Normal tree or cob?

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Equi

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My loan horse has always been in a maxam saddle but it is now too narrow for him so i'm getting him a wider one. I have the option for a cob or a normal tree one. Using the thorowgood method of measuring, he is extra-wide and low withers. His old saddle is a normal tree, but doesn't fit enough at the front to know if the tree fits. Unfortunately there is noone near by who has a cob maxam that i can try so it will be a bit of a gamble.

So based on his back, what would you say?

This photo, although not the best to judge by, is the only pic i have from recently. The others are at least a year old, and he has been out of work for most of that time.

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This photo is his old saddle:
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General back shots:
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Def a cob saddle (usually a square cantle). He looks to be wide and and very flat from wither to loin. You'll find the tree of a standard too curved and the head too A-shaped and narrow. However that doesn't mean any cob saddle will fit, esp maxams where they redesign it every couple of years. It would be best to get a saddle fitter out. He also looks a bit tubby so once he's lost weight the old maxam might fit again.
 
I looked at them and totally loved it, but unfortunately his owners putting her foot down and saying it has to be the same saddle, as i plan to basically buy his new one for her to keep and sell her old one (ill loose a bit of money but it will never fit again)
 
Kallibear said:
Def a cob saddle (usually a square cantle). He looks to be wide and and very flat from wither to loin. You'll find the tree of a standard too curved and the head too A-shaped and narrow. However that doesn't mean any cob saddle will fit, esp maxams where they redesign it every couple of years. It would be best to get a saddle fitter out. He also looks a bit tubby so once he's lost weight the old maxam might fit again.
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Old one deffo won't fit again it is a medium and he is in x-wide. I got him trimmer last winter but then he went lame and stuffed it all up lol but hes sound again and i plan to keep him trimmer, just needs work now but i have been advised not to lunge because it will not help him until he is fittened up again. I only have a lunge pen so it leaves me only able to ride or walk him in hand.

re saddle fitter, i had one out who tried a t4 on him and it didnt suit me at all i couldnt sit in it, but he didnt have an old style maxam. This is the one i am looking to buy:

http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/109096098/thorowgood-maxam-cob-saddle-for-sale.html
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Sorry, cannot offer any wisdom; but just couldn't leave here without saying what a LOVELY boy he looks. Reminds me so very much of my old boy and he was a real nugget :)

Lucky you.
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Thanks :) he is really a horse of a lifetime, he is my friends but i have known him since a 4yo and he has never put a foot wrong, just a 100% honest horse
 
I tried everything I could - TG, Wintec, you name it- and settled on a GFS Genesis (loved it !) BUT despite having all the gullets to change, it just did not fit him. And that meant he would buck me off. Since then for three years we have been with the Barefoot, and have never had an issue.
 
equi said:
Old one deffo won't fit again it is a medium and he is in x-wide. I got him trimmer last winter but then he went lame and stuffed it all up lol but hes sound again and i plan to keep him trimmer, just needs work now but i have been advised not to lunge because it will not help him until he is fittened up again. I only have a lunge pen so it leaves me only able to ride or walk him in hand.

re saddle fitter, i had one out who tried a t4 on him and it didnt suit me at all i couldnt sit in it, but he didnt have an old style maxam. This is the one i am looking to buy:

http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/109096098/thorowgood-maxam-cob-saddle-for-sale.html
Click to expand...

AFAIK, the cob version doesn't come in a medium so the one you have must be a standard, or is wider than you think. The maxam cob is very similar to ride in as the T4, so if you didn't like the T4, you prob won't like the maxam.

That saddle linked is def a cob version and is a newer model. It will quite possibly fit him but there's no way to know without trying it. If he is short backed it may be too long.
 
Kallibear said:
AFAIK, the cob version doesn't come in a medium so the one you have must be a standard, or is wider than you think. The maxam cob is very similar to ride in as the T4, so if you didn't like the T4, you prob won't like the maxam.

That saddle linked is def a cob version and is a newer model. It will quite possibly fit him but there's no way to know without trying it. If he is short backed it may be too long.
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The saddle fitter said he can go to an 18" but i don't need that, i always have a 17.5.

His old saddle is a standard, i like it its very comfy, as i say just too narrow now.

The t4 wasn't a cob version it was a normal GP and i felt it was very high seated, whereas i find the maxam a shallower seat...if that makes sense lol
 
equi said:
The saddle fitter said he can go to an 18" but i don't need that, i always have a 17.5.

His old saddle is a standard, i like it its very comfy, as i say just too narrow now.

The t4 wasn't a cob version it was a normal GP and i felt it was very high seated, whereas i find the maxam a shallower seat...if that makes sense lol
Click to expand...

If the saddler was fitting him with a standard TG version, that suggests he's not as wide and flat as he looks? Did the saddler not try a cob version on him? I'd be amazed if s/he didn't have one.

The cob sasdles are very different to ride in that a standard ( I much prefer them but many hate them. They feel nothing like an old style standard maxam. If how it feels to ride in is an issue, I highly recommend you try one before you buy anything! !

And if the saddler was trying standard T4, not a wider cob version, I suspect that xwide maxam will be too wide. They fit very wide and low due to their wide head.
 
I woudlnt want to hold much by the saddler, to be honest i wasnt very impressed with him, he fitted a wintec to him and said it suited me too, but he never actually watched me ride in it and i don't think that it suited at all.

Another saddle i was looking at (still maxam) was standard and x-wide, so is that more suitable? Thorowgood told me that the only difference in their cob saddles are that its a flatter tree, the actual saddle isn't wider?

Im not in a very good place for saddlers, none come out and i have no reliable transport (also the closest place to take him to is oevr an hours away)
 
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Also, as for how it feels to ride, i will adapt. I was used to a narrow tb and moved to this blob, just takes time hahaha
 
I think i will go for the standard tree one. It will be easier to re-sell at any rate. Thanks for the help folks :)
 
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