Wintec 2000 - Not a Saddle For Every Horse

Advantages: Light weight, easy care, comfortable seat, easy change gullets, looks good
Disadvantages: A bit slippy on my low-withered pony, hard to fit to her shape

...Wintec saddles are made by Bates Australia, founded in 1934. They originally produced synthetic saddles for racing, but over the years this has evolved into a wide range of saddles for all sorts of disciplines. The saddle I bought was a Wintec 2000 All Purpose back when I was breaking in my new forest pony. It is made with 'Equisuede', a convincing synthetic suede material that does not get slippery when wet and helps to keep the rider in position with its grippy capabilities. Equisuede is a quick drying material and is not damaged by wet weather. The Wintec 2000 also has adjustable knee blocks to help provide more support, real leather girth straps, two brass dee rings for attaching saddle bags etc, and the 'Easy Change Gullet System', so you can change the width of your saddle if your horse changes shape. The manufacturers...

sunnyfox 17.09.2003 (24.09.2003) · Read review
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Review of Wintec Saddle

Wintec 2000 Saddle with CAIR

Advantages: Easy to clean and look after
Disadvantages: Found it hard to fit my pony

...I bought a Wintec saddle for my 13.2HH pony. Her old saddle was looking rather worse for wear and I felt I change was needed. I was a bit sceptical about buying a synthetic saddle as I have always had leather saddles in the past. Obviously the synthetic saddle are not 'made to measure'. I thought this would not be a problem as much of the advertising says with the easy gullet system, the saddle should fit any shape. However, I did not find this to be the case. Even on the widest setting, the saddle was too small and often slipped to the side ( I was unable to mount off the floor without the saddle slipping!) I was very disappointed as I had spent money on buying a gullet gauge to see which size my pony needed. The gauge showed that the size I picked should have fit, however this was not to be the case! I do, hoever, have a few...

LJenna 26.07.2005 · Read review
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Review of Wintec Saddle

Slippery when wet??

Advantages: Much cheaper than leather.
Disadvantages: Only available in black.

...As you already know I have horses and to ride a horse, a saddle is an essential item. I know it is possible to ride without and I sometimes do to improve my balance, but really it is an important piece of kit. The saddle needs to fit the horse and horses can change shape. It also needs to suit the rider. Saddles are traditionally leather. The saddle that I have now for my young horse is a synthetic, Wintec saddle. The saddle actually came with the horse. I have a leather saddle for my other horse and I have always prefered leather, but am perfectly happy with the Wintec synthetic, at least for now. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I will quickly explain why I am happy with the synthetic saddle. I have quite a history with saddles and they can make you spend a lot of money. Even though...

spottydog2 28.09.2006 (29.09.2006) · Read review
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Review of Wintec Saddle

I won one of these in a Competition once.

Advantages: Cheap, easy to clean.
Disadvantages: Black only.

...just need wiping off. They don`t need breaking in when new either or oiling like leather saddles do. Wintec 2000. * * * * * * * * * * The Wintec 2000 is only available in black which could be a disadvantage for those with a brown bridle. It is constructed from man made materials, the seat and the knee rolls being equisuede. This offers more grip which is always good. The only disadvantage from this is that, it gets wet. It is apparently quick drying, but it still does take a little bit longer than leather, or certainly the rest of the saddle, to dry. It is breathable though, which does speed up the drying process. It is comfortable though and also has seat foams, increasing the rider comfort. Still, the saddle is lightweight and durable and helps the rider to sit in the correct position. The saddle has wide weight bearing...

spottydog2 17.06.2007 (16.06.2007) · Read review
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Review of Wintec 2000 Saddle

Throw away the saddle soap!

