Re: RC: Abetta Saddle

[David LeBlanc <dleblanc@mindspring.com>]

At 09:14 PM 11/29/99 -0700, Freedom, T'Lara wrote:
>The Abetta Endurance Softee I ordered August 11, 1999 finally arrived
>November 25, 1999. I know we've had some discussions about saddles which
>included this brand, but could I have feedback from those who have
>experience with Abetta saddles. Feel free to respond privately if you wish.

We have 2 - 

>I haven't used the saddle yet, although I'll be fitting it later this week.
>After waiting so long for it, it better fit my horse!

Check this carefully.  It fit one of our horses really well, and the other
developed her pulling back problem I mentioned due to the Abetta not
fitting her properly.  Doesn't seem to bother our other Arab, so it will
fit some and not others.  OTOH, a custom saddle is expensive.

>From looking it over I wonder how well the neoprene underside will stand up.
>It looks so vulnerable to tears and punctures. Same applies to the neoprene
>part of the girth. Also, the neoprene part of the girth is quite thin;
>appears to me as though I could tear it with my hands.

We haven't had any problems with the undersides, and I replaced the girth.

>And, yes, the breast collar and crupper Ds are only attached by nylon
>webbing and stitching, not attached to the tree. It looks as though it will
>stand up to average use, but if you're in a real bad situation I do think
>they could tear loose.

They will tear loose even under moderate loads.  I lost the breastcollar D
ring after only 4 hours of use.  Abetta refused to let the retailer just
exchange it for me.  It was 'used', they said.  I called the manufacturer,
who told me it was a 'cheap throw-away saddle'.  I find this to be a really
poor attitude, and a horrible thing to tell a customer.  Ended up shipping
it back to them for repairs, and was out a saddle for 4 weeks.  I should
have just sewn it back on myself.  It would be smart to give it a few extra
stiches with some strong thread like bicycle racers use on sew-up tires.
We also lost the d-ring for the crupper at the start of a race, so that was
annoying.  A friend back east had his fender come completely off.

That's the bad - on the good side, it is really inexpensive, and fit my
wallet at the time.  I also like how comfortable it is to me, and it is
easy to clean.

>It is quite light - 16.1 pounds, which I like. 

That's something I like, too.

>Another thing I noticed is
>that cat hair sticks right to the cordura parts of the saddle. So I imagine
>any sort of outdoor debris like burrs, dandelion fluff, etc. will stick,
>too.

>Looking forward to comments.

I hope it works out better for you than it has for me.  I ended up spending
$1200 (including pad, girth, etc) for a custom saddle, and complained about
the amount of $$$ I was spending.  Then I ended up riding in it all summer,
and have now made the down payment on another custom saddle from the same
person (Marilyn Horstmeyer).  You do get what you pay for, and the money
seems cheap in retrospect.  Feels really good to pull the saddle off after
a long ride and see no rubs on the horse.


David LeBlanc
dleblanc@mindspring.com


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=