Field Trial Saddles

[Devils Creek]

Here's a subject that should separate the men from the boys...

Field Trial Saddles....what are you using?

I had 4 original Canadian troopers, and 1 Modified Association Western Saddle (by a Canadian manufacturer) that I'd been riding in. I rode the Western at a couple of trials, but while good for riding colts, I don't care to sit in it for more than a couple of hours.

I sold 2 of the original troopers, and bought a Tarpin Hill Super Duty trooper model. I kept the 2 best ones. Roger was pretty slow in delivery. I ordered it in Oct. 2005, and got it on the July long weekend 2006.

Now, pros and cons. The pros are:

An awesome fit on the horse. Every horse I've ridden gaits better than with an original trooper. Roger has this dialled in perfect. I'm sure one horse was getting pinched as he sure is like night and day as far as gaiting smoothness, eveness of gait, headnod etc. Wish I'd bought one years ago.

An awesome fit on me. Super comfortable with the gel and padding seat, and warmer in cold weather. Also the overshoe stirrups allow me total choice of footwear, including bootpacks for winter use.

The cons:

The seat is about an inch wider than the original, and the seat shape sticks straight out. The saddle rubbed me a bit the first couple of months, but that seems tohave straightened out as the leather got softer. Most of Tarpin Hills competition manage to get the side edges to curl down.

I ordered the saddle in "brown" and should have specified that it should only be one color. The stirrup leathers and the tree padding are dark walnut, the jockeys are sorrel, the attaching leather is natural, and the seat is tan. I may order new stirrup leathers to match the jockeys, and then I'd be happier with it.

Here's Dakota this afternoon, saddled with the Tarpin Hill



Here's a closeup of the saddle.



So I know there are a few of you out there. What are you using? Tucker's, M&W, Haggis, original troopers, or something else? And how do you like them?

[Wagonmaster]

I have two Tuckers that I use, plus an assortment of others both trooper and plantation that sit around gathering dust. My first time around in trialing, from 80 - 90, I used a plantation. It had no pommel at all, but I had a horse then that took good care of me.

My Tuckers are both about two years old. I had a devil of a time getting one that would fit one of my two horses. He is normal sized for a walker, but has broad shoulders, and the stock saddle pinched him. I had the saddle shop fit it. They had to take it apart and actually put the front U-shaped metal bar in a bender and open it up. It seems to fit him now though.

I love those troopers, they are great to sit in all day.

One pet peeve of mine with some of the troopers is that they had a pinch point where the seat meets the fenders. They would catch just a little skin at that edge and chafe the heck out of you. Don't have that problem with the Tuckers.

I have a little special rig on mine. With replacement hips I can ride fine, but do not have leg strength to get up. So I have a drop stirrup from EZ Up, you push a button and it drops down three inches. To keep the saddle from rolling because of the weight I put on one side to get up, I have a "fat boy" strap I think it was from Tarpin Hill. It attaches at the back of the girth on the off side, under the horses belly, then comes up and hooks onto a ring on the cantle. Works ok.

I have experimented some with girths lately. I have found that the neoprene girths can gall a horse behind the leg pretty readily if you are riding it alot. So have gone to a wool girth, not cheap, but so far so good.

[wannabe]

My first saddle was a Tarpin Hill. I bought it about 6 years ago, before Roger took over the business. It was a great saddle, but it was too long for my short-backed TWH. Next, I bought a used Simco Plantation saddle on ebay and rode it for a few years until I switched to a Steele Plantation saddle. So far, I am pretty happy with the Steele. I have a Tucker Montreal Trooper in the trailer in case I need a second saddle, but I don't care for the gel seat.

Another saddle that I thought looked interesting was a Fred Hook endurance saddle, but they are hard to find, and expensive.

