# Opinions on Shires OPTIMUS leather adjustable saddles?



## Hippona (3 October 2011)

I quite like the look of these....

Does anyone have one?


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## SplashofSoy (3 October 2011)

One of the girls at our yard has it, doesnt look any where near as cheap as it is, appears to be good quality and is adjustable.  As long as it fits you and your horse...


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## Kenzo (3 October 2011)

I took two to try from RideAway (the GP style and the jumping) they seem keen for people to try them, so it would be very easy for you to demo one  anyway for the price they seemed ok, nice soft leather but you'd have to look after it, as it's the sort of leather that would easly scratch or get damaged if don't keep them covered and really look after them, for the price, if they fit, they seem decent enough but I didn't even get to sit in one because the gullets they provided me with (despite me saying he was wide verging on xw) were no where near and the pannels just wouldn't of suited his back shape, didn't even bother girthing them up.

They would probably suit some TB's.

If you compare them to a TG synthetic saddle then the quality of how they are made (re changing of gullets) I personally could see a difference in quality but they seem good enough for the price, considering they do the leather models (they have now brought out a synthetic range) if it fits well then you can't complain.

I was talking to Orangepony (another member on here) at the Yorkshire HHO meet at Escrick and she spoke very highly of hers, in fact it was me that commented and said that it looked like a nice comfortable saddle and put her in nice position, then realised it was an Optimus, looked better in the black and looked better for being worn in a bit too, she said she only bought it due to one of her horses changing shape (think she said a TB) and she pleasantly suprised how good the saddle was, so that was really interesting.

Providing they are easy enough to re-flock and your not expecting a 'life time saddle' then I'm sure there a good saddle for the money.


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## Hippona (3 October 2011)

Thanks for your detailed report Kenzo

Hmm....I like the look of them but I think my oss is about as awkward as yours for saddles

He has an ideal WH....its slipping forwards at the moment and we are throwing shapes in canter as it tips/slips.....I'm thinking either the flocking needs doing or he needs a W in stead of an XW.

I have the saddle fitter coming out on the 24th and she's bring a selection with her but part of me is wondering about an adjustable as he's still pretty young (6) and only really started being worked this spring so he's going to be changing shape for a while I guess.

He's your typical short backed well sprung arab...but he does have a wither. He can't have anything more than a 161/2" but luckily I'm a short-arse

PS....spoke to RubysGold recently? She has made a purchase


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## sidesaddlegirl (3 October 2011)

I looked at one at the tack shop yesterday and thought it looked cheap, not nice like they do in the photos. The stitching and seams at the pommel looked all lumpy and uneven and the panels seemed very squishy, too squishy for a new saddle. I think you would still need to get a saddler out first think to flock it up properly. The girth straps look set too far back and if you have a horse who's saddles slide forward, this saddle would do that straight away due to the far back straps.


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## brown tack (3 October 2011)

Id try then tbh esp as my local saddlery shop is selling them for £ 150, got a fair few there but the offer is only on the ones in the shop. shires isn't overtly far from me do think its an intro offer


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## Kenzo (3 October 2011)

poppymoo said:



			Thanks for your detailed report Kenzo

Hmm....I like the look of them but I think my oss is about as awkward as yours for saddles

He has an ideal WH....its slipping forwards at the moment and we are throwing shapes in canter as it tips/slips.....I'm thinking either the flocking needs doing or he needs a W in stead of an XW.

I have the saddle fitter coming out on the 24th and she's bring a selection with her but part of me is wondering about an adjustable as he's still pretty young (6) and only really started being worked this spring so he's going to be changing shape for a while I guess.

He's your typical short backed well sprung arab...but he does have a wither. He can't have anything more than a 161/2" but luckily I'm a short-arse

PS....spoke to RubysGold recently? She has made a purchase

Click to expand...