Advantages: Easy to care for
Disadvantages: Did not find any

...Benefits of a Wintec: Flexibility - Saddle width can be changed whenever necessary Durability - Tough and strong Care - No leather care necessary Wet Weather - Does not get slippery so is safer for rider Value - Maintains value. I bought a Wintec saddle some years ago to use for breaking in youngsters. Horses and ponies change shape according to the time of year, diet and the work that they are in. However, their greatest period of change is when they go through the starting process, when they combine physical maturing and development of first working muscle. I bought the Wintec to use on New Forest ponies, which can be barell shaped and hard to fit at the best of times. Although second hand, the saddle looked great. Whilst leather matures, the equileather used by Wintec just keeps looking new. Wintecs come...

catshark88 15.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of Wintec Saddle

no more saddle soap!!

Advantages: no saddle soap needed to clean
Disadvantages: none

...Having owned 2 wintec saddles, I can't emphasise enough the greatest factor of all - not having to use saddle soap!!! With any style or model of wintec all you have to do to clean them is to just wash them over with the hose pipe!!! The first model wintec that I had was made of a gel type substance that in fact had no tree in it, so was impossible to break!! and because of being made of gel was less likely to cause any pressure points, as I am now breaking in my youngster this saddle is absolutely ideal for that job!! So i bought my other mare a new wintec, the syle that looks just like leather, and being reasonably priced at around £350 I reckon they are great value, you wouldn't pick up a decent leather saddle for that price. As with any wintec saddle you are able to change the gullet at the front of the saddle, should your...

SecretFormula 05.10.2000 · Read review
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Review of Wintec Saddle

Is plastic the new leather?

Advantages: Light, changable gullet, relitavely cheap
Disadvantages: slippage, expensive gullets

...After buying many cheap-ish leather saddles for my ever shape changing horse I decided to treat him to a Wintec 500 saddle. Being 31, Pegasus has quite high withers but as hes a quite chunky horse, narrow saddles get in the way of his shoulders and sit too high on his back. (A very hard thing to find is a saddle thats built for chunky horses with high withers!) Obviously there arent many horses who are this shape so no one makes saddles to fit them! Unless i scrimped and saved for about 20 years to have him a saddle made which I know i would only ruin in a matter of days, i oped for a wintec as I had ridden in my friends and found them very comfy and simple to alter. When it came it had a medium gullet in which i thought would be too wide for him as he had lost a bit of weight due to an accident a few weeks earlier. I went out...

claremash 07.09.2006 · Read review
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Review of Wintec Saddle

Low Maintenance Performance

Advantages: Design, ease of care
Disadvantages: None found

...and other disciplines. I have jumped very small fences in a dressage saddle but would not recommend them for larger ones or cross country. Comfort -------------- This is a comfortable saddle. You feel secure and upright in it and the panels and blocks guide your legs. The Cair panels are supposed to be more comfortable for the horse as they distribute weight more evenly over the horse's back than traditional saddles. They certainly seem to be happy with them. Flexibility ---------------- The great benefit of any Wintec is the changeable gullet system which allows you to alter your saddle width according to changes in your horse's shape. This is really useful if you have youngsters or horses that change shape a lot over the year. Old hunt stables used to have a winter and a summer saddle for each horse, so this is a really useful...

catshark88 17.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of Wintec Pro Dressage Saddle

hard wearing pony saddle

Advantages: good fit for both pony and the child
Disadvantages: a little bit long on the girth straps

......

samerlin 02.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Wintec Kids Saddle

Bates Isabell Dressage Saddle

Advantages: Comfortable and you can change the gullets
Disadvantages: Can be a bit expensive with the gullets

...What Wintec Say: Developed in conjunction with World Dressage Champion, Isabell Werth to support both horse and rider. The difference the Isabell saddle can make to your riding is quite profound as radical features take the effort out of sitting in the correct position. The Wintec Isabell is versatile, lightweight and provides the easy care benefits of Equisuede. FEATURES: Performance driven tree and seat shape Super-Enduro seat foam retains its resilience and won't ride down, flatten or harden Soft Sorbtec knee inserts moulds to the rider's knee shape Newly positioned stirrup bars are positioned 5cm (2") further back than standard bars Adjustable Flexibloc System enables the rider to individually tailor their thigh and knee support Adjustable Y-Girthing System secures the front and back of saddle High performance...

sweetpea_sweetpea 04.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of Bates Isabell Dressage Saddle