The Virginian Western Barrel saddle by Freeform. Our wonderful new creation from
Italy! The Virginian is designed
with women’s comfort in mind. A
large deep cantle to keep you safely tucked in the saddle rather your out all
day on the trail, or in the ring.
Our new narrow Cleburn seat along with a nice Y bolster will create the
perfect twist for your hips. We
have placed our fork a bit more forward than the standard Freeform Western
Barrel saddle to allow for the perfect leg placement with the adjustable
fenders. This allows you to get
the absolute best seat possible in a western saddle. Yiiha!
As for fitting your wonderful horse(s), the Freeform
Virginian comes standard with the large D cinching to hit the correct girth
grove. This saddle comes standard with Cutback
and Velcro to accept our panel system if needed for hard to fit horses or
heavier riders. Panels not included.
My two
cents: I personally am not a
western rider, BUT have fallen in LOVE with this saddle. On our trip to Italy in Nov 2015 Susie
and I worked with Guendalina and Zeina at the Freeform saddle factory to
create a western saddle that you would not feel so barreled on. I have found lots of the ”others” make
me feel so rounded in the saddle that I don’t have balance. Hence the needed bolster (removable) for the twist
and narrower seat. Look out, you
may see me out on the trail in a western saddle now.
The saddle comes as a (SN)Short Back 24" in Length OR a (LW) Standard 26 1/2" in Length
The saddle is stocked with XLG forks, I have found this to work on 95% of the horses.
feel free to email me with your questions. paulitaneff@gmail.com
Remember... we have a demo program :)
A wonderful review of the Virginian Saddle:
Paulita
and I have been working on saddle-fitting my horse, Flame, since I got
her in November of 2013. She is a QH/App now 9-year old mare that is
old school QH — round and stocky and thick. Fitting her has been a
nightmare…however, as you will read, the nightmare is over and the dream
of seeing my horse and me riding happily in a saddle that feels as if
it were custom made for us both has come true!
THE
VIRGINIAN—THE ULTIMATE--LAST SADDLE EITHER YOU OR YOUR HORSE(S) WILL
EVER NEED!! You aced it--the VIRGINIAN SADDLE is unmistakably the
BEST--5 Stars!
As
Paulita and I will tell you, my FAT - FLAT - SHORT Backed QH/APP Mare
(Flame) is one of those extremely hard to fit horses --saddles have
nothing to grip onto and hold them in place. And we tried!! I personally tried
conventional every tree-d Western and Australian saddles—my preferred choice
for the last 20 years—but nothing worked for BOTH my horse and me. A
tree-d width, wide enough for her, put me in spread
eagle mode and I had no balance front to back or side to side. The
VIRGINIAN is the ULTIMATE LAST SADDLE EITHER OF US WILL EVER NEED! You
did it, Paulita.
Joyce
Harman, a friend and author of the 2 books, The Horse’s Pain Free Back
and Saddle Fit Book, (English and Western) was visiting recently and
said, “You will not find another saddle anywhere that fits this horse
any better than this one.” The Virginian is the ONLY saddle I have ever
tried on Flame that simply SAT in place and did NOT rock side-to-side
or 'banana’ front-to-back! (I have sheep and in the past, have sold
wool to Bill Wood, a well-known saddle fitter, and have personally
re-flocked a number of Australian saddles—saddle fitting is NOT new to
me; So, it is with some degree of working knowledge that I highly
recommend this Western saddle to anyone wanting CLOSE CONTACT and
LIGHTNESS. Even with minimal padding and a girth that is longer than
typically used with a treeless saddle, THE VIRGINIAN did NOT slip!!
(Flame has an exceptionally thick, long muscle that runs down both sides
of her spine—providing its own padding and support, but again, has made
saddle fitting a nightmare). Furthermore, living in the mountains, I
do ride in rather steep terrain and for safety, use both a breast collar
and crupper, BUT I have ridden this saddle WITHOUT either here at the
farm up and down hills, and it did NOT slip!!!
I
sometimes ride two other horses--the neighbor’s Tennessee Walker, ‘Mr.
Ed’, who’s now 15-years old and has a typically, well-defined wither and
THE VIRGINIAN works well on him using a thicker, cushioned HAF pad
insert…and my friend’s Appaloosa, ‘Arrow’, who’s now 13-years old and
has a build and wither definition that falls halfway between Flame’s and
Mr. Ed’s and THE VIRGINIAN works equally well on him with the same
thicker HAF pad insert used on Mr. Ed! Flame requires a lighter non
slip pad for support and heat distribution—at Paulita’s recommendation
a BARREL HAF PAD
Thanks
to FREEFORM for listening to all us trail riding folks (women
especially) who need Security. Lightness. Narrowness at the Twist. More
Forward ADJUSTABLE Stirrups. A Horn and Pommel that's OUT OF THE WAY and
not in danger of impaling you should you go forward. Close Contact like
that feeling of being BAREBACK! Rigging that doesn't interfere with
either you or your horse and being rigged to carry weight front to back
so the saddle stays in place and doesn’t ‘pop-up’ at the cantel once the
girth is cinched. That
the stirrups’ position-forward or back a tad…the size of fork
itself...and seat (bolster and cantle) can be adjusted is ICING ON THE
CAKE!
Five
good rides and already I'm realizing I'm NOT thinking about the saddle.
When a saddle works well, you know because you're not focused on it,
but on the Beauty of the Ride, the Connection with your Horse! And the
best part of all, I feel like I’m RIDING BAREBACK!!
