Movement in saddle???

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TequilaMist

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Friend bought brand new gfs xchange saddle for newly broken 4 yr old.Now watched her going round and as she had been advised no numnah more noticable that back of saddle bounced off his back alot in trot.Put a half sheepskin under it and was much better tho still some movement.Friend bought it from ashop and the owner fitted it.
Just how much movement should there be in the back of a saddle ?
 
TequilaMist said:
Just how much movement should there be in the back of a saddle ?
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you have to think about it in the sense that (most) saddles have a fixed tree (some made out of wood, some plastic) that don't move. Horse's backs do move. So... it wouldn't really be possible for a saddle to not move at all... and if it didn't move it would restrict the back... so there is always an element of movement. Flocking, numnahs, etc all take up some of that movement, so it's hard to say really what's an acceptable amount of movement... it's something her fitter really needs to answer. advise her to get the fitter back out. at 4 and newly broken, the chances are the horse will be changing shape a lot at the moment, so it's always advisable anyway to get it regularly checked at this stage. good luck! i hope it's okay x
 
the xchange is changeable.there shouldnt be any excessive movement in the saddle. does the saddle have the correct gullet fitted? i would suggest your friend contacts the shop that sold and fitted the saddle and get then back out to re assess after watching any movement whilst ridden.
 
She did and guy -who is a nice guy-came down and said saddle was fine tho this was still with pad. Also guy said horse had a wee bit sore back but not enough to lay off and more likely to be from horse jumping on back or playing in field which tbh it could be but................
Are we causing any problems using a pad to stop the bouncing?Don't want to mask the problem and the problem still there causing damage.
He is in widest width apparently and was a hard horse to fit a saddle

Thanks for replies
 
nixxyz said:
ive had this before and it was the sadle that caused the sore back, i would seriously get a second fitter out for another opinion.
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I second this ^^^

My mares saddle had movement in the back and was less noticable with a half sheepskin pad, (despite the saddle fitter checking it) few months down the line and she is laid off work with a very sore back, having to get the physio out next week, it will have been just over a month :(
 
The saddle doesn't fit and will cause bruising under the back.

What will be happening is the stuffing under the waist area is too much and causing the saddle to rock back & forth with movement. A good saddler should be able to remove sufficient stuffing to get the saddle to sit close from front to back.
 
Thanks for replies. Think I will print them off and show them to her as guy tho not a qualified saddler has been dealing in horses for years and is way more experienced than I am.
But did know that saddle shouldn't be bouncing as much as it was.
Ooooh god why can't things just run smoothly
 
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