New horses and saddles

[blitznbobs]

How do people manage this situation?

I’ve bought a youngster that was being hacked out but little else - he’s a lovely genuine horse tbh... so when he arrived I booked a saddler for 8 weeks time and had a mooch round my tack room to see what saddles I had in the mean time - one of my saddles fitted fairly well - just a bit low at the front so I stuck a front riser in it and got on - since then I’ve been schooling and doing some hill work and he’s changed shape beyond all recognition - he started playing up a bit on a schooling session yesterday (very out of character) and the saddle that was too wide for him is now too narrow... now I have a wider saddle and I stuck this on him today and it still seems a bit too wide but at least it doesn’t pinch but if I’d bought a saddle day 1 I’d be seriously p’d off because it would be outgrown- now the second saddle is fully adjustable for width so I’m hoping the saddler when he arrives will tweak this (dressage)one and I’m planning on buying an event saddle as I don’t own any sort of jumping saddle (not left the floor for 15 years) but how do people without a tack room full of saddles cope in this beginning period of work... ??? Do people really buy saddles in that close succession?

 

[Cortez]

How do people manage this situation?

I’ve bought a youngster that was being hacked out but little else - he’s a lovely genuine horse tbh... so when he arrived I booked a saddler for 8 weeks time and had a mooch round my tack room to see what saddles I had in the mean time - one of my saddles fitted fairly well - just a bit low at the front so I stuck a front riser in it and got on - since then I’ve been schooling and doing some hill work and he’s changed shape beyond all recognition - he started playing up a bit on a schooling session yesterday (very out of character) and the saddle that was too wide for him is now too narrow... now I have a wider saddle and I stuck this on him today and it still seems a bit too wide but at least it doesn’t pinch but if I’d bought a saddle day 1 I’d be seriously p’d off because it would be outgrown- now the second saddle is fully adjustable for width so I’m hoping the saddler when he arrives will tweak this (dressage)one and I’m planning on buying an event saddle as I don’t own any sort of jumping saddle (not left the floor for 15 years) but how do people without a tack room full of saddles cope in this beginning period of work... ??? Do people really buy saddles in that close succession?

Dunno, they seem to I have only adjustable saddles now and a selection of pads. Either I'm insanely lucky or good enough at checking saddle fit on my own, but I've never had a horse with a sore back.

 

[cobgoblin]

This is exactly how one ends up with a tack room full of saddles.

 

[Rowreach]

This is exactly how one ends up with a tack room full of saddles.

This is exactly why I sold all of my trees saddles and went treeless 12 years ago. Problem solved 😊

 

[tristar]

rowreach, which treelees saddles do you use? and on which type of horse if you don`t mind me asking

 

[Red-1]

Ha Ha, selling 4 saddles at the moment. From 3 horses. Despite all being 17.5 and m/w they are all different! 2 very flat trees, one curved and one treeless. The treeless would fit the new horse, but TBH I prefer a tree-ed one now I am old and creaky.

I just see it as a hazard. She is still developing, so the latest one I have bought second hand so won't lose as much when I (inevitably) have to sell it.

 

[Nudibranch]

I tend to use mostly treeless now. Have backed/rebroken 2 in them and planning on a third this spring. I have two Libras (hard to find now), a Torsion (also harder to find since the cheaper but similar Barefoot came out) and a Heather Moffat Flexee. I've used them on a CB, TB, very big WB, a Fell and will be on a Dales too. If you can fit them properly they're excellent. The HM feels just like a regular treed saddle. The others are super comfy and suit a fairly classical seat as opposed to a chair or hunt type seat. For safety I always use a breastgirth/plate.

 

[Wheels]

One of the reasons saddle fitters get a bad name maybe?

Yes they can change very very quickly, especially youngsters or those coming back into work after a period of rest.

A good saddle fitter though would take account of the horses general conformation, age, rib cage size etc and choose a saddle and padding combination that would allow some development of the muscles and help the customer to understand minor changes that might be required.

Having said that I have never got as good or as fast development of the trapezius muscles and the top line as I did by using a solution saddle, I'm a convert!

 

[Rowreach]

rowreach, which treelees saddles do you use? and on which type of horse if you don`t mind me asking

Solution, but the original models (GP, Jumper and Freestyle), not the Smart models. On everything from a 12.2 pony through TB types to big draught/maxi cob types. I don't like the Smart ones, the originals are far more versatile imo.

 

[tristar]

thanks rowreach could be worth looking then

 

[Denbob]

I'm having this issue - Denzel has changed enormously in the last few weeks alone. He's in a wintec but too big/the wrong shape for red and far too narrow for the extra wide so need to do some rethinking but worried about changing as he's only 5 and has got a metric f-tonne of maturing to do. Might have a look at solution.

 

[Louby]

I think if you can find a very good saddle fitter and are happy to pay for a decent saddle then then are very alterable.
Many years ago I had a budget of £800 for a saddle for my then 4 yr old sports horse. £800 was a lot of money to spend back then and typically nothing suited my very compact horse that also fitted me! The saddler fitted him with a Jaguar but it was £1600!! Not the amount you want to spend on a growing young horse. He assured me it could be altered, I rang my hubby, told him to sit down lol and the saddle was bought. My boy had the same saddle until he was 12, it was only changed because I fancied something else and it was altered when needed by the same saddler. Sadly lost my boy when he was 15 but I am now in the same situation with my new 4 yr old. We arent doing that much atm and she hasnt really altered much but Im very aware Im not a saddle fitter and I fitted this saddle and it is slightly on the wide side, so I really do need to get a good saddler out to fit her properly but I really dont want to pay mega bucks atm if I can avoid it. I have 4 saddles that I just cant bear to part with lol, they arent bad fits on her but IMO do need flocking and not many saddlers seem to want to come out to fit saddles you already have.