[DGFavor]

I wouldn't distinguish my saddle as a field trial saddle since I spend the vast majority of my riding time hunting or just goofing around. I've got a Tucker Cheyenne with the "rough country" rigging on it that I really like. Very comfy. I've also got a Crates Tennessean that's OK - fits my bigger horses better. I like the westerns for the riding I do. I pony along another horse with me quite a bit and a horn is handy for that. Packing salt, I'll throw a saddle pannier on a horse so it's nice to have a horn. (you can use standard saddle panniers on a trooper though - just turn them around and use the rear tab as a horn)



How about this old bad boy? It's my hunting partners (ex hunting partner unless he gets rid of those gloves) - used to be Richie Robertsons. It's had some miles. He's actually got a brand new Tucker trooper but never rides it. Nothing like the feel of a saddle thats spent some time under your rear - makes getting a new one difficult.



I love the neoprene girths...never had a problem. There is probably a reason though most old timers swear by wool/natural fibers. IMO, FWIW, not an expert, certainly haven't seen everything, most galled horses I've seen have been carrying too many lbs. and getting rid of some "chub" behind their "armpits" really helps.

What does "giddyup" really mean?

[Wagonmaster]

Well, part of the reason mine get chafed is that I have to put quite a bit of weight on the saddle when I get up. I just have no bounce to get up on the horse. So to make sure the saddle does not roll, I need to tighten the girth quite a bit. I only do that if I am handling in a stake where I know I might be up and down a few times out in the field. Hilly ground its not a problem cause you can always get up on the uphill side of the horse, but flat ground is a problem, and there the neoprene girth galls.

There was a nice, slender, very well coated horse at the NGSPA last year that had been ridden all day the day before with a neo girth and was badly galled both sides. But they had saddled him forward too far and the girth was right behind the leg where there is alot of movement.

Gettin this mount thing worked out has not been easy. You shoulda seen me at the NGSPA last year, or at the Hun. Hadda have a sense of humor.

Hey, be careful where you wave those pink gloves will ya, none of that broke back stuff on this site!

[Casper]

Glad this was brought up as I am in the market for a saddle.

I have only ridden in others saddles and never for very long. One was a Tucker Montreal Trooper. I enjoyed its comfort but didnt get to ride in it for very long. I did get to spend some time in an old Tucker trooper that like Doug said has had the time put under it so it may have just felt better cause it was broke in. Both seat sizes were to big for me but it gave me something to get an idea.

I rode in a Tarpin Hill on a test ride of a horse I was contemplating buying it felt equal to the old tucker but was a seat size smaller so I didnt move around in it much.

I have heard though that allot of these troopers type saddles are hard to fit a horse. Is this the case?

What was the customer service like from each company you have purchased from?

[DGFavor]

I had to send my saddle in last summer to Tucker - nowadays Circle Y. Their service was awesome. Didn't charge me a thing for the repair work and very fast turnararound - a piece of the rawhide wrapping the tree had come unbound and made a nasty lump that sored up two of my horses pretty bad. I was very impressed with the service.

How do you like that pad Devils Creek? I'm pretty sold on 1" wool felt pads but I'm a big dude so like to really pad up my ponies.

Also interesting where you've got your breast collar hooked into...are you hooked right into the rigging D?


gid·dy·up (gĭd'ē-ŭp') Pronunciation Key
interj. Used to command a horse to go ahead or go at a faster pace.
[Alteration of get up.]

Apparently it means what it means...thought it was some sort of horseman's slang.

[wannabe]

The beauty of a trooper saddle is that it will fit a variety of horses and riders. Especially the high withered walking horses that a lot of field trialers use.

Doug,

I have always attached my horse's breast collar to the rigging D like Devils Creek is doing. I have also found that if you pick up the horses front leg high enough to stretch the skin under the girth, it can avoid the nasty galling behind the front legs. A loose girth with just enough saddle pad to protect the horse helps too. I have seen and caused some pretty nasty galling in the past, and I am trying every trick in the book to keep it from happening again.

[Devils Creek]

How do you like that pad Devils Creek? I'm pretty sold on 1" wool felt pads but I'm a big dude so like to really pad up my ponies.

