Tad Coffin
A5
Close Contact Saddles
Manufacturer: Tad Coffin
Model: A5
Category: Close Contact Saddles
Purchase: I bought this saddle for $3000 directly from Tad Coffin's place in Virginia in 2000. I was looking for something better than my previous Crosby that didn't fit my horse well.
Likes: I liked the idea of being able to go talk to Tad directly, show him my horse and previous saddle, etc.
Dislikes: It stained my breeches for about the first two years whenever I would sweat. It also stained my saddle pads. I cleaned the saddle regularly with glycerin soap. It's about 7 years old and really looking bad. There are micro-cracks in the knee rolls. What my trainer HATES about this saddle is that there is not enough pommel in front of you. She feels it encourages riders to jump ahead (and she sees a lot of these saddles b/c we're near Tad Coffin's place). What I hate most about this saddle is that it very quickly became too wide for my TBs. I like the fact that when I called Tad about this, he sent me (free) a matching leather wither-relief pad that can be placed under the saddle. However, I've found it's gotten even wider over time. My current horse developed severe back pain this spring after I noticed a subluxation in her croup (not sure why it happened). After 2 chiropractic adjustments, the pain was reduced to being just under the saddle (instead of pretty much everywhere). At that time, the chiropractor took a look at the saddle and said it was bridging her back and that the leather wither-relief wasn't really helping. He suggested buying a Matis pad where you can flock the pad as needed, and that's worked pretty well (she's still pain-free). I've been looking for another saddle for a while but you know what a pain that is. I found a County that I liked but it was $4500. I think I've found my solution. My friend just bought a Bates and after trying it for just 5 minutes I fell in love with it. My horse instantly went significantly better, I wasn't losing my position in the air even if she over jumped. And, the saddle's less than $2k! I found this site when looking at reviews of the Bates, so decided to put my 2 cents in about the Tad Coffin.
Quality: I mentioned quality issues above - leather bleeds and wears out (doesn't look good) in about 5 years of regular usage. I've already had to get the panel re-stitched.
Summary: Not worth the money. It's really wide, not good for TBs.
Rating: 2
Author: VirginiaRider
Date: 2007-09-19
Usefulness Rating: 3.48718 out of 5.
39 reader(s) voted.
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