Arrr right I see, well you never know, if the fitter has them in stock it could be worth looking at one but if he's quite flat over his back and needs plenty of spine clearance down the gullet then I doubt the shape of the pannels and the tree would suit but it's hard to say unless you look at them yourself and have a fitter there to check it. 

no way *bounces around* has she, she's kept that one quiet, knew she was looking but didn't no she'd make a purchase yet, how exciting, I'll PM her! hopefully will be seeing her this month so she can fill me in


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## Kenzo (3 October 2011)

Also but don't quote me on it, are Shires saddles/leather work not made in India?  something I'd heard so maybe the craftmanship is not as good as for example your GFS and Thorowgoods adustables?


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## Hippona (3 October 2011)

Kenzo said:



			Arrr right I see, well you never know, if the fitter has them in stock it could be worth looking at one but if he's quite flat over his back and needs plenty of spine clearance down the gullet then I doubt the shape of the pannels and the tree would suit but it's hard to say unless you look at them yourself and have a fitter there to check it. 

no way *bounces around* has she, she's kept that one quiet, knew she was looking but didn't no she'd make a purchase yet, how exciting, I'll PM her! hopefully will be seeing her this month so she can fill me in 

Click to expand...

Ahhh then...it probably won't suit him. Won't bother going to have a look. 

SSG...thanks for that- lumpy is not good

Kenzo....its all subject to vetting .....I'm going to go and check him out if/when it all comes off.....we could maybe go the same time?


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## Hippona (3 October 2011)

Kenzo said:



			Also but don't quote me on it, are Shires saddles/leather work not made in India?  something I'd heard so maybe the craftmanship is not as good as for example your GFS and Thorowgoods adustables?
		
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Oh. Didn't know that....

We did try a K+M adjustable but that didn't suit either....wrong shape for him. Think they are the same as a Thorowgood but in leather?

Grrr. Awkward beast.


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## Kenzo (3 October 2011)

poppymoo said:



			Ahhh then...it probably won't suit him. Won't bother going to have a look. 

SSG...thanks for that- lumpy is not good

Kenzo....its all subject to vetting .....I'm going to go and check him out if/when it all comes off.....we could maybe go the same time?

Click to expand...

Yeah count me, we can raise a toast to the new oss


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## Hippona (3 October 2011)

yay!

Sounds good.

I was a bad influence....my input consisted of.....'yep...thats pretty- buy it'


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## Kenzo (3 October 2011)

poppymoo said:



			Oh. Didn't know that....

We did try a K+M adjustable but that didn't suit either....wrong shape for him. Think they are the same as a Thorowgood but in leather?

Grrr. Awkward beast.
		
Click to expand...

Yes they are, they won't fit my lad even with the correct gullet in unless the saddler makes some adjustments to the flocking, I think people think just because you can change the gullet it will fit most of the time (if it suit the shape of the horse) but I think most of the time it's not always the case unless they are tweeked else where. 

Did you try the cob version? mind you if I remember rightly they don't do it in 16.5'' think the cob versions start at 17'', so ingore me.


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## Kenzo (3 October 2011)

poppymoo said:



			yay!

Sounds good.

I was a bad influence....my input consisted of.....'yep...thats pretty- buy it'

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''but it's pwiteee'' 


yep I've heard and used that expression before, it gets you no where! lol


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## marmalade76 (3 October 2011)

Kenzo said:



			Also but don't quote me on it, are Shires saddles/leather work not made in India?  something I'd heard so maybe the craftmanship is not as good as for example your GFS and Thorowgoods adustables?
		
Click to expand...

I have heard that GFS are also made abroad. Not India, though, possibly South America.


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## Hippona (3 October 2011)

I'm thinking now I should stick with the properly made english saddles and let the fitter re-flock or fit me one of her second hand ones....(sorry, pre-loved ones)

Thanks for the virtual face-slap, sometimes I need restraining.


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## Hippona (3 October 2011)

Kenzo said:



			''but it's pwiteee'' 


yep I've heard and used that expression before, it gets you no where! lol 

Click to expand...

I know. It got me an odd-shaped difficult to fit but beeyootiful beastie lol


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## marmalade76 (3 October 2011)

My boy has a short flat back, well sprung with withers and I've got one of these:-

http://www.barnsby.com/products/saddles-barnsby-junior-jumping-saddle/default.asp 

And they're made in ENGLAND!