Also interesting where you've got your breast collar hooked into...are you hooked right into the rigging D?

Hey Doug...

I like the pad a lot. You can get them from Tarpin Hill or Wilson Dunn, and probably a lot of others.

Especially like it on the horse shown. He's a pretty big boy, about 15'2 and 1100 lbs (the PERFECT size). I'm sure he was getting pinched by a regular trooper and the western pads I've been using up till now. He sure walks better in this rig. It's very porous, and drys quickly.

I'm fortunate in that I'm about 6'2 and about 180 lbs, so I can get up on anything, and I can ride with a pretty loose cinch. Have a 32" neoprene cinch on that saddle, but I've used PVC cinches for years, and maybe prefer them. I've only had galling if I cinch too tight.

Tarpin Hill designs their breast collars to attach directly to the the rigging rings. Roger figgers it pulls straighter, and irritates the shoulder joint less. I don't know, but it does seem to interfere with the reins less by being slightly lower. My other breast collars attach to the little "D"'s on the front of the bars.

As I said in my earlier post, I have a great mod. association saddle, but sure enjoy the padded troopers more. I judged the Region 14 Shooting Dog Prairie Classic in October, and on the second day I was in the saddle for 7 braces (7 hours) straight. I felt like a "kid" of 40 again at the end of the trial. I really like the gel seat.

Tom Nygard, the Director of Region 14 AFTCA is riding the Tucker Montreal Trooper with the gel seat as well. Tom has had a little surgery work (at the point where Tom meets the saddle) and told me he couldn't imagine trialling without the gel seat now.

[gundogguru]

I bought a new Tucker trooper and love it. I never could find stirrups big enough ( 12 H width ) not a problem with the Tucker

[DGFavor]

I use a 32" cinch also. I occasionally get cinch locked on my Dark horse, especially at a trial where even feeding 'em all they can eat for the week, they still shrink to skin and bones.

[redraider1]

here's a pic of my granddads old saddle, It was made in San Angelo TX. around 1914. High cantle in back, and cut outs on the mantle in case your pony get a wild hair and decides to buck a little.

[Devils Creek]

Real cool redraider...I love those old things.

Do you ever ride in it?

One of my troopers was date stamped 1914 when it was issued to the troop from the Montreal saddlery.

[Devils Creek]

Glad this was brought up as I am in the market for a saddle.

I have only ridden in others saddles and never for very long. One was a Tucker Montreal Trooper. I enjoyed its comfort but didnt get to ride in it for very long. I did get to spend some time in an old Tucker trooper that like Doug said has had the time put under it so it may have just felt better cause it was broke in. Both seat sizes were to big for me but it gave me something to get an idea.

I rode in a Tarpin Hill on a test ride of a horse I was contemplating buying it felt equal to the old tucker but was a seat size smaller so I didnt move around in it much.

I have heard though that allot of these troopers type saddles are hard to fit a horse. Is this the case?

What was the customer service like from each company you have purchased from?

The original troopers were made for the horses of the period, and though there were several sizes of trees, they were made to fit horses being worked hard out in the field, and for the thoroughbredy type horses the Canadian Army was buying/breeding.

Current troopers are made to fit modern gaited horses, and I know Tarpin Hill and M&W have good reputations for fit. Roger at TH is a fanatic about tree shape....he'll talk your ear off about it.

One trialler I know expressed an opinion that TH's have a little too much rocker in the tree, but I do not believe this to be the case. I think he's right on the money. I'm using mine on 3 walkers of pretty average build. I've actually read more complaints about fit with Tuckers, but the people I know with them are more than satisfied.

I've ridden in several Haggis saddles, and their workmanship is maybe the best of them all. I don't care for their sliding stirrup leathers though.

My trial partner swears by his M&W, I've never ridden in it. Again they have the sliding stirrup leathers. I have a 34-36" inseam (real long legs) and don't care to have the stirrup fender leather down by the bottom, and just strap at the top.

