Saddle Dilema

[lucille]

Ill try keep this short and basic.

Bought my horse 9 months ago. 16.2 Zangersheide warmblood. Typical warmblood in that he has a flat back, and then a decent wither to him.

Over the time that Ive had him, have had 3 differant saddles , none any good, It would appear my saddler isnt interested in selling me, adjusting for me, or even advising me on what to look for seccond hand, and only seems interested if I could stretch my budget to new (top of the range £1500 at that)

Ive had a prestige, which I found didnt have enough wither space, a saddle company, that seemed to fit well at first but after I had worked him a bit, the serge warmed, and it dropped, and sat on his wither, and also a Kent and masters, liked the saddle, but couldnt get it adjusted quite right, a wide left it too low on the wither, and a medium wide sat very close, it did go to saddler for re-flocking, but thats another story.

So, I guess after all that Rambleing non-sense the question is, what type of saddles lend themselves well to something flatbacked, that still has wither, what have you found good for that type of horse, what have you found to be a definate no.

Looking for something aimed towards jumping, (either an out and out jump saddle or maybee a vss or event model) with decent knee and thigh blocks (lovely animal tries to deposit me at regular intervals) and a deepish seat. Probably 17 or 17.5 inch, medium wide to wide If you know of anything , have anything...(Ive allready got a wanted advert on H&H , and a few other sites) or if not, if you could advise me what to look for, that would be fab.

Looking down the lines of Barnsby (7 series VSS or shochemole) Olney jumping/ event, or an ideal grandee with jumping blocks ( all seem to be like gold dust) Unfortunatley budget sits just under the albion K2 bracket although I would love one.

Also (ok I lied when I said id keep it short) have een the following brands pop up quite cheap so if anyone knows anything, good or bad, do let me know.... sillouhette, exselle, and as mentioned above Olney

Any help much apprechiated xx

 

[be positive]

My saddle fitter and physio both like Ideals they seem to suit a variety of horses and have panels that sit well on different shaped backs.
We have just bought 2nd hand event for a wide ex racehorse.

 

[spacefaer]

My OH fitted a saddle to a WB mare last year with exactly the same back conformation as yours sounds to be

It was an Ideal (just read the previous post - seems to be a theme emerging!)

 

[jhoward]

ive got a keiffer aachen, originally fitted to an irish sports horse type witha huge wither, and has been vairous others, it is a gp, but has a lovely shape to it, it is also cut back on the pommel so it gives you a good 2 inches of extra space over the wither, ideal for the high withered beasts.

the seat on mine is a deep and i love it, The tree on the saddle is also totally adjusable, it does have to be sent of and costs around 40-70 a time but well worth it if you have a horse that is likley to change in the future. if buying new there are variations on the saddle you can choose from, ie seat depth etc.

new they cost 1000-1500 (hehehe i got mine new for 600 quid) but you do occassionally find them second hand for 300 upwards.. well worth a look! if somewhere like saddles direct has one it may be worth paying the fees to try one out.