Thorn saddle pads?

[isthismummy]

Anyone have any experience of the above?

I have a six year old Dales who I am really struggling to get a saddle for. I can't afford to buy new and trying to get something decent second hand is proving to be an absolute nightmare! I'm scared to just get one online etc in case saddler says they can't adjust it once I've got it!

At the minute he's in a Throughgood cob T4 on xw fitting. I absolutely HATE the saddle. It's uncomfortable, throws my legs forward and is just basically awful.

He's got the typical native broadness, no withers and apparently the Thorns are designed with natives in mind. If anyone has used one it would be great to hear your opinion

I’ve not tried them, but have you tried the Wintec extra wide?

Hi gloves thanks, but I really don't want another synthetic. I think the one I've got has put me off them for life! I want something that looks more like a WH/show saddle as I think they look far better on wide natives that GP.

It's just so hard finding saddles for natives. Wish I could afford to buy new

What about keeping an eye out for a second hand
Ideal H and C ? I think it means highland and cob . I had one for my Arab ( back like a kitchen table believe it or not ) used it for nearly twenty years and it was so comfortable . I sold it when I lost her at the grand old age of 36 , but I could have sold it ten times over , because they don't come up that often .

I've been keeping an eye out for second hand, but none of the saddlers in my area ever seem to have anything. They always either offer me a gp (which I don't want) or they've only got saddles in black which I also don't want.

I don't know enough to just buy one off Ebay etc myself. I'm worried I'll get something that can't be adjusted to fit him. Plus he's only six, so still changing shape all the time.

I'd heard such good things about the Thorns, so was really hoping for some positive (or negative) feedback. There's lots of glowing reports online. Plus they have good resale value, so I could always sell it on if I don't like it. I'll have to have a good think...

Where are you based?
I've had lots of hard to fit natives, Fiona cork, Black Country, ideal are all good options for hairies.
There lots of saddles on the fell, Highland and showing Facebook pages. You could get a saddler out to give you an idea of what to look for, you'd have to pay for a visit but then you could try and the same spec yourself.

I know there are lots of people who swear by saddle pads. I'd recommend trying one before you pay out for one. I had one made for my daughter's pony as we couldn't find anything that would fit him (he's a native too,) and she couldn't ride on it to save her life. I ended up selling it barely used. I got nearly as much back for it as I paid for it, as there are lots of people out there who love them! But it felt like a faff and wasted time. I bought a second hand Swain and Humphries saddle not long after, for about the same price as I paid for the new
Thorn pad, and got Kay Humphries out to fit it to the pony. My daughter and the pony love it. So much that now she needs a bigger saddle she wants me to find another one the same but bigger!

I had one made for my Shetland. It was really beautiful, but, it slipped in use. When I contacted Thorn to ask them how I could remedy the slipping they asked me to return it for a refund. They didn’t want anyone getting hurt and said my pony must not be right for one.

I then went to Zoe Snape, that pad fits beautifully and doesn’t move.

The pad came after I had had two saddles fitted by a very well regarded saddler, neither fitted very well and so I resorted to a pad.

I have got a Black Country gpd and a Katie Eaton show saddle that fit a bigger ID x table top type very well. So another brand to think about.

My dealings with Thorn would make me recommend them as a company even though their pad didn’t fit.

Well, I have got it wrong it was Milner who made my pad that slipped, not Thorn!

Excuse being that it was nearly ten years ago and I am old.

We have got bikes from Thorn hence my confusion!

I have a saddle company saddle on my flat backed native. I often see them around second hand, and the tree is adjustable.

We have a Thorn with knee rolls for my daughter's wide, flat backed Welsh and she loves it! It is very smart, she does cross country in it as well as dressage and the pony loves it. We prefer a treefree option so it suits us but you do get your money back if you sell them on in good condition as someone pointed out above. See if you can ride in one first but my daughter thinks they are fantastic.

Just had my Connie fitted for her first saddle, the widest Fiona Cork I have ever seen! It's actually ridiculous, she's only 3, I dread to think what size she might end up!