Measuring horse at home to find saddle in shop...

[charterline]

Ok so rather obscure title! So horse needs a new saddle, and one of the options is to go to the local tack shop that has a lovely selection on second hand saddles and bring some away to try/get the saddler to check.

However firstly i was wondering if there is anyway of creating a “template” at home and taking to the shop, so I’ve got a better idea of what might fit first?

 

[Widgeon]

Ok so rather obscure title! So horse needs a new saddle, and one of the options is to go to the local tack shop that has a lovely selection on second hand saddles and bring some away to try/get the saddler to check.

However firstly i was wondering if there is anyway of creating a “template” at home and taking to the shop, so I’ve got a better idea of what might fit first?

I just guessed. I guessed at extra wide and short backed (which mine is) and picked up four that looked more or less right. Although admittedly I was very lucky and one of those first four did actually fit. Sorry, that's not very helpful!

 

[milliepops]

I also guess based on what saddles I already have, but if you're starting from scratch you can do a basic template using a flexicurve

https://www.daviddyersaddles.co.uk/content/blog/how_to_take_a_template

it's obviously a crude measurement and not a template of the whole back but it's a handy starting point.

 

[charterline]

I have guessed before and got it totally wrong!

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Ok so rather obscure title! So horse needs a new saddle, and one of the options is to go to the local tack shop that has a lovely selection on second hand saddles and bring some away to try/get the saddler to check.

However firstly i was wondering if there is anyway of creating a “template” at home and taking to the shop, so I’ve got a better idea of what might fit first?

I'd ask someone if you can borrow their saddle measure stick (I can't think of the name of it). Wintec used to sell them at one time, its a flexible stick probably about 40 cm in length and you can mould it to fit the horses back to get his shape over the withers. The just draw it onto paper.

 

[charterline]

I also guess based on what saddles I already have, but if you're starting from scratch you can do a basic template using a flexicurve

https://www.daviddyersaddles.co.uk/content/blog/how_to_take_a_template

it's obviously a crude measurement and not a template of the whole back but it's a handy starting point.

Thanks, I did try and guess before as Ideal saddles suited the horse I had. Trouble is the shop only has either older models of branded saddles, lesser known makes, or makers that don’t exist anymore.

 

[Red-1]

Yes, you can but it is an imperfect science and only good to get the saddles to try.

You get a Flexi curve and mould it round the withers where the front arch of the saddle and panels would sit. Draw it on a piece of cardboard. Cut it out so the hollow part is a lovely fit to the withers... The solid part you took out will now be a match to the shape of the horse.

You can take that shape to the saddler and only get saddles with the correct angle.

This does not, however, tell you if you need a curved or straight tree. Pls the saddle must not go over the last rib where it attaches to the back. Plus some horses need an actual wider gullet as well as a wider angle.

 

[Baywonder]

Remember you will also need to take into account the layer of fat on your horse too. If you can't get hold of a flexi curve, just use a good old fashioned wire coat hanger!

I would, as you have rightly said, get a fitter to check it too.

Good luck in finding a suitable saddle!

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Well..... when I was looking for a saddle for my old boy, I got two metal coathangers, and bent them around.

One I used to measure the Width, so I bent it over his withers, and then made a cardboard template of that shape.

Then I used the other coathanger to get the "curve" of his back, and made another template.

Went to a local horsey car-boot sale; found a nice little saddle for less than £100 using my template. Got it home, hey presto it fitted! Then got a saddle-fitter to do a check and a re=flock.

Sorted!

 

[Myloubylou]

Being on saddle number 3 in space of 5 months I would say even with good idea of width and fitting by a master saddle fitter horse may not approve! Useful for the saddle fitter to know what to bring with them but I wouldn’t buy unless I knew could be adjusted. But I have tricky to fit horse. I use a flexi curve to keep track on horse changing shape to know when to get saddler out

 

[Meredith]

Well..... when I was looking for a saddle for my old boy, I got two metal coathangers, and bent them around.

One I used to measure the Width, so I bent it over his withers, and then made a cardboard template of that shape.

Then I used the other coathanger to get the "curve" of his back, and made another template.!

As above plus a similar template cut for the back of the saddle. It may help show if the panel is too steep or too flat.

The wither template should be taken 3 fingers widths behind the scapula I think.

Don’t forget to sit on the saddle at the shop. There’s no point in lugging it all the way home, finding it fits Blossom perfectly and your knees shoot over the knee rolls!

