Foam panels are usually found on French-designed saddles. For example: Devoucoux, Butet, Voltaire, Calibre, Childric, CWD, Antares, Maurel, Tad Coffin, Delgrange, Hermes, Equipe and PLS. These are made by companies that specialize in show jumping saddles. A few of them try their hand at dressage saddles too, based on a jumper style tree with longer stirrup bars and higher cantles.
All the saddles are very refined, basically smaller all round in looks. Foam allows the panels to be very thin (close contact) as the density of the foam can be varied for support. High quality foams are used (not memory foam). These foams are closed cell, sometimes rubber type, dense, often ridged or harder, and sometimes layers of types of foams. They are made on a CNC machine with patterns, pre-designed for each saddle style and size. They are completely symmetrical, often have square edges, and pretty much last forever. They require next to no maintenance. They are lightweight.
Foam panels cannot be altered to fit your horse, in order to do that you need to replace the entire panel with a different shape panel (this requires your saddle to be taken away, often mailed somewhere even as far as France, and is very expensive).
The foam is unforgiving, meaning YOU MUST ride in some form of half pad (second layer to your saddle pad) whether it is a sheepskin half pad (I recommend), memory foam (not that useful as it compresses and releases slower than you move so once its flat under the saddle it stays that way), felt pad, double layer cotton, leather….
The point is that you need to add a comforting layer that will give to your horse’s back and provide freedom of movement. It will take some of the concussion out of you and your horse’s movement, it breathes, lifts the saddle up and off your horse’s back so they can lift their back. It also helps blend the rigid foam shape to your horse’s shape, and allows more room for the spine and withers. Foam is synthetic, it does not breathe, it can absorb moisture, and often requires shimming to fit your horse better.
Foam-panelled saddles are often made with very high quality French leathers that feel amazing to ride in and are very sticky. The downfall is this lovely leather wears out incredible fast. And to top all that off, they are often way more expensive than any other style of saddle on the market!
Why, then, are they so popular? It is believed that French saddles with different pad setups under them will fit most horses. This suits most jumper riders who use their saddle on multiple horses. They have little to no maintenance costs (refitting etc). They are able to be replaced with the exact same specs. They are incredible close contact, and look pretty.
Why, then, are they so popular? It is believed that French saddles with different pad setups under them will fit most horses. This suits most jumper riders who use their saddle on multiple horses. They have little to no maintenance costs (refitting etc). They are able to be replaced with the exact same specs. They are incredible close contact, and look pretty.
Problems that occur are that they may fit the very day you buy them but every horse changes his shape with age, weight, exercise, level, riders, work, sickness, lameness, travel, and stress and there is nothing you can do to remedy this to the saddle.
If you purchase secondhand, you will not be getting the panel specs for your own horse, you will not know what horse it was set up for. French Saddles do not have adjustable trees. So basically they fit or they don’t.
Most French saddles come in one tree size (medium) and the panels are made thicker or thinner in the front to accommodate diffent wither sizes. Wide-withered (meaning the physical width or the wither bones) horses struggle with space as the panels in these saddles are often attached very high up in the gullet of the saddle. Shims must be used to accommodate asymmetrical horses or saddles that slip to one side. You will notice on wider horses or horses with broad shoulders that French saddles want to sit low behind (because the tree is too narrow). Beware: the answer is not to shim the rear (that’s another blog).
Why do jumper riders get away with this. Because these horse are usually ridden in a light seat, or two point with the riders body balanced up over the stirrup bar. Not sitting deep in the seat like you do in a dressage saddle. Also the riders weight is closer to being over the horses shoulders, which is the strongest part of the horse.
Jumper’s horses spend a lot of time in the canter, this is the gait that horses use the base of their withers (trapezius thoracic muscle) the most (walking in reverse is the only other gait to use this muscle as much), when the horse uses that muscle they lift the saddle up from the middle releasing pressure to the front mostly.
The horses are generally not ridden as long (like not trail ridden or hour long dressage lessons). Often have multiple different saddles placed on their back, which would change the pressure points all the time.
When things do go wrong you will see horses not wanting to put their heads down, bucking on landing, large atrophy pockets behind the shoulder, weak backs, wither sores, atrophy pockets under the rear panels, horses showing aggressive reactions to being tacked up, training issues, refusing jumps, catching rails, stumbling, saddles sliding back etc……
Since French saddles are not adjustable, the people selling them — the representatives of the brand— are not saddle fitters. They are trained to help choose the correct panel for your horse. They are there to sell you a saddle. They are not trained how to alter or correct a saddle’s fit.