Badly fitting saddle - Help me please! (Long)

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AnnaandStella

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3 months ago I had a master saddler come out to fit my mare who was lacking topline & had muscle wastage at the withers.

She's a TB type Westfalian with high, long withers & a short back & ribcage but I'm a long legged 5'11 so obviously not an easy fit.

Ended up with an almost new Ideal Event 18" seat & a Bartl half-pad as fitter said once she put muscle back on at her withers it'd be perfect but was sitting a bit low due to poor condition.

Horse has put on lots of muscle & topline along her back but still needing a bit more. However, saddle is now "floating" seriously badly at the back - 2 cm of something, a hand's width - and saddler can't come out till next month.

I was advised to pad up the front temporarily but am worried that I'll do serious damage to horsey if I ride on this saddle - it seems to have happened in the past couple of weeks with the spring grass coming through.

What should I do? It's making me feel so depressed & guilty, too.

My finances are almost negligable just now & even paying for the saddler's visit is a worry. I just can't believe that I spend TWICE WHAT I COULD REALLY AFFORD ON A SADDLE THAT DOESN'T FIT.
 
if the horse has dramatically changed shape and put on a bit of weight, i'd try the saddle without the half-pad first. if the tree's still the right width for her then a little bit of padding up will be fine, if necessary.
two sheets of fybagee slightly offset and folded into steps makes a great front-filler (between thin saddlepad and saddle), it's soft enough to squidge nicely in place, and doesn't move, and won't do any harm at all to her back.
 
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if the horse has dramatically changed shape and put on a bit of weight, i'd try the saddle without the half-pad first. if the tree's still the right width for her then a little bit of padding up will be fine, if necessary.
two sheets of fybagee slightly offset and folded into steps makes a great front-filler (between thin saddlepad and saddle), it's soft enough to squidge nicely in place, and doesn't move, and won't do any harm at all to her back.

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Thanks Kerilli - just a question - what's fybagee? Sorry, I probably should know...

She hasn't dramatically changed shape, she's just put on a small amount of muscle in areas that were lacking as the saddler said she would...
 
Wouldnt worry. If it is floating at the back it is because the front is slightly too wide. The saddler should be able to sort it out with a small amount of adjustment with the flocking, the tree should still be the right shape
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Fybagee is that soft white square of soft material you can buy to put underneath bandages. I have used this under a saddle in the past too. Good luck!
 
yep, fybagee is a sheet of foam stuff about 6-8mm thick, which is for putting under bandages... not gamgee, which is cotton-wool covered in cotton weave, and wouldn't work at all. fybagee is about £1 a sheet, you'll need 2, square ones if you can, otherwise rectangular, lay one on top of the other but about 2" to the side, then fold both along the same axis as the overlap so that you get 4 even 'steps' (when you try it, it'll make sense!), then put the folded edge over the front of the saddlepad, and the saddle on top, so that the 'steps' give a gradual rise under the saddle, getting thicker towards the front. it works, honestly! this will be a very good way of filling in the gap until the saddler can see her.
i was using fybagee like this for one of my saddles and my master saddler approved, by the way...
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You didn’t say what the front looked like – is it too high or too low? Ie. If too high is it pinching and therefore sitting above the horse’s back or too low, therefore pressing against the withers?
 
Had another look at the saddle today with about 5 people on the yard, all of whom are v knowledgeable about fitting saddles. General outrage. It fundamentally doesn't fit.

She has a straight back, the saddle is for a horse with a slight curve in the back.

It's gaping at the front & floating at the back.

I don't know what I'm going to do except from cry...

(lots of typos hence edit!)
 
I fit saddles for the SC but can give you my opinion on your saddle if you like.

Send me some pics so I can see what the problem is - I think 18" possibly too long for her anyway (how big is she?)

I would need pics of the horse from both sides and from behind and in front to see the curve of the shoulder. I would also need to see the saddle on (no cloths) from the same angles both girthed and ungirthed.

