a high withered but wide framed horse. saddle advice

[AJEngland]

I have had Matty for just over 2 years he is now 8years old but he has only just matured. Iv had really big problems finding a saddle that fits (even with advice from coaches and saddle fitters) his high withers but wide frame. Iv had an Albion, 2 ideal saddles including the event which was just too narrow on his shoulders. Currently I have him in a Jeffries falcon which is perfect on width but sits on his withers, a pro light pad lifts it up off his withers but isn’t the best long term solution. Any advice on makes of saddles I should look at next.

 

[cookster1975]

I have exactly the same problem with mine and have just had the saddle fitter out who has suggested a Jeffries Melton, because he is slightly sway backed and it has really deep gussets, a cut back head and front gussets too.

I rode in it last night and like yours it fitted his shoulders lovely but was too low (I felt) on his withers. I don't want to pay £1k for a saddle that isn't exactly right. Will follow this thread with interest!

 

[Meowy Catkin]

What about a Thorowgood high-wither saddle or the K&M version if you want leather?

As both have a changeable gullet it might be worth getting the saddle fitter to bring one along with other saddles to try.

 

[morrismob]

I am a big supporter of Thorowgood, I have 2 hi withered horses one with wide frame and one medium, both have the hi withered thorowgood GP and Dressage. My daughter also has the Fairfax leather one. Lovely saddles.

 

[Headpiece]

I too have a horse like yours. Hes in a T4 Hi wither, on a wide plate, so another vote for Thorowgood

 

[Luci07]

You don't say which Albions you tried and there is a very wide range of them!. Also, while you may have had these saddles (Ideal, Albion) in the past, as your horse has obviously changed shape over the 2 years you had him while maturing, it rather means that you have to start all over again with saddle hunting.

We had a TB on the yard who had unusually high withers and was broad and he ended up in a Wow as the saddler could get that to fit him. Can't say I am a big fan of the Wow saddles as I feel too far away from my horses and they are marmite saddles! Albion K2 (they have SJ and DR versions, not sure about a GP) seem to continually get the vote for fitting wide horses (fit mine) so could be something to look at!

 

[TarantuLove]

I have a Jeffries Falcon Hi wither event saddle, i've gone through 5 saddles in a few years as my TB is so difficult to fit, but this fits him like a glove

 

[Firewell]

I was also going to say the thorowgood high wither but with a wider plate.
Ideals are actually modelled on the Albions so they may just not be the right 'type' of saddle for your horse? Maybe get a fitter out with lots of different brands of saddles to try as different brands suit different shapes of horses.
I had a black country on my last high withered but barrel shaped TB and that was really good, they can make them with gussets and drop panels for higher withered horses .

 

[mrhsaddler]

I have the same problem with my 17hh Gelderlander, very high withers and very wide barrel, I use a Thorowgood T4 high wither with the extra wide gullet plate on him, as a Thorowgood retailer I tried the gp as well but it did not have enough depth to the rear gussets, but the high wither is far deeper and so balances the saddle very nicely on him.
At BETA this year I did suggest to Mr Fairfax (owner of Thorowgood) to make a bar slightly wider than the extra wide to allow for the warmblood horses, they have now made it for the cob saddles, (between the x wide and the xx wide) and I hope they will develop them for the gps and high wither versions too.

 

[bex.s]

I use a black country wexford on my TB - he has a high wither, is MW-W fitting and this saddle has been really adjustable with the panels to allow for growth and season changes.

 

[Fee Fo]

ARGH!!! Just written a big lengthy response and computer CRASHED. HATE HATE HATE!!!!!

IN BRIEF:.....!

I've got a Kent and Masters, but need another width. Thinking of getting my farrier, who is also good blacksmith to make a Narrow Narrow/Medium width using original as template.

Also what about a balancing strap to allow an anchor point further back, rather than adding more downward pressure at pommel. Just a thought.

 

[Louis]

This is not uncommon at all. The high wither is just the top dorsal part of the spine, the rest of the back is like that of a normal horse. |A wide horse with a high wither is good, it means you have a horse with correct muscle. Many high withered horses have missing muscle which means that they come up narrow - giving the incorrect sharks fin look.

The thorowgood cob is one of the few saddles which offer a nice flat tree. If you look at a horses spine, its flat, not curved. a flat tree will sit nicely on nice fat flat muscle, which is exactly what should be under your saddle. Unfortunately the gullet could be wider, so only fits up to a certain width horse, but it is wider than anything else on the market - ( excepot the wintec wide which is too much like a banana to count).

 

[soloequestrian]

You need a Balance saddle. They are extremely comfy for all horses, but were initially designed for the problem that you're facing - have a look at their website at Balance International.

 

[Silmarillion]

Mine has a Thorowgood - I love it and so does she!

 

[applecart14]

a pro light pad lifts it up off his withers but isn’t the best long term solution.

No it really isn't a good idea as I found out to my peril. To cut a long story short, previous horse WB/TB had high withers, but medium fit. I had a wintec medium gullet. So tried narrow gullet to lift of withers, but then was pitching him elsewhere. The medium gullet came to low on his withers but fitted him elsewhere. It was an impossible situation.

So i bought a front riser pad. Six months on I had a very sore backed horse, as my weight had shifted to the back of the saddle.

So the long term solution was to buy a decent saddle and scrap the synthetic . My current horse is now in a Jeffries Falcon Event saddle and it fits him brilliantly.

 

[soulfull]

At BETA this year I did suggest to Mr Fairfax (owner of Thorowgood) to make a bar slightly wider than the extra wide to allow for the warmblood horses, they have now made it for the cob saddles, (between the x wide and the xx wide) and I hope they will develop them for the gps and high wither versions too.

Interesting

I have the KM jump saddle. a WB with medium withers, saddle either is too tight on the shoulder or drops onto the withers! I have had to put a prolite wither pad under it. not ideal

Any other ideas even with a half pad, to get it wide enough for the shoulders it sits too low at withers

 

[soulfull]

So i bought a front riser pad. Six months on I had a very sore backed horse, as my weight had shifted to the back of the saddle.

So the long term solution was to buy a decent saddle and scrap the synthetic . My current horse is now in a Jeffries Falcon Event saddle and it fits him brilliantly.

This would be because the balance was wrong

a riser pad would work as long as the balance was right (?)

 

[izafriendly]

do you have a saddler near to you that does flocking? i fit many thorowgood and k&m saddles to high withered horses that are also quite wide. don't automatically dismiss them if after finding the correct width they sit too low its amazing how much clearance can be gained with flocking - but try and go with someone who has come reccomended. you would be surprised at how many saddles i check that have been poorly flocked, some have even been flocked with scraps of carpet and bits of old rag! it is far better to flock to get the required lift and balance than to put a narrower gullet in to get the clearance which will just cause pain and problems.

 

[Firewell]

Ditto above. I just brought a m/w event saddle for my boy and at first it was sitting too close to his withers, it's now been flocked up and it's perfect. My horse has big shoulders and I had to be careful choosing a jump saddle as most of them sat on his shoulders. The event saddle I brought sits behind the shoulders but has big enough knee rolls that I can jump easily in it .