Dressage Saddles for big shoulders

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BuzzLightyear

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.. on a small horse with a tall rider.
I have a 17.5 XW Ryder Legacy dressage saddle on my 5yr old highland.
Its becoming too restrictive in ths shoulder and I'm on the look out for a replacement. Saddler is coming out shortly to see if the flocking can be altered but Im not confident this is going to be possible given the muscle the boy has packed on with schooling.
The pony in question is 14.2, well muscled without loaded shoulders and has some withers - think more like JFTD's sports hipos than the usual show pony version.
I love my Ryder as it has long flaps and I'm 5'11 with a 36' inside leg, tried an Isabel Werth in the past but the flaps were too short for me :(
Ideally i'd like something like an Abion Platinum but am open to suggestions from you knowlegable peeps!
 
Made to measure ;)

All Saddle Solutions, I have a sports hippo too, big withers, big shoulders, big muscle and it suits us both really well. I have 17" panels on an 18" seat so you could equally go for extra long panels. £1750
 
Barrie Swain semiflex has made a huge difference to my extra wide warmblood with shoulders like a 1970's East German shotputter
 
In my opinion the shoulder is restricted when the basic fit of the saddle is off and you simply need to find a better fit for your particular horse and that doesn't mean a saddle that is generically designed to free up the shoulder. Pressure or movement at any point of the saddle, but of course especially the front half, from points through the head to the bars, can cause restriction of the trapezius muscle and the shoulder itself. If the tree is too wide there is pressure along the top edge of the panel and likely movement at the front too, if it is too narrow it will be tight at the points and, likely to be cantle low, it may well move forwards and jam the shoulder that way. For every horse there will be a different solution and it's all about the right tree, panel and flockin.

Highlands tend to be well muscled across the back behind the pommel, needing fairly flat trees (flat at the bottom even if there is pommel height for a wither) and short points. Albion saddles have fairly long points and may not be ideal. I would look to something that has short points, as flat a tree as he can take, and space through the middle of the saddle. He may well be being pinched at the bars (above the stirrup bars) if the saddle is not strictly for a native shape of back, I see it a lot.

For a long leg you need a not super straight flap and/or a high placed thigh, rather than knee, block. Any bench made saddle maker (the traditional Walsall makes and others) will be able to make you an extra long flap or any other changes you'd like to the flap and block, for not too much money. You may find the cut at the front and the block size and placement is enough and a standard length flap would work for you. I have a 5'8" rider in a 16" WH saddle (on a very short backed traditional cob) but that's a bit extreme!

For the short back you need either a standard saddle that has a relatively short footprint for its seat length, or a truly upswept panel that almost follows the line of the cantle and has no rear gusset. The design that we use can mean you can fit a seat up to 1.5" bigger than you otherwise could.
 
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Thanks SBloom - he's not massively short in the back - he'd take a 18in no problem but I'd swim about in it a bit.

I'm just very aware that his shoulders are being restricted when cantering at the moment. I was keen on the Albion as I understand it has a tree which can be altered, especially given he is 6 and still growing.

He's gone butt high again so the saddle has a tendancy to be tipped forward, with the cantle part raised off his back - compensated for with a half pad with a bias to the front. I guess this means that the tree shape is now no longer appropriate and as you say he may need a flatter tree.
 
I have had some trouble fitting saddles to my mare because of her shoulders. The saddle trees often fit but they always sit forward and restrict her movement when girthed up. The girth dragged the saddle forward onto the shoulders. I have resolved this with a WoW saddle and a foregirth. This sets the girth inches further forward than any saddle I tried and allows the saddle to stay in place.
 
A saddle that moves forwards onto the shoulder simply doesn't fit properly, not matter how good it looks on a stationery back. A good fit means a good fit in all three paces and over a fence if relevant. As I may have said I have in six years had very very few customers even need to think about a curved girth and the only one I cna think of that has one only has it as her horse moves even better in it, he didn't seem to like the regular girth she had.

Buzzlightyear - all wooden treed saddles are adjustable a handful of times if you work with a fitter happy to do it. Some will, some won't, I am very cynical about those that won't. We have done this, as a company, for over 2 years with no ill effects. Go for a brand that fits rather than going for ultra adjustability because frankly being able to adjust the width only accounts for some of the change in shape that many horses go through anwyay.

If he has gone croup high then you may be best going for as short a seat size as you can, and/or an upswept or otherwise very short panel, to get away from the slope up. And yes, you may well need a flat tree, though this doesn't always preclude a deep seated dressage saddle, some fit flatter than others.
 
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