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## Kenzo (3 October 2011)

poppymoo said:



			I know. It got me an odd-shaped difficult to fit but beeyootiful beastie lol

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It got me....even though I didn't use that phrace when I went to see view him (sorry Macker, but you were not what I 'd call a pretty youngster) but yes it still got me a odd shaped difficult to fit neddy, I tell him his beautiful however

...face, mother, love etc


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## Hippona (3 October 2011)

marmalade76 said:



			My boy has a short flat back, well sprung with withers and I've got one of these:-

http://www.barnsby.com/products/saddles-barnsby-junior-jumping-saddle/default.asp 

And they're made in ENGLAND!
		
Click to expand...

Thanks...thats good to know- hopefully fitter will bring some nice suitable ones.

* goes off internet browsing*


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## sbloom (3 October 2011)

poppymoo said:



			Oh. Didn't know that....

We did try a K+M adjustable but that didn't suit either....wrong shape for him. Think they are the same as a Thorowgood but in leather?

Grrr. Awkward beast.
		
Click to expand...

They have to be at those prices.  Cheaper Walsall saddles start at maybe £400 for small seat sizes and £600ish for larger.  For better quality you're looking at a minimum of about £900.

Obviously in between Walsall and India, in price not geography!, is Argentina, where GFS is made, along with several others.

K&M are similar to TG, same company, but I don't know which are actually the same as the TG models, if any.


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## marmalade76 (3 October 2011)

sbloom said:



			They have to be at those prices.  Cheaper Walsall saddles start at maybe £400 for small seat sizes and £600ish for larger.  For better quality you're looking at a minimum of about £900.
		
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Yep, mine was £950 and just about the cheapest one they do  (it's a kid's saddle).


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## orangepony (4 October 2011)

After seeing my name mentioned (you have a superb memory Kenzo!) I thought I'd better come and throw in my two pennyworth.

Shires Optimus - 
Pros: 
cheapish for leather saddle, adjustable fit. can adjust flock too. seems relatively well made for price.
fits bog standard medium width TB really well, also fits orange one (1/2 TB) pretty well when in his slimmer phases. 
Jump is more like a 'event GP' than a jump saddle, bit of a knee roll etc so ideal as GP.
Cons: 
if it doesn't fit your horse, no matter of gullet/flocking etc will make it fit. Leather is workmanlike on flaps and almost aniline type i.e v soft (but not such good quality) on seat, skirt and kneerolls as I think it must be a skin-like covering. 
Can look tacky in anything other than black leather and the GP and dressage versions don't look anywhere near as well constructed as the jump one I bought.

If you can find a good secondhand english-mdae though i'd go for that any time over these gullet saddles. Typically I didnt have a jump saddle in a short enough length (16.5") for the gangly TB so it was a cost effective 'fix'. 

Good luck finding something Poppymoo; I gather you are also from the great Yorkshireland, have you tried Hey Farm (if you know what you are looking for then might be worth a trip over?).


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## emmab01 (24 October 2012)

lve had my saddle for 18 months and its very comfortable and always fitted well  but in the last  few months the seat has wrinkled and the near side saddle flap has blistered and now the screws that hold the gullet in keep coming undone l havent cross threaded or anything and only ever changed gullet once  Has any one else had this problem !!!!


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## sbloom (25 October 2012)

Obviously there are some significant quality issues there, but I can comment on the seat wrinkling.  Many people assume the tree may be broken when that happens, but actually how the saddle is webbed can determine whether and how fast the seat will wrinkle - a saddle that feels REALLY squooshy and soft when new may well have been deliberately webbed softly and that means that over time there is too much give in it, and the seat will wrinkle.  Better for a new saddle to feel a smidge too firm, they usually break in much softer eventually.  

And a rider who uses their seat as a driving aid (shovelling backwards and forwards) can also cause even a firmly webbed saddle to stretch in the seat leather.  Another reason to work on getting those horses off the leg aids


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