I have seen some real horrors in my travels - most of these arent the owners fault and there are some MS out there that ought to be shot.
 
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I fit saddles for the SC but can give you my opinion on your saddle if you like.

Send me some pics so I can see what the problem is - I think 18" possibly too long for her anyway (how big is she?)

I would need pics of the horse from both sides and from behind and in front to see the curve of the shoulder. I would also need to see the saddle on (no cloths) from the same angles both girthed and ungirthed.

I have seen some real horrors in my travels - most of these arent the owners fault and there are some MS out there that ought to be shot.

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This is the only photo I have of it on...
DSCF0684.jpg


This is the saddle:
eventbig.jpg


This is her back:
bodysideshot2.jpg


Even from just the photo of the saddle on it's own it seems like a bit of a mismatch...
 
Wouldnt worry? This saddle could already be causing damage or at the least pain.
 
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Wouldnt worry? This saddle could already be causing damage or at the least pain.

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She always gets disunited in canter when you ask for a flying change now compared to her A+ performance in January... I'd put it down to my bad riding but she keeps getting the wrong canter lead even with good riders which is why I decided to investigate...
 
I have had a bad experience with a Master Saddler, and now use a Saddler who isn't. My horse has a very sensitive back, but since he's fitted my saddle, the physio has never once commented on any soreness in the saddle area or shoulders (whereas she always used to).

I bought a saddle from a Master Saddler. She said she'd come back and check it in 3 months time. It ended up being 4 months because my horse had a slight injury and I wanted him back in full work before she came. She came out and said I needed to put a gel pad underneath it because it was moving at the back!!! I was furious! I'd had a new saddle because my horse was recovering from a back problem, he'd been in full work when it was fitted and then when checked. She was meant to be coming out to check how it had settled, not to tell me it basically no longer fitted! I rang the Society of Master Saddlers and they tolf me I didn't have a leg to stand on because she had said she'd check it in 3 months and it had been 4!!!! So I don't give 2 hoots about "Master Saddlers" and I'd recomend you just find a saddler with a good reputation that you can trust.
 
If you horse has muscled up considerably in the 3 months since you have had the saddle it may need the flocking adjusting. I think you should ask MS back to let him see what's happening and then ask him for his recommendations.
smile.gif
 

So I don't give 2 hoots about "Master Saddlers" and I'd recomend you just find a saddler with a good reputation that you can trust.

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I have been told that there is a quick training session and exam to be a 'master saddler' on NO ONE ever fails. (I don't know how true this is)
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Bit worrying that your saddle doesn't fit, and that the saddler can't come out straight away. I bet if you were after a new saddle thay would be there tommorrow!!!
 
yes - although the horse could (and probably did) change shape over the last 3 months, that doesnt detract from the fact that the tree of the saddle does not fundamentally fit the horse.

If the tree doesnt fit, no amount of flocking will help.

And the saddle looks too wide in front, which is the opposite of what would happen if the horse had muscled up. I think when fitted originally it wasnt lying too low in front, but the flocking has bedded down and the saddle has caused some further muscle wastage and therefore the saddle is now sitting too low in front. Putting more flocking in the front may solve the problem in the short term, but it will put the saddle out of balance.
 
In reply to everyone slagging off master saddlers and the exam process, there are some bad eggs out there but not everyone is rubbish. There is 4 years training and continuous assessment to become a saddler and then another 3-4 yrs to become a master. To become a qualified fitter you need 3 years experinece and most people actually fail the exam the first time and sometimes repeatedly.
With respect to your problematic saddle, if your horse has muscled up but the saddle is still being problematic i would have someone out to check it. To keep using it when you know there is a problem is not going to help your horse. You have answered you own question of does it fit by saying your horse no longer performs as they used to. Yes, a rider can have some effect but most well trained horses will keep going to a reasonable standard despite an inferior jockey. To suddenly become disunited would worry me.
 
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