does my horse have a funny back? saddles don't fit him!

Bowen4Horses

Bowen4Horses

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Hi

when i got my horse, i felt sooooo sorry for him as when i went to see him, he was in a really badly fitting saddle. and really disliked being mounted...

i brought him home, and thought a nicely fitting saddle would help matters... i'm lucky in that i have a friend that can fit saddles (though isn't official saddle fitter)... so we got together all our spare saddles, and spare ones on the yard... and tried them on him... without fail, every single one lifts up at the back, and almost 'flaps' around.

i'm going to have to call our mark fisher which is going to cost a fortune as he's miles away... and hope he can do something with one of the saddles we have (or advise what to do with the wintec we have) as i'm totally broke at the mo...

but, in the meantime, is there anything about this horse you can see that would mean it's hard to find a saddle for him?

We are currently putting him in YO's saddle, which isn't perfect, but seems to be much better than he's used to, as he's now easy to mount!

bear in mind, he's only in light work (i'm preggers so it's just plodding) so he's not in great shape... and also therefore will change shape (hence i was hoping wintec would do him for a while).

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How old is he? He looks a little bit bit croup high, also looks as though he may need to muscle up a bit behind the wither which may be causing the saddle to sit low a the front (hence flap at the back!).
 
He has a really flat back, length-ways. I have this problem with my baby horse, most makes rock like a banana on her back. Try an Ideal saddle, most of their models are on particularly flat trees. An Ideal is the only saddle I've come across that will sit flat on my mare's back.

Good luck.
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How old is he? He looks a little bit bit croup high, also looks as though he may need to muscle up a bit behind the wither which may be causing the saddle to sit low a the front (hence flap at the back!).

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he's 7, but yes, needs to muscle up around his wither. it's like a razor blade at the mo... he's hanoverian x polish warmblood and i reckon will muscle up quite nicely at some point... in fact, these photos don't show quite how un-muscly his withers are. he's got a big hanoverian neck... and little skinny withers...
 
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He has a really flat back, length-ways. I have this problem with my baby horse, most makes rock like a banana on her back. Try an Ideal saddle, most of their models are on particularly flat trees. An Ideal is the only saddle I've come across that will sit flat on my mare's back.

Good luck.
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interestingly... the YO saddle that we're using is an ideal... and it's more 'ideal' than the others... but still a bit flappy...
 
Gosh, he's got less withers and a flatter back than my cob! We had the same problem, standard saddles pitched forward and flapped up at the back. Wintecs and similar won't fit well as they are too 'banana' shaped for want of a better word.

Eventually my saddle fitter came up with a second hand WH saddle that had been custom built for a flat-backed horse, that he'd received in a part-ex. I think you may just have to look at second hand saddles and try a lot on.
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He has got a very 'baby' wither and is very flat backed. Also slightly croup high. Wintecs sit up at the back on most horses, let alone him! I personally dislike riser pads, they dont solve the problem and often move pressure from one area to another.

You need a saddle that has a rear gusset to help the saddle reach the back. Anything with a curved tree, such as a wintec, stubben, etc are a definite no. He needs a flatter tree. Make sure you dont go too narrow in front in order to try and sit the saddle down at the back. Definately get a decent fitter out with loads of saddles, send some pictures before he visits so he has an idea of what to bring.
 
If the saddle is the correct tree width all this will do is make the front too tight and the riders weight will be pushed to the back of the saddle like this \ , with the front of the saddle high, sloping backwards. Asking for trouble im afraid.
 
I think I would wait for him to muscle up a bit before fitting a saddle... hes obviously going to change shape a lot. I cant fit a saddle to my IDxTB as he has muscle wastage (not that it matters as he is also lame, ho hum...) but I have had success in the past with an old fashioned showing saddles that seemed to be very flat (but are horrible to ride in, be warned!) I had one once that must have been 50 years old but fitted the low withered flat backed horse we had very well.
 
Stephen's gel-eze riser pads are very slim and if you do try a front riser in the interim until he's muscled up a bit, it won't bulk up the front or pinch (IM)

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It's worked well with one of the school ponies who is very VERY round and has completely flat withers.
 
Why do people not consider treeless for difficult to fit horses? some are very reasonably priced and i know a couple of people with them who love them, as do their horses. They make them to look much more like normal saddles now.
 
No to tree less as they hang on the hightest points i.e the withers and the spineand eventuallly cause pressure and pain, the stirrup bar being the worst area for point pressure pain.
Your horse has quite a poor saddle position [something we look at when grading horses, so you see its an important consideration in conformation terms]
The shoulder is small and the croup quite high. With the forward set girth groove this results in the saddle being likely to be pushed froward and down on the shouder giving instability behind.
A good answer is the corrector bad from wow its is a cotton saddle cloth with air pannels that you can adjust yourself its very simple and effective .
if you get the best fit you can get with a saddle , very important that you dont have it too narrow infront. then the adjuster pad will help i am sure.
Talk to WOW about them it is a good cost effective way in helping your horse
 
He does seem to have a very long, straight back although this could just be the angle of the photo. Have you considered trying a treeless saddle?
 
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