please help! saddle for high wither pony?

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pickwickayr

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hello can anyone recommend a saddle for a high wither but broad welsh b pony? she is only 3 years old so looking for a synthetic or second hand leather and preferable adjustable as i know she wil be a different shape by spring! i bought from my saddle fitter a jeffries 15inch wide show saddle. when the saddler fitted it to my pony i hadnt backed her yet so couldnt jump on to check the fit. so when it was time to get on her, the saddle sits too low on the withers :( so i now have to sell it and get something else!

ive been looking into the following
thorowgood pc saddle
GFS genesis
wintec 500 pony

its a shame the high wither synthetics never seem to come in pony sizes! the most she could take length wise would be a 15.5. can anyone help?
 
Could you ask the fitter to come back and have a look at it - for backing it is hard find an exact fit and as you said the pony will change massively. Itm ight be that he or she is pepared to narrow the tree, otherwise there is no reason not to use something ilke a Mattes correction numnah/pad (a VERY useful thing to have in the tack room anyway) to lift the front. If the saddle otherwise is a good fit and will stay in balance if you lift the front to give clearnace, AND is stable, then it may be a good option for the short term.

We have one model, the Sienna that might work. I ftted one yesterday to a Welsh C with a broad back but high wither and muscle loss at the wither, ti worked realy well. You do see them listed as the Native Pony Pony Club saddle occasionally used online - anything GP with a round cantle is likely to be that model even if it doesn't say so - 16" or under that is.
 
sbloom said:
Could you ask the fitter to come back and have a look at it - for backing it is hard find an exact fit and as you said the pony will change massively. Itm ight be that he or she is pepared to narrow the tree, otherwise there is no reason not to use something ilke a Mattes correction numnah/pad (a VERY useful thing to have in the tack room anyway) to lift the front. If the saddle otherwise is a good fit and will stay in balance if you lift the front to give clearnace, AND is stable, then it may be a good option for the short term.

We have one model, the Sienna that might work. I ftted one yesterday to a Welsh C with a broad back but high wither and muscle loss at the wither, ti worked realy well. You do see them listed as the Native Pony Pony Club saddle occasionally used online - anything GP with a round cantle is likely to be that model even if it doesn't say so - 16" or under that is.
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Thank you very much for the advice :) I have a native pony pony club saddle on my new forest and i love it. unfortunately it is a 16inch and drowns my wee welsh baby.
I keep looking out for a 15inch second hand one tho!

I have a wintec front riser on my Jeffries saddle at the moment and am riding her in that just now as Im only on her for about 15mins. when the front of the saddle is raised with the pad the saddle then seems too narrow, as in it is very tight at the sides of the gullet at the front of the saddle. would the mattes pad with shims be better for this do you think?
she is very broad at the moment as she ballooned when the autumn grass came thru, but again she will lose that over the winter. the saddle i have cannot be adjusted or even flocked as it is gel filled unfortunately.

thanks again for the advice :)
 
It sounds like the tree is not only not curvy enough at the front ie enough rise to the pmmel to accommodate her withers but also too wide - if you press on the pommel try running your hand down under the front of the panel - it shoudl feel smooth and even in contact from the top under the pommel right down to the points. I suspect you have a pressure point at the top of the panel, right by the pommel, which means the tree is too wide as well. Padding will not totally relieve that but if it brings it into balance from front to back then at least your weight is not concentrated on the front which it would have been if it was low in front.

The Mattes pad can be better as you could cut the shims to sit at the points and leave a kind of gap at the top of the panel to relieve that pressure point - if you're in my area and can afford a call out I'd be more than happy to come and check the current saddle and if its fixable then set up a correction pad. Obviously it's only a short term solution but worth considering. As I say the pad is always useful to have in the tack room if you have more than one similar sized saddle.

I don't think that TG high wither comes in a 15, and it would likely be too A shaped at the back, not wide and flat. Makers seem to think that all ponies are the same shape...
 
Thanks very much for the advice. i turned my pony away in November and am going to get my saddle fitter out when i bring her back into work in the spring. Unfortunately im in Scotland so not near to u im afraid. thanx again
 
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