Thursday, May 14, 2015

Test Ride: Barnsby Omega All Purpose

It's not often we have all purpose or jumping saddles come in on consignment at work; we're primarily known as a dressage tack shop. Our big trailer travels to dressage shows exclusively, and we sponsor lots of dressage shows both locally and nationally. It's easy to understand why most saddles consigned here are dressage saddles.

We have a small selection of used all purpose/jumping saddles. They're almost all 16"-17"saddles that kids have outgrown or discarded. You can imagine my excitement when I unearthed a 17.5" Barnsby Omega all purpose. Here's something I can conceivably squeeze my ass into, I thought to myself.


This Barnsby has obviously been well-used, but it's in good condition. The leather is supple, but not exceptionally soft. The reddish color is ugly, and there appears to be some staining from boot polish on the flap. However, the stitching is tight everywhere and the flocking felt nice and firm. This is a saddle that's held up well to lots and lots of use.

The tree on this saddle looked a little too wide for Gina, so I opted to try it on Semper Fi, the cute replacement bay I rode while Gina was mysteriously lame for a couple of days. He's a QH/Hanoverian cross with a medium-wide build and very average withers. They're neither high nor low. The Barnsby fit him pretty well- no additional shimming or padding needed. 


My initial test ride didn't go that well- Semper Fi spent the whole ride pitching a fit, so I couldn't get a great feel for the saddle. I held onto it and stuck it on Gina a couple weeks later. As I suspected, it was a little wide for her, but it wasn't anything a borrowed half pad couldn't fix.


I really liked this saddle on the flat. The knee rolls weren't obtrusive and I felt like my leg stayed in place. The seat made me feel secure without confining me too much; it was easy to go into 2-point and stay there. I didn't notice any changes in Gina's behavior or way of going. 

There were some small crossrails set up in the arena; I put Gina to them and chaos ensued. The stability I'd felt on the flat disappeared, leaving me with a wildly swinging lower leg. It didn't matter if I jumped from the trot or canter, or if I changed my stirrup length: I pinched with my knee at every jump, my lower leg swung back, and I had a lot of difficulty sitting up quickly after the jump. 

Gina got increasingly agitated with my terrible riding, so I pulled her up after a handful of relatively quiet jumps. 


I can't put my finger on what it was that made the Barnsby Omega such a poor fit for me over fences. It could be as simple as this saddle being vastly different from my normal jumping saddle (a very forward flap Ainsley XC Pro National). But it reminded me of a quote from Jim Wofford's Training The Three Day Event Horse And Rider: "That's why some saddles marketed as "all-purpose" are actually "no-purpose."

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree that all purpose = no purpose

emma said...

lol that saddle sounds like it rides exactly like my old wintec over fences (ie useless). looks nice tho!

SprinklerBandit said...

I have a Barnsby Diablo (very forward) that I love. It's the only thing (under 5k) that fits me as well as my ainsley used to. That AP flap is so straight that it almost look dressage-y. I can't imagine riding in it.

Stephanie said...

When I was younger, I had an old all purpose Courbette with a really straight, long flap. Thinking back on it, I don't know how I EVER managed to go over jumps in it!

Stephanie said...

I was FLOORED by how useless it was!!!

Stephanie said...

The Diablo looks a lot like my Ainsley! Forward flaps 4 lyfe, yo

Beka Burke said...

Will you come to Georgia and teach me your ways?

Stephanie said...

I'll load down the Subaru with as many saddles as I can fit in there and come to Georgia!

Unknown said...

All purpose saddle are no good for Tracy's and jumping. We just don't mix, so I feel your pain.

Anonymous said...

The saddle may have been useless, but I like the borrowed half pad.

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