I think I scared the saddle fitter! What makers makes 16.5'' saddles?

J

Jesstickle

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Poor woman looked a bit pale after I got on and my horse kicked off big time.

My horse is, as I expected, very, very short. Even a 16.5'' wintec (which is what she is going on with for now) is a little bit too long, but it's workable.

I was just wondering which makers make 16.5'' saddles as next year I'll be looking to upgrade to something nicer and I want to know how much to start saving :eek: I guess I'll want a dressage and a jump next summer and although she might change shape by then she certainly isn't going to get any longer. Really I don't want to have to have them made or buy new, how likely am I to find anything at all second hand. Do I need to think about selling my soul or my body already?

My butt is too fat to fit into a 16'' as then I could just have nice pony saddles :(
 
I think Ideal make 16.5 saddles.

Pessoa definitely do if you are looking for a jumping saddle.

I am sure most saddle brands make 16.5" saddles though?
 
I don't know. When I go on the websites they just say contact a stockist and I'm not phoning around at 8pm! Especially when I don't want to buy anything yet, just get an idea for what I could buy and maybe try and persuade people to let me have a sit in theirs between now and then to see what I like

ETS: I didn't mean to put this in here btw. I meant to put it in NL. Sorry about that :o
 
I have a 16.5 wintec Isabel :)
Think quite a lot of people make 16.5 or can if you order them anyway. Friend has a 16.5 GFS too.
 
Saddle company make 16.5 inch saddles and Poppy webber is brilliant to come out and fit them and what they can also do is make the panels a bit shorter and the seat a bit bigger to accommodate super short backed horses.
 
I don't want to have to have one made or buy a new one. I am going to cry if I have to buy two brand new saddles.

Stupid Nitty :mad:
 
im sure the wintecs come up quite long, my last girl scraped by with a 17" but when i went to get her a better fitting saddle, was recomended a wintec due to the shape of her back, well a 17" was huge on her so i ended up with a 16.5" one, and yet her previous had been 17" :confused: and she certainly hadn't grown, she was 15 lol. So maybe try a 17" in different makes as you can get some with quite short panels but a bigger seat. Im sure the more knowledgeable HHO's would be able to recommend some
 
Loads of them make 16.5's, ideal, albion, bates, jeffries keep an eye on ebay as when I'm on saddle noseying I always see them. Oh and I ride in a 15'' bates and its comfy enough, I'm sure a 16.5 or a 16 would have plently of room for you if I can comfortably squish in a 15.
 
Comfort saddles do; I have a lovely WHP saddle for my mare in 16.5 inch - the company that sells (used to sell?) the native pony saddles sell them. Ive been keeping an eye out for second hand ones as 17inch is too big for my bum, and there really are not that many produced! And as I have found, most are wide as pony saddles, no use for my TB haha!!!
 
dh- I'm not much taller than you but I am way fatter. No way are my fat thighs fitting in a 16 inch saddle!

We did try a couple of 17'' ones. A Jeffries and something else and both were long. If there are saddles that have a shorter panel and longer seat as standard, would love to know which ones they are.

In fairness to the Wintec, I didn't fall of in it and she was giving it some so I am already rather fond of it just for that! Perhaps I'll just keep it.
 
Ideal
GFS
GFS Genesis
Saddle Co
Eclipse
Kent & Masters
Native Saddle Co
Etc etc etc

I have 16.5 saddles, there are plenty about, but you also want to try some 17 as some makes come up small and some generous. Pretty much all manufacturers do a 16.5 version but what you really want is a 16.5 adult pony saddle, wider seat, longer panels on a short tree, Saddle Co, GFS & Ideal all do an adult range, perfectly proportioned for short backed ponies and horses with adult riders who need the leg and bum room :-)
 
Have a look at the saddle company. They aren't overly expensive and do a range of leather/synthetic (various degrees of each) with serge panels. They also will do (if you want) a 16" saddle with a 17" seat etc. They are made in Walsall, English leather and are fully adjustable so you can have them altered. I've used them a lot, and always end up coming back to them. The guy who owns the company used to design at Thorowgood.
 
nixxyz said:
im sure the wintecs come up quite long, my last girl scraped by with a 17" but when i went to get her a better fitting saddle, was recomended a wintec due to the shape of her back, well a 17" was huge on her so i ended up with a 16.5" one, and yet her previous had been 17" :confused: and she certainly hadn't grown, she was 15 lol. So maybe try a 17" in different makes as you can get some with quite short panels but a bigger seat. Im sure the more knowledgeable HHO's would be able to recommend some
Click to expand...

Ditto this about the wintecs coming up long. A 17 inch wintec was too long for my boy but a 17 inch thorowgood fits him perfectly.
 
There was a similar post to this recently and I'm pretty sure someone mentioned a wow saddle.I think they said you can have the panel bit in a 16" and then the seat in a 17"
 
I'll just declare my interest before I post as I am a Saddle Company fitter, but we can make saddles with, for example, a 17" seat and the panel size of 16.5". This is great for people with shorter backed horses/ponies and it doesn't cost any extra.

Also, I always find that the Wintec saddles have quite 'long' panels that do tend to 'stick out' much further than the seat, so are probably the worst saddles for horses/ponies with not a lot of room!

Hope this helps. x
 
Wintec was deffo shorter than any of the 17'' saddles we tried, including a Thorowgood but I have no problem believing there will be 17'' saddles out there that will work for her. I hope so anyway.

Will start keeping my eyes peeled for ebay bargains in the hope that something short turns up. At least she's a nice easy shape so that's something :)
 
Agree re the Saddle company saddles. I bought a second hand one from Poppy for a very reasonable price. It's a lovely saddle.
 
i had my saddle fitter out yesterday and we were discussing this! My Sec D Is about 14.3hh and saddler fitter said straight off she thought the 17" thorowgood dressage saddle i have would be too long for her, as it turns out, mare is a lot longer in the back than saddler thought, so it was fine. However, I also have a 17"thorowgood jumping saddle , which is on a different tree to the dressage, and it definitely IS shorter on her.

a few years back i had a HAstilow Ranger GP saddle in a 16.5, for a finer/smaller type I had, it was a lovely saddle/
 
Trying to persuade a saddler that you need a 16.5" saddle is difficult! I need one for my size, and my horses love them. I've got 3 just now, 2 are Ideal and one is a Kings. Two were bought new to order, and one was second hand, but described as a "child size saddle". I think Barnsby also do them.
 
alsxx said:
Comfort saddles do; I have a lovely WHP saddle for my mare in 16.5 inch - the company that sells (used to sell?) the native pony saddles sell them. Ive been keeping an eye out for second hand ones as 17inch is too big for my bum, and there really are not that many produced! And as I have found, most are wide as pony saddles, no use for my TB haha!!!
Click to expand...

The lady who designed the Native Pony sadlde range also designed the Comfort range - they are now two different companies making saddles branded "Native Pony Saddle Company", made by different workshops to different standards, and with new introductinos to our range. There is rather a lot of confusion about these NP ranges for which I can only apologise - it has become a legal situation which we hope to resolve very soon. The NP designer for the last 10 years, Andrea Hicks, has a new range, Phoenix Saddles, that fits non-natives/cobs as well as some wider horses.

Mithras said:
Trying to persuade a saddler that you need a 16.5" saddle is difficult! I need one for my size, and my horses love them. I've got 3 just now, 2 are Ideal and one is a Kings. Two were bought new to order, and one was second hand, but described as a "child size saddle". I think Barnsby also do them.
Click to expand...

Our most popular model is a 16.5" square can GP! A horse can only take what a horse can take, and the rider shouldn't be swimming in a saddle either!
 
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