End of my tether with saddles, help pleaaaseeee!

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gailt

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My daughter has owned her new horse for 6 months, he is a cob x, with totally no wither, straight across and into his shoulder. Thus making saddle fitting a nightmare, ive had 3 different fitters out, all telling me, i dont stand a chance in hell of stopping his saddle from slipping, ive tried 3 different saddles, all of them slip, and im not talking a little bit, im talking hanging off the side. currently using a wintec wide, which is the best so far and Ive just tried a prolite non slip pad, and it helps a little, but not enough.
Has anyone got a horse with no wither and built like a brick toilet, what saddles should i be looking at..Treeless??? He is 6 years old, so still changing, he was bought as a green boy, only ever hacking, but is now starting to school and jump a little, she has her first dressage on him this sunday, but said theres no point in going, his first show and if he is a little silly, she doesnt feel safe with his saddle, at home, she has given up, and very often takes the saddle off and rides bareback..what can we do...please help..
 
I have always found Ideal Saddles work really well for horses with no withers, they do a range called H&C which are for wide, flat backed cobs and natives and I have one for my witherless native!
 
I have a similar shaped horse and we also have the Ideal H&C. It doesn't slip and it's cut to fit so that it doesn't restrict their wide shoulders. They did me a made to measure one as my boy was too wide for the widest fitting that they made.
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I use Saddle Company saddles on the extra wide ones - the advantage being that they can be adjusted by a fitter so will allow for some changes through growth and work - they haven't slipped at all. you can also find extra wide show type saddles on ebay - I have a Silhouette extra wide that also doesn't move.

I didn't have a positive outcome with the Wintec wide, and had to use a Limpet to stop it revolving with limited success
 
I would imagine if the cob is flat backed with little wither the tree on the wintec would be too spooned. Fieldhouse are supposed to be made on a much flatter tree so could be worth a look.
 
Loosing weight really really helps with saddle fit and slipping. I don't know many/any horses who have totally flat backs when they are slim.

Both my cob and a fellow liveries cob had terrible saddle slipping problems. I fell off both quite a few times due to the saddle slipping right round. They were both really quite overweight/obese at the time (mine kept jumping out of her paddock, the other's owner thought she was a good weight!).

My cob's more 'Sports Cob' and not hugely wide and flat backed but other is as wide is she is long and was totally and utterly flat, side to side and front to back. Never seen a wider horse.

However when they both lost weight and were nice and slim (can easily feel ribs) they lost that totally flat backed-ness and were SOOOO much easier to fit. Slipping stopped almost completely.

Also echo the above poster about wintecs - even the wintec cob is too curved for flat wide horses and tends to rock and slide. The cair doesn't help either as it doesn't mould, just flexes.

Did you try a thorowgood cob saddle? They are better for flat, wide horses.
 
I have had 9 saddles in the last 3 years with my pony all diffierent price ranges and quality including synthetic ones...i have been told to try the native pony saddle company becasue a friend had a NF which is a similar build to your cob x and it fits like a glove. My pony is a NFxTB and is very slender with no withers we have ended up getting a racing saddle for him while and next year are going to buy one from the same company.
 
My cob was in the Wintec Wide, in the XXXW fit. My saddler explained why it didn't fit my horse, and I now have an Origins Grandee. We both love it, my lad is soft and responsive through his back and mouth, ears pricked, and I'm happy too! I use Nathanial Underwood, not sure where you are in the country though?
 
Ive had the exact same prob wintecs/thorowgoods damaged my horses back you must get a GOOD saddle fitter I eventually got a Ideal FWB (full wide breed) its there new one as for the Limpet pad I spent £80 on one and they still slip and can make the horse buck as because the saddle is still wrongly fitted it still pulls to the side so it is pulling the skin to one side and is very uncomfortable. I would ring up Ideal and ask them for a saddle fitter in your area they are very helpfull the only downside is they are £900 a saddle but I sold my old saddle on ebay and only had to pay half I havn't looked back but also I would get a Physio out to do horses back as it will be damaged then you are starting on the right foot !! good luck.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies, this has been a nightmare, we have a person keen to move on and a willing horse so its even more frustrating. I think a made to measue Ideal is probably the way to go, so will have to save up a few pennies, ive been reluctant to spend that much as we have had such a nightmare fitting him, i wondered if even a made to measure would still slip because of his shape, so have avoided spending another £1000. The saddle fitters around here are total pants, ive yet to find a good one. The saddle Co fitter lets people down all the time so i darent even go there, i know so many people with problems because of him.
 
I've been there done that with my youngster, although we had the saddle slipping forward! I now have 2 saddles in need of new homes, totalling close to £1,000 and a new one coming tomorrow which is costing me £975! My new one is from saddle exchange, i actually got them out for the native pony saddles, however its a comfort saddle that fits best - she has been out 3 times now and the service has been brilliant.

I'm going to go against the grain here, but the saddle we had most trouble with was an Ideal and I would never ever buy another one, its been a complete nightmare. I also strongly believe that the saddle should fit and using non-slip pads is a no-no. Have heard a few horror stories with limpet pads actually pulling hair out!

Good luck in your search, I know its really hard knowing what to do next when there is no guarantee that it will sort the problem! Where are you based anyway?
 
If you go for treeless the only one that really fits totally flat horses with a good chance of not slipping is the original Freeform (from goldfinch equestrian). We tried one on OH's horse (didn't slip at all) and only didn't buy it because he found the pommel a bit high for his male anatomy. We tried loads of others but all of them slipped.

OH's horse as a youngster was like yours and spent most of her life saddle-less as a result. Things would fit for a bit, then not as she changed shape. When she was really flat we used a thorowgood cob with some success. Even now, when we have some withers, saddles aren't 100% stable sideways and all slip forwards to just behind her shoulder blade.

Our current saddler travels the country fitting saddle company saddles. He has adjusted hers to fit as much as possible and she seems happy with it. She has now had a saddle for a year - unheard of for her!
 
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