Tarpin Hill definitely has a reputation for being slow.

[Wagonmaster]

I have the wool pad, but my local shop sells a version with thin gel pads built into the wool felt. The pads run roughly where the bars of a trooper sit on a horses back. The horses really seem to like it for the long days.

[Razor]

Any one have a good trooper they want to sale???? Tucker or Christie??

[gunner]

Lets see...
I've got a British Barnsby officers saddle.
a US Phillips officers saddle
a Japanese officers saddle
a Tucker endurance saddle
a Haggis trooper saddle
a Kerry Jack handmade western
another western saddle maker unkown

[Hotpepper]

John

Call Larry Heskett as he has an ad in the field and tell him you want t afat boy strap.

It is attached to the back of the saddle of the right side and goes under the horse and attached to the back of the girth. It is loose fitting and when you get on the opposite side, it tightens to prevent the saddle from rolling.

This allows you to ride with a looser girth and thus prevent a lot of galling.

Pepper

They do work great if you do not have one, you need one.

[wannabe]

The Fat Boy Strap is a must if you need to pull yourself up into the saddle. You can get one from Tarpin Hill, but I would rather do business with Larry.

[Wagonmaster]

I have three. I had one made locally by my leatherwright. I am lucky to live in horse country west of Mpls., we have a "hunt" out here, so there is enough business to keep a good leatherwright happy.

I have two that I bought from Tarpin Hill.

I also have the EZ Up Stirrup.

I pack all these in my suitcase if I am going to a trial to meet up with Eldon, he has some troopers it will all fit on.

It all works if I cinch everything up tight and the horse stands. It is a dang chore though, just no strength once that hip goes past 90 degrees.

[Hotpepper]

John

Does the stirrup assist thing work that well? Have a bad terrible hip as well and need to get something done with it. Putting it off till the spring trial season is over.

Where did you get it.

Pepper

[Hotpepper]

Razor

Bob at www.bandbtack.com has a used M & W that he took on trade over the weekend. I know that is a nice saddle as I know the fella that traded it.

I have to have a suspended seat trail saddle myself or I will blister so bad. Then the riding becomes so uncomfortable I have to stay in the parking lot.

Pepper

[Wagonmaster]

This is it.

http://www.ezupstirrup.com/

You hit a button and it drops down three inches, then when you are in the saddle you lift it with your toe and it locks in place. I had my local leatherwright make a little cover for it that attaches to the fender and gives it some lateral support. When you mount it in a trooper stirrup leather, which is just a strap, it wants to tip when you lift it with your toe. The cover gives it some horizontal stability so it does not tip. Works pretty good.

There is one issue. The lower stirrup helps you get your foot in, that part works good, but now you are not as high up relative to the saddle when you mount up, so it is further to go. Not that big a deal, but it does result in putting quite a bit of weight on the saddle when you mount, so that Fat Boy strap is a must or the saddle will roll.

gunner told me all about it and how to set it up. If I see you on the trail at GPC this spring I will show it to you.

PS you have to get the correct size for the width of your stirrup, the bar at the top that the leather passes through. Also, the thing has a built in swivel which is nice to keep the pressure off the knees, but I found I had to put a little loctite on the screw to make sure it did not come unscrewed and there the stirrup is lying on the ground. If you get one, you will see the screw I am talking about.

[Razor]

Ok I found a Tucker Endurance 18.5 saddle for sale. Do you think it will fit me?? I am 6'2" and 225lbs.

[Wagonmaster]

Isn't standard size a 17? I am 5'10" 210 and the standard sized Tucker fits me just fine.

You do need to find a place to sit on one though. I tried the Tucker Plantation I think it was, and it seemed to me he seat was angled forward, it wanted to push me into the pommel. But I have friends who swear by them, won't use anything else.

[Devils Creek]

Yes standard trooper size is a 17".

The Tucker endurance would not have the suspended seat of the trooper.

If I was looking at a Tucker it would be the Montreal Royal Trooper with the gel seat.

