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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 559
 
| Some of you may remember my saddle fit issues thread. Well....I'm curious about the Meleta Freedom fit saddles. Both of my horses have wide backs...but one is mutton withered and the other has a prominent wither. I understand she has 2 different trees....anyone have any opinions on these saddles? How do they ride? Any issues with the back kicking up? I'm going to try to give her a call tomorrow. Hopefully she does a demo program
Edited by /Streakin/ 2014-11-02 6:09 PM
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
  
Location: In the Hills of Texas | I had one and loved it. It has a nice shoulder flare and the seat is made for a woman. I loved the way it rode. You don't feel like you're doing the splits. My horse out grew it is the only reason I sold mine.
Meleta is great with saddle fit and she helped me tremendously. I would own another one in a heartbeat.
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 Career in Looney Tune Land
Posts: 1717
Location: the high desert | I really wish i had one.  |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| I have the new tree and I LOVE it! Like NTO said it is very comfortable to ride in and when I get off I am not stiff. My horse has prominent withers and a wide back. It fits him really well. He moves so much freer in it. Best thing I ever did for my horse and my hips. |
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 Goat Giver
Posts: 23166
| She is has knowlege and common sense. Call HER. If she doesn't think it will work for YOUR horse, she is honest enough to tell you. I bought a Black Rhino from her in '97, way before the internet and was impressed with her ethics. |
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I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | kmcsunshine - 2014-11-02 6:37 PM She is has knowlege and common sense. Call HER. If she doesn't think it will work for YOUR horse, she is honest enough to tell you. I bought a Black Rhino from her in '97, way before the internet and was impressed with her ethics.
I couldn't agree more and I also bought a Black Rhino from her about the same time or a little later and then the Meleta Brown Freedom Saddle. I liked the Freedom saddle the best. It was a lot more comfortable and also didn't hurt my hips like so many other saddles do. |
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Goat Giver
Posts: 23166
| Nevertooold - 2014-11-02 6:45 PM kmcsunshine - 2014-11-02 6:37 PM She is has knowlege and common sense. Call HER. If she doesn't think it will work for YOUR horse, she is honest enough to tell you. I bought a Black Rhino from her in '97, way before the internet and was impressed with her ethics. I couldn't agree more and I also bought a Black Rhino from her about the same time or a little later and then the Meleta Brown Freedom Saddle. I liked the Freedom saddle the best. It was a lot more comfortable and also didn't hurt my hips like so many other saddles do.
I think she took the Rhino and improved it.....love my Rhinos, wish I could buy one of hers, but I can't justify it until I actually RIDE..........
And when I said before the internet, I meant before I got it in 2005  |
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  Damn Yankee
Posts: 12390
Location: Somewhere between raising hell and Amazing Grace | Best saddle I have found for my impossible to fit mutton withered gelding. Even after talking to Meleta who said she didn't think it would fit. We trid it anyways and I've learned more from her about saddle fitting then I've learned in the last thirty years. She is just one of the nicest people you will meet |
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 Crazy Chicken Chick
Posts: 36132
| If it were me, I'd buy the #2 tree. Even though it's made for the wide, mutton withered horse (and yeah, she said it may not work for my decent withered horses with a decent dip in their backs) it worked REALLY well for my horses.
I don't have any horses that are flat backed or mutton withered, but that new tree fit them well, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE how open the shoulder is!
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Crazy Chicken Chick
Posts: 36132
| missroselee - 2014-11-02 6:54 PM Best saddle I have found for my impossible to fit mutton withered gelding. Even after talking to Meleta who said she didn't think it would fit. We trid it anyways and I've learned more from her about saddle fitting then I've learned in the last thirty years. She is just one of the nicest people you will meet
Meleta is one of my most favorite people in the world. Can't wait to meet her in person one day! She is awesome in that she truly wants to help the horse, and wante people to understand how important saddle fit is. She has taught me tons and although I do have one of her saddles, I bought it used, so she didn't make any profit from spending so much time with me. That speaks volumes about her integrity and character!