 

[ozpoz]

I saw this definitive guide which might help. It's free to download

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...MOwh1LwHajBX5xtsHcMrXm-dugMx08Ut-_F1rxcSyRZU=

 

[VRIN]

Look o saddles direct website. They have guidance for measuring for a saddle.

 

[PeterNatt]

You would be far better off to get a reputable and qualified saddle fitter out.
The wrong saddle could seriously damage your horse and end up costing you much more in vets fees and loss of use of your horse because you are unable to use your horse as a result of the damage that the saddle has done than what you are saving on trying to do it yourself.

 

[little_critter]

You would be far better off to get a reputable and qualified saddle fitter out.
The wrong saddle could seriously damage your horse and end up costing you much more in vets fees and loss of use of your horse because you are unable to use your horse as a result of the damage that the saddle has done than what you are saving on trying to do it yourself.

I don’t know about the OPs area, but round here saddlers hold very little 2nd hand stock, so if you can’t afford to buy new there’s not much point calling a saddler out because they won’t bring any 2nd hand saddles to try. Also I find that saddlers tend to fit just a few new brands. So if your horse doesn’t suit the brand they fit, that’s a wasted saddlers visit.
Don’t get me wrong, I rely on saddlers because I don’t feel confident checking saddle fit myself, i just miss the days when saddlers held used stock and you could try a good selection of saddles.

 

[asmp]

My (master) saddler has in the past measured our horses and told us what to saddles to look out for. Better to pay for expert advice rather than making an expensive mistake (and possibly painful one for your horse) IMO.

 

[charterline]

People seem to have missed the point that the saddler will check it.

Alas I don’t have £1000 to buy a new saddle from the saddler, only the budget to get an older second hand one... at no point did I say I was going to buy some random saddle and just stuff it on my horse

 

[milliepops]

i thought that was quite clear from your first post

 

[sbloom]

It's really difficult, you can take a tracing, 3 fingers behind the wither as said, and then cut it out in card and hold up to the front of the saddle, but if you have a saddle fitter in mind why not ask them to assess what would fit so you can go and find one? Tree angle is one of many factors involved in saddle fit, even a change in width of pommel makes it difficult to know whether the angle is correct, without getting into tree and panel shape.

 

[ester]

Am I the only one who made a 3D template .

 

[cremedemonthe]

As sbloom has said, there are so many factors to fitting and measuring up for a saddle. You need to measure you as much as the horse.
Coathangers are no good as they are made from spring steel and have a"memory" and will try to reform and spring out of shape giving an inaccurate reading.
I did write an article years ago on how to get a good reading using a piece of lead flashing and where else to measure , I may still have it if anyone wants to read it, Oz

 

[Myloubylou]

Flexi curve can be found on amazon, you could use template from thorowgood website to get general idea of width. Then get saddler to bring all saddles they have to suit x type of horse in that width.

 

[sbloom]

Am I the only one who made a 3D template .

There are tools to do this but of course it's still only a close approximation of a static fitting which often won't work once the horse is moving (obv all horses change the shape of their backs when moving, and/or show some degree of asymmetry, and I know you know that ). If it really worked it would be used by almost all saddle fitters, but only a small handful use this technique.

 

[ester]

Oh yes of course It was only a rough approximation but better than nought. I was actually mostly trying to work out if two ideals has the same/similar trees in as one was fitted as ideal never got back to me about it (they did ).

 

[asmp]

People seem to have missed the point that the saddler will check it.

Alas I don’t have £1000 to buy a new saddle from the saddler, only the budget to get an older second hand one... at no point did I say I was going to buy some random saddle and just stuff it on my horse

Sorry - point I was trying to make was that a good saddler would be able to tell you exactly what shape tree to suit your horse, what size to fit you both, and then recommend an exact make and model (within your budget) before you go to the saddlery.

 

[charterline]

Sorry - point I was trying to make was that a good saddler would be able to tell you exactly what shape tree to suit your horse, what size to fit you both, and then recommend an exact make and model (within your budget) before you go to the saddlery.

As per my post above saddlery only has older branded saddles, the models of which are likely to be unknown, or brands of saddle that are no longer in existence

 

[sbloom]

As per my post above saddlery only has older branded saddles, the models of which are likely to be unknown, or brands of saddle that are no longer in existence

Most fitters will come out and, for a consultation charge, tell you what to look for yourself, as I suggested in my first post above. It can never be as 100% as having one fitted on the day, but it's better than a bit of a shot in the dark.