My Horse is ACTUALLY Impossible to Find A Saddle For - Any Ideas??!!

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PercyMum

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Ok, so this is a bit of a long post but I really hope someone can recommend me a saddle/Saddle Fitter!

The Ginger Ninja has had (in 6 years) a total of 17 saddles. Yep, you read that right. Every single one of them fitted by a qualified saddler. We have had Wintecs (3 different types), Barnsby, Ideal, Heather Moffat, Black Country and 2 made-to-measure saddles, one from Martin Wilkinson, and a whole host in between. None fitted for very long, and GN made it very clear he didn’t like them by chucking me off.

Now to be fair, he has had KSS, a really nasty hock injury and a suspensory go through all of this. To this end, he is now my very much loved happy hacker and general pratting about horse and has a super life (well, I’d like to think). He is pain-free and turned out 24hrs to endure no stiff or sore bits. But we still don’t have a saddle that fits. He is currently in a Wintec CC that clearly doesn’t fit but he seems happy in it and jumps, schools etc without any problems. Interestingly, he never has had a problem with the Wintecs, only leather saddles but the Wintecs clearly do not fit him unless there are riser pads. The current one sits too low at the front but I cannot use a smaller gullet as it is then WAY too tight over the wither. I have no idea what is going on with it!!

It is really bugging me that he doesn’t have a saddle that fits. He has medium-sized withers and is very short backed, despite being 17hh, with a reasonable shoulder. I have Nathanial Underwood to saddle my other horse and I think he is great but I don’t want to spend £1200 on a saddle for a horse that is essentially a pet. That said, if I cannot find an alternative, that is what I will do (I am soooo never going to be rich…). Can anyone recommend a decent alternative? I’m open to any suggestions!!!

Thanks in advance:p
 
Saddle Company? They have serge rather than leather panels and are adjustable. You can pick up a decent secondhand on on Ebay sometimes.
 
We always found Stubbens fitted everything a really good GP/jumping one with a nice sheepskin underneath, having said that Stubbens don't fit my warmbloods, but see if you can borrow one to try.
 
MrsD123 said:
Is he quiet enough to ride bareback, just a hessian sack to sit on
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Thanks - yes he is and I do ride him bareback alot but he does like to do a little bit of jumping and I dont think I am brave enough to try that bareback!

spaniel said:
Saddle Company? They have serge rather than leather panels and are adjustable. You can pick up a decent secondhand on on Ebay sometimes.
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Aaah, I have'nt tried them. DO they have very wide gullets? I need that width to clear the scar tissue from KSS.

Rouletterose said:
We always found Stubbens fitted everything a really good GP/jumping one with a nice sheepskin underneath, having said that Stubbens don't fit my warmbloods, but see if you can borrow one to try.
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I had a Stubben jumping saddle. I loved it and he hated it after 2 weeks. But thanks for the suggestion! :D
 
He is currently in a Wintec CC that clearly doesn’t fit but he seems happy in it and jumps, schools etc without any problems. Interestingly, he never has had a problem with the Wintecs, only leather saddles but the Wintecs clearly do not fit him unless there are riser pads
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So - he's happy in a Wintec, but you need to use a riser pad?

And your problem is solved.......
 
amymay said:
So - he's happy in a Wintec, but you need to use a riser pad?

And your problem is solved.......
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Well, I guess but I still feel its very low at the front and I am neurotic about it hurting him - I cannot get 2 fingers in at the front for example and it will tip up at the back when he puts his head down. I thought this meant it was too tight at the front but given how low it is, it would seem not. SO CONFUSED!!!! But yes you are right in that he seems happy so why change it. I guess its the fact that I know it doesnt fit!!:confused:
 
I found my medium wide Pessoa Blythe Tait fitted every horse on the yard bar the two TBs. I am very fussy about saddle fit and would not say this lightly. I think it's because it was a close contact with very wide surface bearing area, but it just seemed to mould around all the horses perfectly. It fitted 17.2 ID, 14.1 cob, 16.1 Belgian Warmbood, 15.3 Danish Warmblood and a 15.2 Hanovarian. I have just sold it though as it doesn't fit my new TB even though he is wide.
 
