dressage saddle for wide flat back with withers croup high mare!

P

pickwickayr

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 November 2007
Messages
243
Visit site
Hi
can anyone help? my 15hh 6 year old anglo arab cross native mare is proving very difficult to find a dressage saddle for. we currently have an 17 wide ideal patriot XC saddle that im doing everything in,love the saddle to jump in but as it puts my lower leg quite far forward dressage is very difficult! my horse s a little croup high, has some withers, a big shoulder, wide ribs that get narrower towards the front, very flat across her back, forward girth groove. do dressage saddles exist for this shape?! would love some suggestions of what to try! saddles designed for cobs seem to be too low on her withers, and other saddles the tree seems to curvy!

I have so far tried a Wintec Isabel werth - was wrong shape for her
Black country dressage -back of panels were not in contact with her back
Ideal H&C Jessica - was far too wide

Im thinking of trying an Ideal k2 or a GFS monarch D X but not sure what sort of shape these are? and postage is quite expensive to get saddles sent out and then have to post back, which has already spent a wee bit of my money for actually buying a saddle lol . my budget is around £650 max so looking at secondhand

 
Last edited:
Excluding the croup high bit mine sounds like it could fit the bill, All Saddle Solutions, £1700 made to measure so I am sure the croup high could be accommodated too?
 
I had big problems with a very wide Arab with a wither and huge shoulders who ended up with muscle wastage due to saddle being too narrow, I was recommended to use lavinia Mitchell so got her to come out and ended up buying one of her saddles won't use anything else now, she has a list of second hand saddles on her website.
 
I was going to suggest a Black Country saddle as that is what I have on my pony who sounds the same shape as yours. Mine is a WH saddle. Maybe try one of those. It will not be as forward cut as the dressage but will be better than your XC saddle. Mine wears hers with a sheepskin half pad with shims in the front and she loves it and is super comfy. It could be worth a try. As soon as I put the sheepskin under she was so much freer in her way of going.
 
Why/where was the jessica too wide?

I would be tempted to speak to ideal and find out which tree is in your current saddle and find out which of their dressage trees would be most likely to fit?
 
Just thought in general dressage saddles tend to have a more curvy tree as the seat is deeper maybe that's why the Jessica was no good, agree with ester it might be worth talking to ideal they may suggest a solution, I had an ideal ramsay and it was to flat for my horse he needs a curvy tree due to his shape, the ideal Jessica I had was too narrow for him so had to sell them both!
 
It was the h&c Jessica I tried and it sat nicely at the back but was too low on her wither and too wide At the front, it also hurt my hips like mad for the few seconds I sat on it!
Great idea to ask ideal, thanks
 
My mare used to be the same shape and a Thorowgood dressage fitted very well. The fitter adjusted the wool flocking adding more wool at the back, he said from the saddles he carried only the Thorowgood and Ideal saddles have a back gusset large enough to accomodate the high wither and back sloping upward toward the rear.
 
Palindrome said:
My mare used to be the same shape and a Thorowgood dressage fitted very well. The fitter adjusted the wool flocking adding more wool at the back, he said from the saddles he carried only the Thorowgood and Ideal saddles have a back gusset large enough to accomodate the high wither and back sloping upward toward the rear.
Click to expand...

Oh thanks that sounds worth a try! Was that the standard thorowgood or cob version?
 
pickwickayr said:
Oh thanks that sounds worth a try! Was that the standard thorowgood or cob version?
Click to expand...

standard Thorowgood with front girth strap as a point strap. The photo was taken in the weeks following the fitting:
forum_zps5c1vaipa.jpg
 
My old boy was a similar shape although not esp croup high but wide flat backed with withers and a big shoulder. He did really well in an Albion k2 dressage after trying an Isabelle Werth which he hated.
 
My friend has a horse that looks just like yours and she got an off the peg Black Country Kur dressage saddle fitted. Its perfect for her.
 
pickwickayr said:
Hi
can anyone help? my 15hh 6 year old anglo arab cross native mare is proving very difficult to find a dressage saddle for. we currently have an 17 wide ideal patriot XC saddle that im doing everything in,love the saddle to jump in but as it puts my lower leg quite far forward dressage is very difficult! my horse s a little croup high, has some withers, a big shoulder, wide ribs that get narrower towards the front, very flat across her back, forward girth groove. do dressage saddles exist for this shape?! would love some suggestions of what to try! saddles designed for cobs seem to be too low on her withers, and other saddles the tree seems to curvy!

