-one package kind, and I wouldn't sit on a horse in one much less ride in it. It's a Stubben Cavalleria, not entirely sure of the age. For the price I just couldn't say no!
I would say wait until the saddle gets here. Usually the girth is longer and boy o boy is it ever so fun trying to get those things tightened.
Stubben is a great saddle. Very compy and fit most horses well. I would wait to measure and then buy a girth.