I had a horse like this. Cost me a fortune in saddles
- the solution?
A £50 second hand TG Griffin,a Stephen's gelee riser pad AND a dead sheep .... never gave me a day's trouble again. Hacks, jumps, even does a little xc, gets his back checked alongside the competition horses and never even a twinge. I'm sure if I'd had £1200 to spend on a saddle we might have sorted something, but after 5 years and countless saddles I decided enough was enough and haven't looked back.
I no longer judge people as harshly when I see horses with padding under the saddles!!
 
Flame_ said:
Thicker pad?

One width narrower gullet?

Thorogoods?

Treeless?

Clever things like WOW, Free n Easy, etc?

Western saddle?
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Narrower gullet far too tight over the bottomm of his wither. Thorogoods he dint like, same for the Heather Moffat Treeless, although that was the only treeless I tried. Had a WOW - he hated this more than any other saddle he has had!! Never tried Western, not sure about the massive pommel!! thanks for all the ideas though!

Wagtail said:
I found my medium wide Pessoa Blythe Tait fitted every horse on the yard bar the two TBs. I am very fussy about saddle fit and would not say this lightly. I think it's because it was a close contact with very wide surface bearing area, but it just seemed to mould around all the horses perfectly. It fitted 17.2 ID, 14.1 cob, 16.1 Belgian Warmbood, 15.3 Danish Warmblood and a 15.2 Hanovarian. I have just sold it though as it doesn't fit my new TB even though he is wide.
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Never heard of these! Are they very pricey? Can they be altered?

pip6 said:
Something along the lines of the old US cavalry saddles?
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What are these?

MissTyc said:
I had a horse like this. Cost me a fortune in saddles
- the solution?
A £50 second hand TG Griffin,a Stephen's gelee riser pad AND a dead sheep .... never gave me a day's trouble again. Hacks, jumps, even does a little xc, gets his back checked alongside the competition horses and never even a twinge. I'm sure if I'd had £1200 to spend on a saddle we might have sorted something, but after 5 years and countless saddles I decided enough was enough and haven't looked back.
I no longer judge people as harshly when I see horses with padding under the saddles!!
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I can feel myself going down this route... BUT I FEEL SO BAD DOING IT!!!
 
PercyMum said:
Well, I guess but I still feel its very low at the front and I am neurotic about it hurting him - I cannot get 2 fingers in at the front for example and it will tip up at the back when he puts his head down. I thought this meant it was too tight at the front but given how low it is, it would seem not. SO CONFUSED!!!! But yes you are right in that he seems happy so why change it. I guess its the fact that I know it doesnt fit!!:confused:
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Shims!!
(and dead sheep!)

This was my answer. I got the saddler to get me a pair of wintec shims and these were placed at the front. Voila, off the withers, with the correct gullet and the job was a good 'un so they say. One happy horse and owner!
 
Thanks Angua.

Forgive my ignorance but whats a shim? My Wintec is too low but also tight at the base of the wither and near the shoulder so would this help? As previously posted, when he puts his head down the whole thing lifts up about 2 inches at the back which is what I thought happened if the saddle is too tight at the front. But its so low at the front I can't see how putting a bigger gullet in can help - i tried and it was awful.

Would a shim address this?

thanks!
 
bunnereeny said:
i'd go treeless you can pick up 2nd hand ones on ebay for around 100
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I don't think I would go for a second hand treeless around £100. If I were to go treeless, I would want to go for a known make, such as Heather Moffett (which you've already tried), Barefoot or a Barry Swain Mondial.

There are a lot of scary saddles on Ebay...
 
I had a similar problem - then I found Strada saddles.
Pricey but I could have saved myself a fortune in trying and loosing money on other saddles if I had known about them 6 years ago.
 
saddle - perhaps a half-treed saddle?

your current wintec - use 2&3 instead of 1&3 if its tipping up at the back. The webbing is unlikely to break on a wintec.
 
