H&H question of the week: do I need a dressage saddle and how much difference do they make?

Q: “Do I need a dressage saddle? I would like to know how far people go before biting the bullet and upgrading their GP (general purpose) saddle to a dressage one. Basically I’d love a dressage saddle but can’t justify one, even a cheapish second hand one will cost me six month’s worth of lessons and I know how much more I will gain from the lessons. We’re off to out first big dressage in a couple of weekends, at novice level, and I’ll be amazed if many others will be doing it in a GP (let alone on a big daft cart horse!), but would a dressage saddle make that much difference?”
Read my answer here.