# Synthetic Aussie Endurance Saddle for Arabian mare??



## ArabianGirl66 (Oct 9, 2013)

*Correction to my post*

I meant "a horn" not a big tree. I need a wide tree


ArabianGirl66 said:


> Hello:
> 
> I was noticing threads about Aussie saddles being a good choice for a more secure seat. Recently, my trained-under-saddle but still young Arabian mare spooked and bucked me off :-( I have a beautiful Thorowgood T8 (model for short-backed horses) GP saddle I imported from England that fits her wonderfully, but it is a little too "forward" for me. Just getting back into riding; not planning on doing any jumping anytime soon. I don't ride Western, and don't want to have a saddle with a huge skirt/tree. My Arab is only 14hh.
> 
> ...


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## Shoebox (Apr 18, 2012)

I have had very good luck with DownUnder. I've got not a Kimberly but the Wizzard Poley and I am in love with it. Just about all of us on the forum here who have tried Aussie saddles will advocate for them - a few people here and there don't seem to like them, but I see an overwhelmingly positive response. 

Additionally to DownUnder, they will fit the saddle to your horse's wither tracings before they ship it, and offer adjustments for the first 30 days. Their shipping is fast and their saddles, for being so reasonable (for Aussies) are of a good quality. I think you should go for it! They're very secure and the poleys give you something to brace against should things get hairy.

You don't need the fancy pad. I use a cheapy dressage pad. Aussies are a lot like English saddles, the pad is more to keep the saddle clean than anything. By all means get it if you want to, just be aware that you don't have to


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

I love my Synthetic Endurance from DownUnder! 

My mare is also a wide, short, Arab and the wide from DownUnder fits her well. For her, it's just a little too narrow, but she's ridiculously wide - she's an XW in English saddles. It's slightly narrow for her, but it fits her enough everywhere else that shes really not bothered at all.

I also just use a dressage pad with mine - they're cheaper and I like all the cute options for dressage pads. My favorite pads are ones that have flannel-ish material on the underside - I find that helps them "stick" better.


In any case, the Synthetic Endurance is a super great buy! It's a very sturdy, well built saddle especially for the price. 
I've even ponied horses off mine and had them really pull back [a whole fiasco - I was ponying a green Arab mare on the trail, she decided she wanted to go elsewhere, she started pulling back, I couldn't hold her so I rigged up a way to attach her to the saddle so my mare and I could encourage her to come along without me getting my arm torn off], and the saddle/tree was 100% fine even after having 900 angry pounds thrashing off one side. Of course, I've since tried to avid repeating that scenario since the poor saddle wasn't made for that...but mine did withstand it!
I've had mine for about 4 years, ridden countless miles and hours in it, and it still looks very new.

It's a really worthwhile buy!


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## ArabianGirl66 (Oct 9, 2013)

Thanks so much!!! I love this site. So many helpful people. I'll keep in mind about the Dressage pad. I have a beautiful Engel sheep wool half-pad for my Thorowgood (it's pink). I love to dress Ruby in pink (it's a Princess thing). haha :lol:



Shoebox said:


> I have had very good luck with DownUnder. I've got not a Kimberly but the Wizzard Poley and I am in love with it. Just about all of us on the forum here who have tried Aussie saddles will advocate for them - a few people here and there don't seem to like them, but I see an overwhelmingly positive response.
> 
> Additionally to DownUnder, they will fit the saddle to your horse's wither tracings before they ship it, and offer adjustments for the first 30 days. Their shipping is fast and their saddles, for being so reasonable (for Aussies) are of a good quality. I think you should go for it! They're very secure and the poleys give you something to brace against should things get hairy.
> 
> You don't need the fancy pad. I use a cheapy dressage pad. Aussies are a lot like English saddles, the pad is more to keep the saddle clean than anything. By all means get it if you want to, just be aware that you don't have to


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## ArabianGirl66 (Oct 9, 2013)

Yaaay! Thanks Wallaby. I'm so glad the saddle is still working out for you, and I have to admit, I LOL'd at your Pony story. Sigh...There's just something about Arabian mares in particular that when they don't want to do something, they completely lose their ever-loving little minds. Ruby is really smart, but she gets flubbled easily when she offers a behavior but you are asking her for something else. She does this during ground work all the time. She loves to show how smart she is, so she gives what SHE thinks is what you're asking, not listening, and then falls to pieces when it's not what we're asking of her. My Clinton A-based trainer and she have ended up yards away from their original spot during one of her freak-outs (FACEPALM). It's not defiance--it's panic. She really tries so hard to do the right thing. 



