Has anyone seen this saddle shape before?

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I just found this saddle for sale online, it's nearly £1000, well known make and a dressage saddle - has anyone ever seen this shaped flocking/channel before?

To me it looks like it would just fill the space where the muscle should be sitting, especially in a dressage horse.. or does it provide a function I just don't know about? Every day is a school day after all

 

[sbloom]

Yes, Black Country standard front gusset, I find them a little OTT but they're workable. Likely to be significantly overflocked, might even have stretched the leather. Even without those gussets so many saddles have too much flocking up at this area, making them convex which does indeed push into the muscle. Not the way to support the front of any saddle.

 

[poiuytrewq]

It also looks unsymmetrical up in the gullet. Is it a fixed gullet?

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I find a lot of the BC's for sale second hand are over flocked for some reason.

With my last horse, my saddler flocked rather lightly in the front, and everything worked fine that way. It was just enough. No bulging.

 

[sbloom]

It also looks unsymmetrical up in the gullet. Is it a fixed gullet?

The serge lining has been attached a little unevenly but you really can't tell anything else from this photo (and in fact photos of saddles can be cleverly angled to make a straight saddle look crooked, so best not to judge from photos). They are fixed headplate as are almost all traditionally-bench-made saddles.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Yes, Black Country standard front gusset, I find them a little OTT but they're workable. Likely to be significantly overflocked, might even have stretched the leather. Even without those gussets so many saddles have too much flocking up at this area, making them convex which does indeed push into the muscle. Not the way to support the front of any saddle.

That's really interesting, thank you - perhaps it was fitted to something with some serious atrophy in that area - I have honestly never seen one this convex in that way.
I also prefer them with less flocking and a pad if necessary in this area, personal preference and depends on what the horse likes I suppose.

 

[sbloom]

That's really interesting, thank you - perhaps it was fitted to something with some serious atrophy in that area - I have honestly never seen one this convex in that way.
I also prefer them with less flocking and a pad if necessary in this area, personal preference and depends on what the horse likes I suppose.

I'd say it's more fundamental biology, physics and biomechanics, but otherwise agree. I would not fit atrophy in this way, even if I did feel the horse could carry a saddle which would be unlikely if it was anywhere near this shape!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

A decent t pad and shims with a slightly too wide saddle is so much more forgiving and allows the muscle to recover, I can imaging that just presses further into the atrophy and makes it worse.

 

[sbloom]

A decent t pad and shims with a slightly too wide saddle is so much more forgiving and allows the muscle to recover, I can imaging that just presses further into the atrophy and makes it worse.

The ideal is to still have the correct tree fit and use shims to rebalance but if people understand how to shim to compensate for the angle difference in front (trimming shims etc) then it can work really well.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

The ideal is to still have the correct tree fit and use shims to rebalance but if people understand how to shim to compensate for the angle difference in front (trimming shims etc) then it can work really well.

It looks like you might feel your miles away from the horses back with that saddle, I know shims and pads can do that as well but that looks really padded.

 

[sbloom]

It looks like you might feel your miles away from the horses back with that saddle, I know shims and pads can do that as well but that looks really padded.

Oh you'd never ever try and sort this with pads, it needs a complete strip flock in all likelihood but it can be possible to get a decent result with on site flocking.