does this back look difficult to fit?

twisteddiamond

twisteddiamond

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hi i am having issues with getting a saddle to fit, have had two different saddlers who had nothing to fit, as he is difficult?? he doesnt look an odd shape at all so i have taken some pics for you all to peruse (i know they are rubbish, but hes huge and im tiny and they were the best i could manage balancing on a huge pile of straw behind him)


IMAG0201.jpg


IMAG0204.jpg
 
the loss of hair on the withers and towards the back is due to pressure from a badly fitting saddle it has rubbed, go for the widest gullet you can find with a nice thin numnah, not a big thick one as that will make the saddle tighter, do not use a blanket or cloth is will slip and rub, when you put the saddle on with the girth done up you should be able to push your hands easily under the saddle which covers the top of the shoulders and get someone to watch you go up and down as if in trot whilst the horse is walking to make sure the saddle seat does not go up and down with you, if it does you can get a riser pad. Hope this helps a bit.
 
forgot to mention you need to stand behind the horse with the saddle on and done up with the girth and be able to see between the horses spine and the saddle right up to the withers, you could get a back panel to cover this part rather than filling in with more nummahs to lift the saddle off the withers. Good luck.
 
Those marks are mud (should really have said - my bad)
The first one said he needed a really wide gullet for the width of his spinal processes, but needed a fairly narrow saddle for the width of his shoulders, but had nothing to suit, second saddler had something, but it bridged so she said we needed. Something longer?
 
Horses which bridge can be difficult to fit and I had one that looked fairly like yours, like it should have been easy, but every single saddle bridged. Eventually I used a Flair air pad on him to fill in the bridging. Now I use air flocked saddles and they do the trick too. Your only other option is to find a saddle with a more curved tree, but then you have to worry about whether it will rock in the middle.

Good luck. If you really struggle then I recommend a second hand WOW (or a new one if you have 2 grand to hand :D ) I recommend one even if you are not struggling, I use nothing else, but some people don't like them.
 
Heather Moffatt (Enlightened Equitation) has just brought out a saddle made with a leather tree which means the tree is flexible and conforms to the shape of the horse's back. It is better than a treeless saddle because it has a gullet and looks like a "normal" saddle. It's also more comfy for the rider because it has a twist, so you don't feel stretched like you do on a treeless.

The synthetic version looks very nice and is just under £400.

And no, I don't work for and have nothing to do with HM, I just like her saddles!
 
twisteddiamond said:
I had considered a wow, i have my old boys wow saddle, it will be totally wrong for new horse, as he's a totally different shape, so would need stuff swapping on it
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Replacement second hand panels are £200 or less on eBay, much cheaper than a new saddle, surely?

I have got my SDWG panels to fit all manner of horse shapes, do you know what the problem is with yours that a gullet plate change won't do?
 
and although not allowed to advertise - if you knew what you were looking for you could 'mention' it on here - in case anyone has them to sell - Like me I have some panels sat need selling and just not got round to advertising them!!!
 
cptrayes said:
Replacement second hand panels are £200 or less on eBay, much cheaper than a new saddle, surely?

I have got my SDWG panels to fit all manner of horse shapes, do you know what the problem is with yours that a gullet plate change won't do?
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it is a size 1 with dwg with tab, which is too short on his back and doesnt have enough lift at the front
 
Interesting. It doesn't look from the photos as if he has sunken shoulders, but I bought some double deeps (DDWG) for £100 2 years ago and have them as spares.

I do not understand the comment "too short on the back" A saddle can be too long in the panel but I'm at a loss to understand how a size 1 WOW panel can be "too short". I have two saddles with size 2 seats with size 1 panels on and they work well.

I think that most WOW seats are on a curved Y bar. I think only the event seat is on a flat Y bar routinely, and there are some other custom made flat Y bar deeper seats around but they are uncommon.
 
Tammytoo said:
Heather Moffatt (Enlightened Equitation) has just brought out a saddle made with a leather tree which means the tree is flexible and conforms to the shape of the horse's back. It is better than a treeless saddle because it has a gullet and looks like a "normal" saddle. It's also more comfy for the rider because it has a twist, so you don't feel stretched like you do on a treeless.

The synthetic version looks very nice and is just under £400.

And no, I don't work for and have nothing to do with HM, I just like her saddles!
Click to expand...

From my own experiences with HM saddles, I'd let other people test them for a year before I would buy one, especially as her own website says they were manufactured by an inexperienced small Indian outfit without her even being there to supervise them.

The manufacturing company in India, Horsekraft Equestrian, unlike the big synthetic manufacturing names, is a very small company. It was founded by a young man, Risharb Sharma, who has managed to interpret my design and manufacturing requirements, with me unable to be there in person...
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