French (although they're really German) saddles

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Deanna German dgerman@earthlink.net
Just clarifying Mickie's post: the name of the saddle manufacturer is Schlesse Saddles and the guy is German (oh so VERY German). They do use very nice (very grippy) French leather on their top-of-the-line products.

His endurance/english style saddle he described to me had bigger, wider panels, a wider channel to avoid the spine completely, and the super-duper model had air panels instead of wool-flocked panels. The saddle also has  adjustable stirrup bars (so you could hang your stirrups EXACTLY where you want them) and an option to "hide" the leathers to avoid the dreaded "leather pinch." There was also a standard and a "Y" type rigging system that would allow you to move the girth just enough to avoid any galling probs. on a long ride. Oh, and the saddle has a flexible tree.

As Mickie mentioned, I TOTALLY bought into this guy's concepts until he came to the price. I had finally gotten used to the idea of possibly spending up to $2500 to get a saddle that would work for me and my horse and his bottom price was above that. (Yikes!) But I don't aspire to be a 100 mile rider. If you are, you might give this saddle a serious look.

They do have a website, but the endurance model isn't described or pictured unless the site was changed recently.

Deanna (Ohio)