Albion GP - Adjustable Tree, How Adjustable? Saddle fit Q.

[SirBrastias]

Will try and keep my rambling brief...

I have a lovely Albion GP saddle, less than 3/4 years old, brought a fitted to my last horse sadly he passed away within a year of saddle purchase. Unfortunately, after trying and a couple of re-flocking and fittings, my saddler gave up and said it was the wrong shape for my new horse and he would need a straighter tree. New horse is in a Kent and Masters GP which fits fine, though I have never forgotten my lovely Albion and have never sold it on 'just in case'.

I now sort of part-share another horse (or rather my brother does) and I had this dream that my Albion would be perfect for him and I could kit him out in my lovely saddle and matching Albion bridle rather than his slightly worn riding school tack.

However on finally plucking up the courage to pop my lovely saddle (can you tell why I never sold it on?) it isn't a great fit, although it clears his back, he has quite high withers and not a lot of muscle along his back and it is too low in front (think a finger clearance rather than the three I would like) and possibly lifts a bit at the back. I need to compare it more to the saddle he is currently ridden in (which is used with a riser) as it may still be a better fit, but would need some sort of riser (atleast in the interim).

Now for the actually question, before I ring my saddle fitter for a chat, how adjustable is the tree in the Albion likely to be? I understand it won't be an interchangeable gullet like in the Kent and Masters but is there a chance it could be altered or flocked to lift more off his shoulders? I assume it is a touch too wide, if it sits a bit low, but I'm happy to be corrected. I'm just trying to gauge whether there is a chance it could be adjusted or not before I invest in the saddler coming out.

Obvs in an ideal world, would be brand new fitted saddle, but sadly this is unlikely to be an option (unless someone knows the lottery numbers???). Don't mind having the fitter out as will need my own checking over the summer but just wanted to get some idea before going down that route.

Home grown strawberries and cream for reading.

 

[SirBrastias]

Shameless bump.

Has anyone had a Albion adjusted before? Someone somewhere must have...

 

[DirectorFury]

I had an Albion dressage saddle with the adjustable headplate setup rather than the newer fully-changeable tree system - I'm not sure which of these you have? If the latter then I've been led to believe that the whole tree can be changed so could be made to fit your new boy.

If the former then it's just the width that can be adjusted; unfortunately this is just the width at the front and not along the spine. Mine was £350 (!) and an 8 week wait to have the headplate changed. The tree wasn't a perfect fit and I wasn't massively enamoured with the position that the saddle put me in so I sold it on instead. If your saddle is likely to be a good fit (right tree shape) when it's the correct width it's potentially worth paying to have it changed. If you're at all iffy about the underlying fit then don't waste your money. I highly doubt that Albion would refund you if you had the plate changed and then found the saddle still didn't fit.

Any changes also need to be sent to Albion via an approved Albion stockist/fitter so you'll have to factor in paying them to come out and fit it, and anything else they charge for dealing with Albion.

Edit: Sorry, I've just re-read your post - do you just have the 'standard' non-adjustable tree? They can usually be made wider by a good saddle maker but I'm not sure about narrower. See what your fitter says but you could try a half pad (I like Prolite w/shims) to fill out where it's too wide on the withers. There's a chance that it's lifting at the back because it's currently too wide so padding it or having it made narrower will make it sit more evenly. I'd get a fitter before doing this myself if I wasn't 100% confident though - it's too easy to do damage with a badly fitting saddle.

Does the horse have actual high-withers or do they just look like that due to muscle wastage because his current saddle is too tight? If it's muscle wastage I'd definitely go to a half pad with shims as he'll likely fill-out with a better fitting saddle.

 

[Red-1]

Adjustable trees tend to be adjustable as to the width, as in the front of the saddle can be made wider or narrower. This is not really an "adjustable tree" though, is it? It is an adjustable front arch.

My old horse Jay had some lovely saddles, and the arch could be adjustable, but for my new horse the tree was the wrong shape entirely. The tree front to back was too curvy. That can't really be changed.

Also, the old saddles were to wide in the panel for the new, smaller horse.

Also, many saddles can only safely be adjusted a size or two, after that you are weakening the tree in the front arch.

So, for a saddle to fit, the basic tree must be the right basic shape to start with. The original front arch needs to either be replaceable, a specialist adjustable type, or within a size up or down to the original.

The panels and flaps etc still need to suit.

 

[sbloom]

Just impossible to answer, even when a saddle looks really close that small adjustment that might be needed throws everything else off because the tree shape or panel shape is not quite right for the horse. Sometimes you just have to pay the callout to have a professional get their hands on it.