>>>>Kaaren Jordan said someone on this list has tried a Duett saddle. >>>>Karen? Someone else? Want to give me your opinion?
I had one for a while - an Encore dressage. It was a nice enough saddle, but Sina outgrew it just like she did all the other treed saddles. One good thing is that they do come in really wide trees. They are not Stubben quality saddles by a good shot, but I'm afraid we really don't have many options in super-wide saddles. Beware of what the distributor may tell you if you deal directly with her. She's...different. She told my friend that she would absolutely NOT be able to get her gelding to "tolt" in one of the Encore dressage models, that she HAD to get one of the flat seated Icelandic models. Uh... huh? We asked her how much Icelandic horse experience she had and the answer was none. Seems like she'd met one or two, but that was about it. But, someone had told her that, so she was repeating it as gospel. Thankfully, we knew better. My friend and I were desparate for saddles, and we each ended up with a dressage model...and our horses gaited just fine in it. Well, until Sina outgrew it, then the pacing started again...Thank goodness my long awaited first Sensation arrived before she outgrew the Encore! Another thing to watch out for: the distributor used to push the "Companion Trail" models for Icelandic's. At that time, they all had extended panels. We got one to try when we demoed the two dressage models that we bought, and the stupid extended panels were too long for every Icelandic we tried it on - even the bigger horses like Bragi and Falki. It bridged badly on most. They were WAY too long for Sina - she could only just barely make do with the 17.5" seat I bought, a model WITHOUT the extended panels. The one she outgrew was a 36cm tree. At the time I bought it, I had several young horses (4-6 year olds) and that was ok for many of them. But, they kept maturing and finally last spring I realized it wasn't a great fit any more for any of them, so I sold it. If you want to consider one, check ebay. The retail on mine was about $1150. It was like new when I sold it, and I only got about $550 I think. At any rate, I took a loss. I've seen them on ebay in the $400-600 range a lot. They don't seem to hold their values as well as some others. For what it's worth, I thought the Encore was a comfy saddle for me - until I was spoiled by Sensations that is... :) Karen Thomas, NC