Please try a Frank Baines Balance (Zenith) saddle before you give up hope if you have not already done so, providing you get the right fit and maintain the same weight and muscle then you maybe suprised, your lad sounds like he's the same shape as mine (mine is also in a CC saddle with a polite under, I've gone through various saddles (within reason considering his age) but has had saddles fitted by saddlers and still no joy, one saddler said you'll really struggle to get one to fit and another said well that's the closest we can get to fitting him.....if it doesn't fit it doesn't fit! (he's also very short coupled with hudge shoulders than come far back) but I did try a FB's of a friend (she won't sell it though :() and it fitted him really nicely and he went lovely in it and he is the sort of horse that tells you if he's not comfortable too, worth having a try if you can track one down that fits.
 
If the wintec is too low at the front and too tight at the shoulder (where it meats the withers) then the gullet plate is wrong....or it just isnt the right saddle.

I had this trouble with my last horse. I tried riser pads and changing gullets. It improved with a narrower gullet but still lifted at the back...something wintecs are known for doing.

A Thorowgood T4 was the answer. The gullet plates are not a long and arent tight on the shoulder.
 
spaniel said:
Saddle Company? They have serge rather than leather panels and are adjustable. You can pick up a decent secondhand on on Ebay sometimes.
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As Spaniel has said. Prices start I think at about £625 brand new or you can get one off ebay and have adjusted. If you buy new they will make the saddle for the horse. I have just had 3 made, a jumping and gp for one of my horses and a gp for the other. I am very impressed with the quality and my saddle fitter is fab :) oh and they are full adjustable by the saddler onsite you can go from XXXXXXXN to XXXXXXXXW in about 10 mins!
 
Albion K2 (SJ). This saddle has got me out of all kinds of fitting problems and seems to fit just about everything. Bought for my 16.2 ISH who has massive shoulders. Also serving on my TB x mare with a sheepskin pad when she came home and was heavily overweight and under muscled. Currently now also on my 17 hand (but again short coupled) ISH who is considerably lighter framed youngster, again with a pad. Always been fitted by my saddler and she says that the K2 seems to fit a multitude of horses. Finally another vote for stubbens as YO has some and again, might need padding but they just seem to fit everything, but you do have to work around the hard seat which I don't like.

My mare is now finally able to go back into her own saddle once it has just been re tweaked but am very impressed that the K2 has worked on so many.

Sadly, the same cannot not be said for my lovely made to measure dressage saddle!!
 
Luci07 said:
Albion K2 (SJ). This saddle has got me out of all kinds of fitting problems and seems to fit just about everything. Bought for my 16.2 ISH who has massive shoulders. Also serving on my TB x mare with a sheepskin pad when she came home and was heavily overweight and under muscled. Currently now also on my 17 hand (but again short coupled) ISH who is considerably lighter framed youngster, again with a pad. Always been fitted by my saddler and she says that the K2 seems to fit a multitude of horses. Finally another vote for stubbens as YO has some and again, might need padding but they just seem to fit everything, but you do have to work around the hard seat which I don't like.

My mare is now finally able to go back into her own saddle once it has just been re tweaked but am very impressed that the K2 has worked on so many.

Sadly, the same cannot not be said for my lovely made to measure dressage saddle!!
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I honestly wish this was true as I have 3 albion saddles and not one fits either of my horses, one ID and one ISH this is why I had to go for the saddle company ones :(
 
foxy1 said:
Which Thorowgood did you try as there are a few different models
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Err, I have to say I am not sure. It was about 4 years ago I tried one. The saddler popped one on him and took it straight off and said that they were not suitable for him at all.
 
How about one of the bareback pads which you can attach stirrups to for jumping? I know some people frown on them and say it can cause pressure points but if you are not weighting the stirrups all the time then maybe something to consider? Horse Dreams do a really nice one with massive knee rolls, a grab handle and a place to attach safety stirrups. Just a thought if he is that difficult to fit.
 
I think I may have tried reactor panels and they didn't sit very well. Gawd he is a pain! I was thinking about a Farringon (very wide gullet to clear scar tissue) in a WH style? This might clear his shoulder and give enough room foe his wither? Having said that, I have no idea what Farringtons are like. I sense Nathanial might be getting more of my pennies...
 
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