Probably cheaper than the endurance as well.

[gundogguru]

Montreal Royal Trooper with the gel seat with the 19 inch seat is the one I have. I'm 6'1 290 and it fits me great.

[FTbritts]

John, I ordered both the western and english ez up. I used the english since my tucker trooper has the 1" fenders straps. I was told the they did not make a swivel for the english. I was then sent the western ez up. The swivel worked great, but it is too wide for the trooper and moves/

Which one did you use and how did you hook it up? Got any pics of what the leather man did that you were talking about.

[Wagonmaster]

I am on my way to the NGSPA Nationals, stuck in Memphis one hop short of Arkansas, courtesy of Northworst Airlines (that is our local term of endearment). That stirrup is in my luggage wherever that is. So it will take a few days. Sure, I will get you a pic, and will also measure the ez up that I got. As I recall, it took some back and forth with ez up to get the right one. Works pretty good though.

The sheath was something we came up with by just working it through, after a couple of tries we had it. Will send a pic.

[Wagonmaster]

FT, thanks for bugging me. It turned out the saddle was in my trailer, and the trailer was behind a five foot snow bank. It was time to cut a hole to get it out of there anyway.

Here are three pictures of my stirrup arrangement. These two are of the stirrup from the back side, one with the EZ Up extended and one with it closed:





You should be able to see that the EZ up inside width is greater than the width of the stirrup leather. That and the fact that the EZ Up mechanism is about 4 or 5" long makes it want to tip when you have it extended and try to lift it with the toe of your boot/shoe. So we devised a sheath built around it. The sheath is fairly stiff leather and loose fitting around the EZ Up so as not to bind the mechanism. The EZ Up has a sort of notch built into each side. I had the leatherwright make a strap to go around the sheath and grab the EZ Up in those notches, so the EZ Up is nicely captured, except for the part that needs to move. You can see the button that locks and unlocks the mechanism in the picture of the mechanism extended.

Now here is the stirrup from the other side:



What you see there is the sort of kidney or tear drop shaped fender that goes over the stirrup leather to prevent the leather from chafing your leg. You see some rivets in it near the bottom, those permanently fasten the sheath to the stirrup (I meant the stirrup leather fender).

When you do this, you have to set the stirrups for your leg length, taking into account the little bit of extra length that the EZ Up adds. Once the sheath is riveted to the leather fender, you will not have a whole lot of ability to adjust the stirrup for different leg lengths. We got it wrong the first time, it was too long, but the leatherwright cut the rivets and refastened it, now the length is just right.

I put vetwrap around the stirrup itself, just the horizontal part that you put your foot on. That was very slippery, and I heard from the hunter jumper people that they just wrap vetwrap around the stirrup to make it more "grippy." You will need grippy if you are like me.

I may have mentioned it in an earlier post, but you need to put some Loctite on the vertical bolt that screws the lower part of the EZ Up to the upper part. That wants to unscrew if you don't, and then the stirrup falls off.

Any questions please let me know.

[FTbritts]

Thanks much John! That is a neat set up. Appreciate the pics and the detail!

[Wolvermice]

I am looking for a used Haggis trooper saddle. If any one has any information or leads please email me at wolvermice@gmail.com Thanks!!!!

[Neil Mace]

Well, part of the reason mine get chafed is that I have to put quite a bit of weight on the saddle when I get up. I just have no bounce to get up on the horse. So to make sure the saddle does not roll, I need to tighten the girth quite a bit. I only do that if I am handling in a stake where I know I might be up and down a few times out in the field. Hilly ground its not a problem cause you can always get up on the uphill side of the horse, but flat ground is a problem, and there the neoprene girth galls.

Someone else may have helped yo with this, but for years I have been using a "Fat Man Strap", it goes from a back ring of the saddle down to the back ring of the girth. I don't understand the physics of it, but it works. About 15 bucks from most saddle shops. Ron Rheil the blind guy in ND makes the best one I know of, do a Google for R&R Tack, he has a lot of good FT stuff.

