Help - saddle for short backed cob

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Bramley95

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Hello,
I have a 15hh gypsy cob who has been described as 'compact' 😊
He has had a sore back in the past from a 17" saddle (mildly) which was a Bates.
Have been recommended the Kent and masters or thoroughgood T8 but the smallest they do is a 17" and I reckon I could squeeze into a 16.5" without too much prob.
Don't want to get a pony saddle as the flaps would be too short and I reckon it may look a bit silly.
Anyone have any experience of this?
Saddler reckoned we could get away with a 17" if I alternated using the saddle with hacking him on my bareback pad.
Any advice before I fork out would be most appreciated!
Thank you 😊
 
Aren't Bates the same tree as wintec? K& M and thoroughgood are a much flatter tree. Have you had one of these brands fitted by a saddle fitter? If the Bates saddle fitted but was just too long, then the K&M or thoroughgood may not fit at all.

Eta, sorry, just seen that you had the saddler.
Did she try the 17" cob K&M or thoroughgood, as they come up much shorter on the back than most saddles of the same seat length. Otherwise you could try Andrea Hicks saddles.
 
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I got a Kent and masters gp cob for my short backed highland. It is 17 1/2 as I needed this and saddler thought it was fine .
 
Personally I really dislike Thorowgood saddles, I find them about as comfy as sitting on a plank of wood with about that much support! I had a T4 Cob one for my mare and I hated it! I now have her in a WOW saddle which I had put together with a 17" seat for me and 16" panels for the horse, works very well for short backed types.
 
K&M and TG many riders find they need a bigger seat, going smaller is highly likely to leave you with seatbones up onto the cantle. I'd advise looking for something with a flatter tree and an upswept rear panel, the upswept panel design I work with (I fit for AH Saddles mentioned above) can mean the saddle has a footprint up to 1.5" shorter than usual so where a horse can only take a 16.5" you should easily be able to get a 17.5" the same length on the horse. Many companies make 16.5 saddles with decent adult sized flaps and any bench made company can add a longer flap too if necessary.
 
I've tried Wintec Wide for my traddie cob who is short backed and low withered - and wide. Hated the damn thing, felt about as stable as a ship at sea.

Tried Kent & Masters but the saddle fitter (master saddler) wasn't happy with the fit and wouldn't sell me the saddle. Good for her!

Tried Thorowgood T4 cob saddle but was so uncomfy after only half an hour that I had to get off.

Went to car boot and bought a Lovett & Ricketts GP for £50. It fitted like a glove - later confirmed by saddle fitter.
 
I've just bought a Thorowgood T4 cob dressage for my young Gypsy Cob. He's 15 hh and I'm 5'3",the 17" fits him really well .It's also the most comfortable saddle I've ever owned.
 
Having seen my first one in the flesh this week I will say that the TG Compact is very odd, in case that's the one you're considering. The shorter the back, in my experience, the flatter it is. The tree in the compact is very curvy and instead has very deep rear gussets. I didn't get a chance to see if a tiny tweak I did to it helped (for a friend, don't normally touch them!) but it looked far from an ideal fit on a short back. his particular horse had a wither but still needed flat rails, and the shape of the seat made it perfectly evident the rails were very curvy front to back, it meant also the rider has hardly any room, with a very high cantle, and sat very high above the horse.
 
Hiya,
How about a Wintec AP saddle in 16 inch? they do this in full size rather than pony and they have the changeable gullets (plus they do a 'wide' as well)
 
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