Fitting a Portuguese saddle

[Hennessy]

What do you think of this saddle?

 

[Hennessy]

 

[LadyRascasse]

I am in no way an expert but it looks like the saddle is too wide for the horse and as soon as any weight is in the saddle it will touch the wither.

 

[TheMule]

Too wide, the saddle is sitting very low on the withers

 

[Hennessy]

It doesn't touch the wither when I sit in it, I can put my fingers under it. Maybe repadding will help to have more wither clearance.

 

[Deseado]

Hello, I ride all my horses in Portuguese or Spanish saddles (yours looks like a "portrera" Spanish-style saddle by the way) and they are generally made for the iberian horse and are a standard MW tree. The saddle pictured looks very much too wide on your horse.

 

[happyclappy]

sorry but it does not fit imho.

 

[Hennessy]

Yes, this is a potrera, from Lucas Monturas (a Doma Elastica Luxus). This is my first non-English saddle and I'm totally confused, how it's supposed to fit, it's so different...

Deseado, may I ask you how high the padding supposed to be on the withers? Because these seem too high for me, especially if the saddle is too wide and my horse is high withered... Iberian type of horses usually have quite flat withers, so a saddle like this is placed on the withers? Maybe you could show me a photo of a properly fitted saddle...I searched all the internet and found only one photo, this one:

But here the saddle is on the withers, no clearance on the side...isn't it a problem?

 

[TheMule]

That saddle looks too narrow

 

[Hennessy]

What is it then? Too narrow or too wide?

I would say wide, but I'd like to know how it's supposed to look like on a not-so-narrow, high withered horse.

 

[LadyRascasse]

Yes, this is a potrera, from Lucas Monturas (a Doma Elastica Luxus). This is my first non-English saddle and I'm totally confused, how it's supposed to fit, it's so different...

Deseado, may I ask you how high the padding supposed to be on the withers? Because these seem too high for me, especially if the saddle is too wide and my horse is high withered... Iberian type of horses usually have quite flat withers, so a saddle like this is placed on the withers? Maybe you could show me a photo of a properly fitted saddle...I searched all the internet and found only one photo, this one:

But here the saddle is on the withers, no clearance on the side...isn't it a problem?

This picture is too narrow, can you see the panel touches at the top but comes away from the horse as it goes down the saddle.

 

[Hennessy]

That's what I was thinking... and this photo is on a saddle fitting page as an example of a good fit on a "narrow fitting" horse... :S

 

[sbloom]

I think it is a LITTLE too wide, but if you can pad it to keep good clearance I'm thinking that with thin panels like that the rules of clearance may be different to English saddles, and some clearance may be enough. If you can get as much as two fingers under it then I'd say it could be okay.

This picture is too narrow, can you see the panel touches at the top but comes away from the horse as it goes down the saddle.

Sorry but you have it the wrong way round. If the top of the panels are on the horse but lower down they come away, then the tree angle is too wide. A too narrow tree doesn't contact the horse at the top of the panels but does AT the points.

 

[Hennessy]

If the red one is too wide, then why it doesn't "slip down" on the withers (like mine), instead of sitting on the top of them? Usually too wide saddles have less clearance above the withers, don't they? (I have a narrow one which sits 10 cm above the withers)

Mine keeps that clearance even if I sit in it, but it moves like a ship when the horse walks...very strange feeling. I've never done this before but for this one I'll try a thick saddle pad.