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Red Bull Agressive
Posts: 5981
Location: North Dakota | I don't have one of her saddles yet, but have emailed her about a million times back and forth. She is super awesome. Once my horse gets better I'll definitely be ordering from her! |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | Nevertooold - 2014-11-02 6:45 PM kmcsunshine - 2014-11-02 6:37 PM She is has knowlege and common sense. Call HER. If she doesn't think it will work for YOUR horse, she is honest enough to tell you. I bought a Black Rhino from her in '97, way before the internet and was impressed with her ethics. I couldn't agree more and I also bought a Black Rhino from her about the same time or a little later and then the Meleta Brown Freedom Saddle. I liked the Freedom saddle the best. It was a lot more comfortable and also didn't hurt my hips like so many other saddles do.
I bought a Black Rhino from her in 98. Fit my horse like a glove, but I didn't like it for myself. I bought and sold one of her freedom saddles a few years ago--it had too much rock for my horse. Regretted selling and bought another one last winter. It doesn't fit my gelding, he needs the flatter bars, but it fits everything else in my barn. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 507
Location: Lost in the corn of Iowa. | Definitely talk to her. I bought her new saddle from her this spring, and yes she does do a demo program. I have had some minor things come up over the summer and still, she was willing to look at my pictures and answer any of my questions. I feels like it's broke in on the first ride. The only gripe I have with it is that it is heavy compared to other brands. But, it's my daily workout when I'm getting ready to ride. LOL!! |
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 Experienced Mouse Trapper
Posts: 3106
Location: North Dakota | I think she makes the type of saddles, that probably fit the bill of "fits every horse I've had it on" that you see in most ads. I had her saddle to fit a really big gelding I'm running but out of curiosity I put it on a wide backed mutton withered gelding and a racey looking horse and probably had the best fit on every horse I rode it in than any other saddle out there! I didn't buy it........because I am vain and the round cantle looked too small on my wide rear! :/ I think I should talk her into making a square cantle (like the camarillo) the fit was excellent and the fenders didn't have too much swing in them which is what I find the problem is with many other brands of saddles. It is sturdy and well made and pretty dang reasonable for pricing too. She will definitely work with you to try a demo saddle as well. |
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 Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | I had the great experience to get to meet her and use her saddle a few times this summer. She is a super neat person, so easy to talk too. Of course I love to talk horses :) I ordered one of her newest saddles and it has taken a bit to get the tree in a 14" seat, but it sounds like it is now in the works. I can't wait to get it. I was shocked at the fit too, it fit a 14 hand ranchy made gelding and my 16.3 show horse. Neither were what I would call wide or narrow, but they fit right behind the shoulder where all the other saddles I tried pinched. |
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2937
Location: North Dakota | Meleta was such a sweet lad to talk to. I highly suggest you call her!
She sent me a loaner for my horse to try and it fit him like a glove! The only problem I had is I just couldn't get used to the flat seat. I rode in it all week (like she told me to) and it just wasn't feeling right. I was super sad, because it fit my horse so nice.
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 Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | I had no idea what a Meleta Brown was... After building my own on her website I learned two things:
ONE I should never be allowed to have $3500 or the option to customize a saddle... and TWO I found my Christmas present.
Very Nice |
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Member
Posts: 24
| I have had 2 of the Meleta Brown saddles. LOVE!LOVE! LOVE! Them. I even had a black rhino. She is super to work with!!!! I would still have them in my barn, but they didn't fit the horses I have now. But if I ever get a horse that the saddles I have now don't work. That is the first person I will call & get a demo to see if it will work on them. Love the saddle. She is a WONDERFUL PERSON!!!! Wish I could meet her in person!!!! She probably knows my kids & has never met them. You won't be sorry!!!!! I was actually not going to sell my second saddle, but someone emailed & asked about it. So they paid what I was asking & the extra to get it shipped quickly.
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