"Fitting" a saddle to horse with muscle wastage on back?

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darksecret99

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If you have a saddle made/adjusted to fit a horse who currently has little muscle along its back, will that prevent/restrict the muscle from developing?

Ie. should the saddle be fitted to allow room for growth and be used with a pad until the horse fills out, or should it be made "to fit"??

My boy had muscle wastage due to a back injury, but following treatment, is now back in work and gradually building up the muscles again, but his saddle is no longer fitting quite right, so I will be seeking the advice of a master saddler, but I suspect there are two schools of thought on this and would be interested to hear your views before I take his advice as gospel!
 
I think perhaps invest in something like a korrector pad (this can be adjusted as your horse develops). May also be wise to look at a saddle with adjustable gullet also
 
My current saddle is a wintec with an adjustable gullet, but with the wider one, it sits too low at the front (due to lack of muscle behind wither) , or with the narrower one, is too tight on the shoulder....
 
Hi,
There are 2 things to bear in mind here.
The first, as you mention, is that if the horse has muscle wastage and you fit a saddle to the shape the horse is currently then there is no room for the horse to regain muscle. Therefore working with a saddle that is wider than the horses current shape and using some extra padding under the front area of the saddle will allow the horse the room to change shape and regain some muscle. You can use something as simple as a folded tea towel or hand towel to create the appropriate thickness. Just be aware that as the horse gains some muscle he will pick the saddle up in front more and so you may need to gradually reduce the thickness of the extra pad to accomodate this change.

Secondly, the static posture of the horse ( i.e standing still) will measure narrower than the moving posture of the horse - this is because in movement the back lifts and widens. Therefore if we want to allow the horse to move as nature intended we need to accomodate and support this change in shape in the ridden horse. So, even with a horse who has a healthy, well muscled back a saddle that is a little wider than its static posture in conjunction with some pads will allow the horse room for this dynamic to take place.
Hope this helps.
 
Unless I had a flair saddle, I would use a prolite pad as a matter of course on a horse with little muscle.
The adjustable prolite pad is good for this sort of thing, and should give you some flexibility as he muscles up, but you need to give him room to grow into.
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