Does this saddle need reflocked? Pic overload!

ester said:
new fitter then I think ;)
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be positive said:
The advice the saddler has given you seems to contradict itself, the saddle is narrow, which I find hard to believe as Loki is a cob type and even the average tb is wider than narrow, if he was not muscled up when it was fitted it should have required extra padding then to make it fit or had a pad under it, once the horse muscled up on its topline it will usually become wider so needing less not more padding, unless he was overweight which is another matter.
To me the saddle looks too small in general, I think the reason he is standing hunched up is that the girth is tight and pulling the points into his back, where there is probably very little padding to protect him, a different fitter is probably the best option.
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Thank you, I've opened another thread asking for reccomendations for a consistently good saddler who has a good reputation.

I was surprised he was a narrow too but then he isn't the widest of beasts and obviously being not particularly up on all things saddle I took the saddlers advice as gospel (esoecially since I had reccomendations from a few people I knew).
I had a fitting day where the saddler came out to measure Loki, then another day when the saddler brought a couple of saddles out for us to try. Each saddle was put on him whilst he was stood square (saddler was much better at achieving this than I am!) without a saddlecloth and then with the one that I usually use. Then I had to ride in each saddle while the saddler looked on. One was bouncing around a bit too much, one was really uncomfortable for me to ride in and the one that we got was apparently a perfect fit.
I was quite surprised that the saddler said I could buy it on the day and start using it straight away so to check I did ask if it needed some re-flocking or any adjustments at all. The saddler said it was fitting perfectly the way it was and it didn't need any adjustment at that time. I was told however that obviously as he changed shape through gaining muscle I'd need to have it adjusted. So I handed over the cheque and merrily went off with my new (second hand) saddle :o

Oh I was also told when I saddled him up that I was putting the saddle to far back, that I needed to sit it further up (i.e where it is in these pics), tighten my girth, get on and tighten my girth again and by the time I had done my first few minutes and was ready to check my girth again the saddle would have moved to where it should be... that does sound really stupid when I write it out :o

I'm just having a proper freak out tonight because he's due vaccinations and teeth at the end of July and money is still really tight. It's kind of worrying me a bit tbh :( and now with the prospect of having to have the saddle reflocked or even worse replaced my head has just gone into panic mode :o definitely using the bareback saddle for the forseeable :rolleyes:
 
Bearskin said:
This saddler: http://www.khsaddlery.co.uk/ has been highly recommended to me and is in Scotland.
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Thank you!

Billie1007 said:
If he turns out to be a narrow then I'm a monkey's uncle :p
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Well I'll let you know when I manage to get the cash together for a saddler to come out ;) Till then it's bareback saddle all the way! Luckily it's one of the comfiest and most fun ways to ride IMO really ;) Feeling very lucky my OH lent me his ages ago!
 
Saddles should be put in the right place to begin with and they shuld stay there :).

I agree that narrow fitting saddles should be on very few horses, I'd say NONE. Medium is probably the narrowest I'd probably want to put on even the most muscle wasted horse, then use some padding.

There is also no such thing as a saddle that is too small for the horse, sorry, a saddle can only be too small for a rider, though of course if you are showing aesthetics matter, and you way want a bigger saddle.

My instinct is that this tree/panel combo is too curvy for the horse - does the back of the saddle lift in rising trot?
 
Hi sandi. You are in my area aren't you? Can u pm me your fitter please? I would have said looking at the photos that the saddle is actually too narrow going by the angle of the points in comparison to his shoulder, but you can't really fit a saddle from photos. Your problem is that there are no SMS fitters near us. Sea forth in inverness is closest, but I have heard varying reports about them. Where are u exactly?
 
Your horse has muscle wasting at the withers. The saddle has been fitted to sit in his wither pockets. I would be very concerned if this is indeed a narrow fit as it will result in more and more muscle wastage.
 
I'd defo say that it looked a bit too far forward and with the weight of a rider i would say the clearance over the withers doesn't look like it would be enough. I'd get another saddler in :)
 
sbloom said:
Saddles should be put in the right place to begin with and they shuld stay there :).

I agree that narrow fitting saddles should be on very few horses, I'd say NONE. Medium is probably the narrowest I'd probably want to put on even the most muscle wasted horse, then use some padding.

There is also no such thing as a saddle that is too small for the horse, sorry, a saddle can only be too small for a rider, though of course if you are showing aesthetics matter, and you way want a bigger saddle.

My instinct is that this tree/panel combo is too curvy for the horse - does the back of the saddle lift in rising trot?
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Wagtail said:
Your horse has muscle wasting at the withers. The saddle has been fitted to sit in his wither pockets. I would be very concerned if this is indeed a narrow fit as it will result in more and more muscle wastage.
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warmbloodcrazy said:
I'd defo say that it looked a bit too far forward and with the weight of a rider i would say the clearance over the withers doesn't look like it would be enough. I'd get another saddler in :)
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Thanks everyone, feeling really stupid now but at least I know! I'm having to do teeth and jabs in the next couple of weeks which is costing me just over £100 so I'm skint for a bit but thank the wee man for my OH's bareback saddle ;) Had to get a new girth online because the girth I've got for it is too big - poor sharer actually had to ride him bareback the other day :o

Baileyhoss - I'll PM you :)
 
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