Alternative to 'normal' saddles?

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SWE

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I'm really struggling to find something that fits my new boy due to his awkward shape; He's relatively narrow but has massive shoulders and a very short back.

Has anyone seen/used any saddles that are a little different to the norm that they could feedback on?

I've briefly looked at wow and saddles but are there any other new (or old?!) initiative saddles out there that are worth looking at?
 
A Ghost was the only thing that fitted my awkward boy. My fitter stripped it down and rebuilt it on him, then tweaked it until it was perfect. They are very comfortable, surprisingly cheap and when we started driving and gave up riding I sold it on and got nearly all my money back. They almost never come up second hand which says a lot about them!
 
Not sure if it would work with the shape but how about looking into reactor panel saddles. They are different to a classic saddle.

I used to ride my old loan cob one in one. I still have it but unfortunately it just won't go near my warmblood or my highland as they are too flat on the withers. Shame as it's the most comfortable saddle I ever had although quite heavy.
 
SWE said:
I'm really struggling to find something that fits my new boy due to his awkward shape; He's relatively narrow but has massive shoulders and a very short back.

Has anyone seen/used any saddles that are a little different to the norm that they could feedback on?

I've briefly looked at wow and saddles but are there any other new (or old?!) initiative saddles out there that are worth looking at?
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If you can find an old Barnsby saddle (unfortunately they're no longer in business) it might fit. The angle of the point of tree allows room for a big shoulder. My horse is narrow with big shoulder and short back and one of our Barnsby's fitted him perfectly with no adjustment required.
 
I ride in a Semiflex. I also like the look of the Stride Free, by Peter Horobin, although I have only seen online not close up.
 
The Semiflex would work if you can find one secondhand, sadly Barrie Swain is not making them any more. My new horse had one from Kruger Saddlery. It is a dressage type tree with a GP flap. When we are ready for a jump saddle I will have one from them, she can also do a flexible tree for a hard to fit horse.


One other thing to look at is the girth and how comfortable that is. My horse is also short backed and big shouldered. Even when the saddle fitted, the girth still caught on the shoulder. The elbows still caught even with a Fairfax, so Kim from Kruger is bespoke making a curved girth with a backward curve to accommodate. Like a Fairfax shape but without the bump between the front legs!

The good thing is that the saddle looks just like a great saddle, calfskin and lovely.
 
at the other end of the scale-Tekna GPs seem to suit those with big shoulders and have a slightly upswept panel, cut back pommel and have adjustable gullet. the older ones at least are based on a Prestige tree which can be further altered by a saddler. After years of riding in a Wow I didn't think anything else would come close for comfort but mine is actually a very comfy saddle and not as heavy as the Wows/Reactor panel types. although synthetic you'd be hard pressed to tell without touching it. can often be found SH for less than £200 or there are new styles available. I use mine on a Fell who has a big shoulder (and is XXW) with an anatomical girth. Not sure how well they do on narrow backs though-they are sold as MW as standard and width wise they come up quite big (almost a whole size when compared to other adjustable gullets) but they do sell narrower plates.
 
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