I have so far tried a Wintec Isabel werth - was wrong shape for her
Black country dressage -back of panels were not in contact with her back
Ideal H&C Jessica - was far too wide

Im thinking of trying an Ideal k2 or a GFS monarch D X but not sure what sort of shape these are? and postage is quite expensive to get saddles sent out and then have to post back, which has already spent a wee bit of my money for actually buying a saddle lol . my budget is around £650 max so looking at secondhand

Click to expand...

Mine pony is exactly as you describe yours, albeit mine is a little smaller. I have an Ideal Jessica in wide but isn't the H&C version, just the standard version. I paid £695 for mine but only because it is a 16" which doesn't otherwise seem to exist in the UK, but I know the other sizes will come well within budget. As stated saddles designed for cobs will not fit as they are far to wide because of where the points are designed to lie. I tried a K2 but it is completely the wrong shape, albion have just bought a new saddle out according to saddler designed for our type of horse but cannot remember the name and doubt they'll come up second hand quite yet. While GFS trees are slightly too curved although not as bad as some.
 
I have a Suzannah for mine. He's an ISH but similar to your pic.
I had a normal Jessica which is slightly different fit wise to the one you tried. There's also a roella if your petit.
 
Wouldn't try the GFS Monarch we had one and it is still slightly curved. We've now got an Equipe which fits amazingly and have just bought a Tekna dressage saddle for the baby horse. Both mine are very flat over the back with decent withers, though not croup high.
Really the best thing would be to have a saddler come out with a selection for you to try.

Adding that the ideal suzannah was recommended but with a different tree to the standard one (think it was a Harry dabbs tree) but obviously couldn't then find one second hand.
 
Last edited:
I have a HM Flexee on mine who is similar in shape, he has massive shoulders, good withers and is croup high. Its fantastic for us, I've had endless problems with him due to saddle fit issues and now, finally, we're getting somewhere. We've had it for a year, he's gone from the wide gullet to the X wide to now having no gullet plate as he's gained so much muscle he's too wide for the X wide! It's exceptionally comfy too, I've got the synthetic version as it was all I could afford at the time but would love the leather version one day.
 
AlexHyde said:
Wouldn't try the GFS Monarch we had one and it is still slightly curved. We've now got an Equipe which fits amazingly and have just bought a Tekna dressage saddle for the baby horse. Both mine are very flat over the back with decent withers, though not croup high.
Really the best thing would be to have a saddler come out with a selection for you to try.

Adding that the ideal suzannah was recommended but with a different tree to the standard one (think it was a Harry dabbs tree) but obviously couldn't then find one second hand.
Click to expand...

The teknas have a banana shaped tree so would not suit the horse in question.
 
The one I've bought doesn't? Very flat, which is why I bought it and recommended it, though they are not saddles I'm familiar with so perhaps it is the particular variation I have.
 
I fit for AH Saddles so can answer any questions.

I would recommend as short a seat size as you can get away with, and/or a very short or "upswept" panel which shortens the footprint on the horse's back as well as making the shape nicer on a croup high horse. It brings the back of the saddle down, balancing it more easily and with more stability than flocking the front up. Flat tree, even if the horse looks curvy, you want to fit onto the flattest part of the back.
 
Thank you for all the helpful replies, I really appreciate it! I have decided an adjustable saddle would be best for now until she stops growing. I found the t4 dressage new in the ride away sale so have ordered that to try. Fingers crossed!
 
ok so i have now tried the t4 dressage, i absolutly loved the saddle, so comfy and i felt really secure. saddler checked the fit and said it was good, but my mare hated it and on closer inspection after the fitter was gone, the gullet wasnt wide enough at the back and was in contact with her spine slightly.... so back to the drawing board! considering the t4 cob dressage but cant find anywhere i can trial it! other options are anky dressage or albion k2...failing that may be easier to swap the horse for a normal shaped one!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top