Wallaby said:


> I love my Synthetic Endurance from DownUnder!
> 
> My mare is also a wide, short, Arab and the wide from DownUnder fits her well. For her, it's just a little too narrow, but she's ridiculously wide - she's an XW in English saddles. It's slightly narrow for her, but it fits her enough everywhere else that shes really not bothered at all.
> 
> ...


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

I make my pads for my Aussie saddle. Cheap, fun patterns, and keeps me busy. Lol.

However, my best friend gave me a nice shaped leather compression pad with a thin wool liner and I LOVE it. Looks good and fits super nice.

I don't have a Kimberly or Down Under saddle. I have an older handmade Aussie that I got at a local tack consignment store for $125 (it had been sitting there for six months and no one had even looked at it). I won't trail ride in anything else.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## TownesThatBigChestnut (Sep 8, 2013)

I love my Aussie as well and can vouch for the comfort and security.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## ArabianGirl66 (Oct 9, 2013)

I hope the commenters see this; I finally got a chance to ride in my Kimberly Endurance synthetic Aussie saddle this weekend, and I LOVED IT. It fit Ruby beautifully, the poleys (my barn manager said they looked cute, like Mickey Mouse ears on Ruby haha) really helped me feel secure, and the padded seat was very comfortable. The deep seat allowed me to be connected to Ruby's back in a way that I hadn't felt since buying her, and I could finally relax and SIT without having such an active tense seat, which is how I was riding in my (slightly forward) AP English saddle. I am shocked by the quality of such an inexpensive saddle.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

Glad to hear it worked out for you. FWIW, after several years of padding up because my Aussie saddle was somewhat wide (and I was too lazy & didn't want to lose its use getting it resized), I sent it back to DownUnder to be resized. They can make a saddle narrower, but once narrower, they cannot make it wider. It cost me $50 to have UPS pack & ship it (I live within 1000 miles of DU), and DU resized it and shipped it back for $60...so $110 total, 3 years after I bought it. It turned out I only lost the use of it for 8 days.

Your mare sounds like mine. No meanness, but lots of frustration & worry when things don't go the way she thinks they are supposed to go. I would also swear she imagines things just to keep from getting bored. The poleys have saved my butt more than once in a hard spin or sudden stop.


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## Shoebox (Apr 18, 2012)

Yaaay! I'm glad you like it. I think you'll find yourself preferring them over a regular English or Western in no time


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## ArabianGirl66 (Oct 9, 2013)

bsms said:


> Glad to hear it worked out for you. FWIW, after several years of padding up because my Aussie saddle was somewhat wide (and I was too lazy & didn't want to lose its use getting it resized), I sent it back to DownUnder to be resized. They can make a saddle narrower, but once narrower, they cannot make it wider. It cost me $50 to have UPS pack & ship it (I live within 1000 miles of DU), and DU resized it and shipped it back for $60...so $110 total, 3 years after I bought it. It turned out I only lost the use of it for 8 days.
> 
> Your mare sounds like mine. No meanness, but lots of frustration & worry when things don't go the way she thinks they are supposed to go. I would also swear she imagines things just to keep from getting bored. The poleys have saved my butt more than once in a hard spin or sudden stop.


I have to say, I like that Down Under is so great with customer service. My experience with them has been overwhelmingly positive. Lol-YES. Ruby I swear gets her little brain whirring and becomes "I know what to do next wait what is that thing there, I don't think I like that it looks weird, what are you ASKING ME I DON'T UNDERSTAND! WHAT IS THAT THING!?" that she loses focus and panics at things like divots in the sod.


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