You want it snug, but not tight after you have the cinch snug. You have to be careful, you can have the cinch so loose and the saddle won't slip as you get on, but it might roll to the right once mounted.

Had my horse's known they would have pitched in their feed money to buy one, it has saved them a lot of pain.


Neil

[R-Heaton]

Any questions please let me know

Could we get some action photos of this contraption in action?

[gunner]

Here's ez up stirrup extender's main page. Scroll through their tour.

It's a good well made product. Both English and western fittings available. Great for old farts with bad knees.

http://www.ezupstirrup.com/

[Wagonmaster]

Other than those pictures I posted a couple of years ago, there is nothing to see "in action" Richy. The stirrup looks like any other when the extender is lifted up, just maybe a half an inch to an inch longer, that you can adjust with the stirrup leather. There is a swivel built into the rig, between the stirrup and the stirrup leather, so the stirrup puts less stress on your knees as you ride. I have been using it for about four years now and couldn't ride without it. I take it with me when I go meet Eldon someplace, borrow a horse from him, and put the stirrup on one of his troopers.

[RayGubernat]

Guys -

I had a local Amish tack shop make me up a couple of fat boy straps. The first one had a sewn on bolt snap on one and and a snap captured inside a loop and a conway buckle(with a leather keeper) on the other. The leather is about 1" wide and nice and thick, like stirrup leather. With all the crud I ride through, the snap got full of mud and got hung up, so I had to take it back to the repair shop and have them install another snap. On my successive straps, I had them do a conway buckle and a leather keeper on each end. This way if the snap fails, I can just undo the thing, replace the snap and I'm back in business.

I was told that the the fat boy strap should be snug to work properly.

I use Tucker troopers and they work very well for both me and my horses. I tried a couple of different saddles and Tucker was the most comforatable, so I went with them. My daughter in law is very petite and literally swam around in the Tucker so I found an Icelandic saddle that fits her beautifully. I got an extra thick trooper pad from Wilson Dunn's and it works great for her.

Incidentally, I do like those tacky tack pads... very much. They do not slip around on the horse and the ones from Wilson Dunn are thicker than any others I can find. They are cut back in the center- front so a horse with high withers will have clearance.

The lady who sells me my tack deals with a fair number of trialers and she is constantly harping on the fact that most of the trialers simply do not clean their girths and saddle blankets properly and the embedded crud is what causes most of the galling and the premature self destruction of the girths and tacky tack saddle pads. She had told me on several occasions that if you treat a neoprene girth with Armor All occasionally and scrub it thoroughly to get the sand and dirt out of the crevices after each use, it will last for years and years, instead of one or two seasons(like mine were). I think she is correct on that score. Since I have been taking better care of the girth, it has stayed looking relatively new.

RayG

[DGFavor]

Gettin' into the saddle for me luckily is still pretty easy, stayin' there is a whole different story!! Do those Amish make any sort of anti-gravity strap??

[Wagonmaster]

I got away from the neoprene girths and went to an all wool string girth. I tried several different neoprenes and all of them seemed to gall the horse right behind the foreleg, or they would get wet from sweat and slip. The wool girth does not do either. I use the fat boy strap too. I had one made up and bought a couple, I am pretty sure the couple I bought came from Tarpin Hill.

No anti-grav strap yet Douglas, I guess they just expect that people know how to ride.

[RayGubernat]

Gettin' into the saddle for me luckily is still pretty easy, stayin' there is a whole different story!! Do those Amish make any sort of anti-gravity strap??

As far as staying there...Amen to that.

It is amazing to me how fast things change. When I bend over to pull on my chaps I have to hold on to somthing or I am likely to fall on my head. The horse has gotten taller and he should not be growing any more, after all he is 12. The ground has gotten a lot harder, that is for certain. I have found I don't bounce so good anymore either. Just a thud and an "OWWW".

Getting old sucks.

RayG