 

[sbloom]

Amen that it's one of the myriad ways saddle fitters can get a load of stick unfairly. I will adjust trees on wooden saddles which can keep them working in the bulk of cases but lots of horses will need different saddles, and not just as they grow when young, but throughout their lives through progressive work, a change in work levels or the nature of their work, injury and illness, and then into older age. A good fitter will always try and build some scope into fitting a saddle, but as an example I fitted a Connie 3 years ago, was just starting to come right from various issues, he widened over the first 2.5 years, a lot, then stabilised, and in the last 3 months, aged 13, has pushed up a bit more wither as he has lifted more through the base of his neck. The saddle was widened, the flock tweaked regularly as he's super sensitive, but now they need a new saddle, and luckily it coincides with the rider deciding she wants to move away from a more showing suitable saddle to one that is more workers, jumping and hunting focused.

 

[ihatework]

I’m a cheapskate, I would avoid paying out decent money on a saddle for a youngster or new horse until I was happy it’s shape was fairly stable and it’s proved itself worthy!

I’ve got an adjustable synthetic jump & dressage saddle, and have been loaned by a good friend a very versatile leather jump saddle.
If I couldn’t get one of those to fit, then Facebook is flooded with cheap secondhand decent saddles.

Whilst I wouldn’t trust myself on the finer points of saddle fitting or dealing with a tricky back profile, it’s not rocket science to get something fractionally wide and padded to balance.

 

[Polos Mum]

I've just bought one for my new (ish) 5 y/o - the saddler told me honestly it probably won't fit in 6 months time.
I've gone for a diecent make second hand and I'd hope to get back close ish to what I've paid in those 6 months time - If it costs me £100 then that is my 'hire' cost while he's changing.
It will be 2 years before I buy him something nice - but I want him to start his education very comfortably and I'm OK if that costs me £100-200 a year. I can judge it a bit and on an established horse I'd have a go but he's unbalanced and I don't want the saddle to make that worse.

 

[Cragrat]

I got a second hand Thorowgood gp for my ex-racer. He has gone up 2 gullets in 15 months, having started on one which was a bit wide and padded out. I'm now about to get his first leather jump saddle - but it will be second hand.

 

[Pippity]

I've got every intention of getting my girl something posh and leather in a few years, but she's already gone from a W to an XXW in three months, so she's staying in a Wintec for now. (Although I have just changed from a VSD to a Wide to accommodate the wider gullet plate.) The fitter has been completely honest that it won't be a lifetime saddle, but as long as it can be altered to be comfortable for a couple of years, I'm good with that.

 

[SpringArising]

I'm not one on these people who refuses to ride unless I've had a saddle fit - I think a lot of 'qualified' fitters are no better than anyone else.

When I have one out, I ask what I should be looking for, and then tend to sporadically check myself and get on with things unless I can see/feel something is obviously not right.

If I don't have anything that fits then I either ride bareback until I can get something sorted, or do groundwork in the meantime.

 

[Ouch05]

I got a second hand Thorowgood gp for my ex-racer. He has gone up 2 gullets in 15 months, having started on one which was a bit wide and padded out. I'm now about to get his first leather jump saddle - but it will be second hand.

My Tb ex racer started on a black, then blue and now red so up three sizes so glad I have an adjustable.

 

[McFluff]

My first horse was already established and came with a saddle, and all was well. I was lulled into false security about saddles - my current mare has shown me the expensive side of it!
She was 6/7 yo but green when I got her, but in three years, I've had three saddles. The first she came with, and I needed to change within weeks of working her correctly. The second, the saddler advised wouldn't be a long term fix, was adjusted three times before we reached its limit (the poor saddler was apologising that it only lasted 18 months!). The third, I'm hoping will do at least a couple of years as she continues to develop - it was MTM and has capacity to be altered by my saddler (and I still have my second with the saddler to sell!). I definitely need to get her saddle checked every 4-6 months - on the plus side, I can see the benefits as her schooling and way of going just keeps improving...

 

[ycbm]

This is the reason I first went for WOWs. I was fed up with spending so much money on changing saddles on young horses!

 

[ponies4ever]

Ive had my mare for just coming up to a year and she started on medium and tomorrow have saddle coming to confirm she needs the w/xw! I have a thorowgood high wither for her and until she's about 8 I recon she's not getting a 'proper saddle' (that is if I can sort out all her issues but that's another story) I really rate the thorowgoods though and have another for my cob. So easy for horses that change shape rapidly.

 

[Tarragon]

I have a treeless Barefoot Cheyenne that I use in all cases where the shape is going to change rapidly (e.g. fat pony on diet or young pony being backed) or have no saddle at hand and then have adjustable treed saddles (Saddle Company Saddles) for the rest of the time and get a fitter out twice a year to keep an eye on them.