Détente Merlin Jumping Saddle Price: $2,495 Leather: Premium Supplex, Hydro, or Memel; $500 for Calf seat and pads Colors:  Brown (black by special order) Panels: Détente Enhanced Panel; 100% British wool with wool felt lining for enhanced support and stability, leather panels (serge available by special order), panels gusseted front and rear Tree choices: Sporthorse Tree (M, MW, W), Haven tree for flatter, broader backs (M, MW, W, XW) Seat sizes: 16, 16.5, 17, 17.5, 18, 18.5 Détente Merlin shown with optional sueded buffalo seat and pads

Détente Merlin Jumping Saddle

The style of the Détente Merlin jumping saddle is a style of saddle that has long been among the most popular saddles in England for fox hunting and eventing. This is a traditional hunt-style saddle with a secure seat, soft, supportive pads over removable or interchangeable blocks, and the brass rings traditional for hunting saddles. The Merlin is purpose-built for distributing the riderÕs weight as evenly as possible over the bearing structure of the horse's back. Merlin is an excellent choice for fox hunters, trail riders, and eventers who spend long hours in the saddle.

The seat, sized traditionally with generous width in the seat, is well-suited to keep the rider secure in the saddle and comfortable for hours. For the horse, the Merlin's panels have an even larger bearing area than many dressage saddles, and at least twice the bearing area of the average close contact panel. The Merlin in the Sporthorse Tree is a superb choice for horses with prominent withers, including many Irish Drafts and Thoroughbreds. It is also available in the Haven tree for wide-bodied horses.

Because of its extraordinarily supportive panel and the area available under the bearing structure of the tree, we have not seen a better saddle for the horse with high withers and significant hollows behind the shoulders, especially where optimum weight distribution is an important consideration. In the Haven tree, the Merlin is well-suited for broader-backed cob types, draft crosses, Connemaras, Quarter Horses, and Arabs.