ever changing pony and saddle fitting!

[ellis9905]

im after some advice please- 3 months ago i bought my daughter a first ridden section a pony. hes a star for her ridden and a real family friend- however when we got him he was grossly over weight- ive never seen a pony so fat that has never had lami, my friend said if she hadnt known he was a gelding she would of thought him in foal!!
Anyway, we've restricted his food intake and have increased his work load, gradually the weight is coming off, however this has left the problem that his saddle seems to fit better some times than others!
His saddle is a not very nice old maxam saddle- which his previous owners had had fitted for him,( prior to his excessive weight gain- before there daughter largely lost interest) eventually when we have a slimmer pony i would like to buy a new saddle.
The problem we seem to have currently is that once the girth is tightened the cantle lifts off from the ponies back- now im no expert but this cant be right??

i dont want to be doing any damage to his back- do i have to accept that i may have to change saddle several times over the weight loss period - or is there anything i can do to make it fit better???

thanks

 

[Tammytoo]

I think you need to change the saddle or you'll end up with your pony having a very sore back as the saddle is constantly bouncing up and down.

How about getting one of the better synthetic saddles, like Wintec or Thorogood and get a fitter to come and fit it for you. As these saddles are adjustable you only need to change the gullet and not the saddle when your pony changes shape.

Horses/ponies are very forgiving creatures and will put up with quite a lot of discomfort before letting you know there is a problem, so doing something sooner rather than later is best. Might be an idea to get his back checked out just to make sure the saddle hasn't made him sore.

 

[RhennyRocky]

I agree with above, We've just had our gullets changed in our Thorowgoods as we've also had major weight loss, Also have you tried a front riser pad to stop the cantle lifting ?