help. how do i measure my saddle

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jadeleanne

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im not very good on measuring ha, and when i got my mare the woman said she had be measured and fitted with a saddle and she was 17"5 in a saddle, im confused as want to buy her a new saddle but dont no were to start shes a very wide 14.1 haflinger mare
 
17.5 is the lenght.. so basicly how big your bottom is!! The most important fitting thing is like the med, wide, xwide etc... I would either go for a wintec saddle for a haflinger or get a saddler out to messure her up. If you decide to go to saddler and pick out tho use a wire cloths hanger and bend it to her back for a idea.
 
The 17.5" actually refers to the seat size. 17.5" is the average size. I have a 18" for my rather large derriere
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and you can get smaller - 15-16" for children. As far as the horses size is concerned it sounds like she might need a wide or extra wide but there is a lot of variation between the different makers and you also need to check that the gullet is wide enough to span the spinous processes amply. I think the best option is to get your local saddler to bring a selection of saddles and get him/her to try them to see which is the best fit and then have a ride in them yourself to see which you are happiest in and go from there.
 
If she is anything like my old mare she will be an extra wide in wintec etc.

17.5 is the size directed at you, what you need to be concerned about for the horse is the width of the gullet, the style of the saddle, you probably wont want something too forward cut for a haffie that will interfere with her shoulders.

Looking at the pic of her she is the same build as my welsh sec D.

Definitely get a saddler out as an incorrectly fitting saddle can do untold damage.
 
thankyou for that, i want to do it right as dont want to go backwards, and end up hurting her. anyone have a rough idear how much it is to have a saddler come out, and do they have saddles you can buy from them , or do they just tell you what size to get? thanks alot for this, its helping me loadssssss
 
The 17.5 inches is the seat size. If you measure from one of the studs on either side of the pommel, straight across diagonally to the centre of the cantle, this will give you the seat size. As previously posted, if you have a large bottom (ahem!) you will need a 17.5 - 18in seat, unless she is very short coupled which she doesn't seem to be from the gorgeous photo you posted. Also she looks like a XX wide, thorogood make some XXX wide saddles which aren't too pricey - they also do some really good grippy numnahs which are ideal for rolly-poly (?spelling) cobs as their saddles seem to slip. If you don't want to do much jumping, you could always try a treeless saddle.
 
My saddler comes out with a van load of saddles and tries loads of them. I bought one from him recently, he knew beforehand the size of my horse (I dropped a piccie into his shop), so he had a rough idea of what would fit. He also asked my budget (he would have fitted a synthetic with no problems). We ended up with a couple that fitted her and me really well and I decided on one of them after riding in both. He didn't charge to come out, and the first re-flocking after 5-6 months is free. I bought the saddle there and then as well as the leathers and girth.
 
That's a wide.

I have a griffin saddle, and they're fab for wide ponies, as they have a strategically placed girth strap. You can get them which you can adjust yourself too, and not at all pricey. Robinsons do them I think. If you;re of average size, go for a 16" seat. I am a size 10 - 12 bottom and take a 16" saddle.
 
Im a 10-12 also and a 17.5 feels too big for me, however OH is 6ft 5 so may need to get an 18 inch saddle for our new one , sob, Im def gonna look like a pea on a drum now!
 
My saddler came out to see 4 horses at my yard and another 5 or 6 on a local yard. He'd come nearly 1 and a half hours to get to our yard and charged nothing at all but hoped to get some sales out of it i'm sure. He was extremely thorough and really knew his stuff - I bought a beautiful saddle from him (£250) and another lady did too so he made his money from us two anyway! He did charge 15 for a consultation if you only wanted your fit checked.
I'm quite small and originally he suggested a 16.5 inch GFS but i struggled to find one- he looked for 6 weeks and everything i saw on ebay in 16.5 was a childs or pony saddle so not ideal. In the end a 17.5 different make fitted us both perfectly.
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