ideas please

horsimous

horsimous

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25 November 2004
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I have a 9 year old TB mare who I bought 1 1/2 years ago as she was recovering from having turned rescue case thin after foaling with her previous owners. I have been slowly putting the weight on her and building some top line and muscle. I have been leading her out, long-reining and lunging, have sorted her feet out and now would like to start riding. Here starts the problem: none of the saddles fit! I have tried all sorts.

The problem is she still has a bit of a prominent spine and not enough top line for my saddles to not pinch the spine half way along the saddle. In UK you would just get extra flocking, but this is not an option as I can't get a saddler here.

I have tried extra padding and sheepskin half pads to no avail. my next thing to try is a Rambo air filled pad but I don't know if this will be enough?

At the mo I am riding bareback for 10 min sessions which isn't the most comfortable...

Any ideas gratefully received!
 
id say just wait until that top line is there, unfortuantly if it isnt you can risk damaging the spine and the ligament that runs along it if it is not strong enough to cope with someone on board (even if you are a tiny little twig it could still be too much) the top line will help strengthen the whole overall package and make it more suitable to start having saddles onboard.......

sorry maybe not the answer wanted, but this would be my opinion!

By the way, nice to know you are approaching this case in such a suitable and repsonsible manner
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I am curious as to where you are, especially since your profile says England!
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Have you seen the Thorowgood High Wither saddle - are they available where you are? They are designed for narrow, high withered horses such as those with muscle wastage and also reccomended for veterans. Might be worth looking at. Surely it would be best to have a fitter out regardless?

ETA. I just re-read and if the problem is with the middle of the saddle, this might also be unsuitable as the tree is quite curved....
 
sorry, forgot to say - Cyprus. There are 2 basic shops who sell not very nice saddles (very cheap leather and bad design) but no proper saddlers.
 
Its not ideal, but what I would do is take a template and send it over to someone you know who's horsey and fairly sensible in England, and try to get them to match the width up with a second hand Barnsby. IME, these tend to have high pommels and deep panels which accommodate high withers, but the trees aren't particularly curved. Then get them to post it over. If it doesn't fit, you might have to lose out a bit and E-bay it, but that would be my idea (although I'm sure someone else will have a better, more straightforward one!
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