Saddle dilemma, bit of an essay sorry

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cobiau

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Had my mare for 6 months now, when i bought her she came with a wintec saddle medium gullet but she was lacking condition, has nicely put weight on over the winter so saddle needed altering, had saddle fitter out this week and it turns out shes a bit of a grey area in the saddle fitting dept! Her wintec needs changing to med/wide but even then its not a fantastic fit as its rising at the back and the back shifts side to side when ridden, he says this isnt helped by the fact that shes a little croup high, and also quite big shouldered, but he says her shoulder/wither area are still likely to change more. He said the only saddle he can find thats going to fit at the moment is an ideal classic, 17" instead of the 17.5 her wintec is as this may help with the croup kicking the back of the saddle up (hope that makes sense) and the classic is quite straight cut to give her shoulder room. He advised against buying a new one as she is still changing shape, so its not going to fit for too long...

So I have looked in all the usual places for a 17" ideal classic second hand, and there are none to be found in all the usual places, saddle direct, ebay, ad trader etc, so does anyone know of one for sale anywhere? any other saddle of similar shape, or do i just muddle along with the wintec until shes finshed muscling up? Just want her to be comfortable in her saddle :confused:
 
Personally I'd ditch the Wintec, if as you say its not fitting and is shifting around plus isn't making good contact from pommel to cantel, as you'll only give her a sore back and then you might well find she's starting to buck, and/or her movement is affected and you don't want this with a youngster do you.

I don't know how true it is, but I've been told that if a Wintec wont fit then a Thorowgood probably will? So might be worth a try?

But I'd be very reluctant to continue with a saddle which is obviously not fitting her and might cause long-term damage as well as formation of bad habits which it will be difficult to get her out of.
 
Thanks for the replies, i agree that i dont want to keep riding her in a saddle that doesnt fit and havent ridden since i felt it was wrong, but if the ideal classic is the only thing that would fit at the minute, but isnt going to fit long term, if i cant find a decent second hand one, should i really go out and spend lots on a new one thats not gonna fit her for long and then be back where i am now? Dont know much about the thorowgood ones (apart from saddle fitter saying that the t4 wouldnt fit cos its too wide) anyone know if theres a different thorowgood that would be worth trying? Saddle fitter didnt really suggest anything else but the ideal classic which is limiting things a little to say the least, so dont know what else to try, any other thoughts be very much appreciated.

eta, just noticed a comment above and wanted to say she's not a youngster, shes 12 but saddler did say shes slightly croup high ( trad cob type)
 
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Wintec do not fit cob types very well. They are designed more for thoroughbreds. I have found that Pessoa saddles fit wider horses very well and don't move about so much (medium wide fit). You can pick one up on ebay for £3-400. I find they fit the same shape horses as Ideal do.
 
cobiau said:
Just want her to be comfortable in her saddle :confused:
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Then ditch the wintec. They sit up at the back on most horses. And if its moving about your horse wont be comfortable and wont develop properly anyway.

(apart from saddle fitter saying that the t4 wouldnt fit cos its too wide) anyone know if theres a different thorowgood that would be worth trying?
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The t4 are adjustable, so not necessarily too wide. Also, there are different models depending on your type of horse- a cob or cob plus for the rounder, flatter types. The standard for a horse with an average wither and a high wither for horses with, well, a high wither!

Sounds like you need to get a different saddle fitter out that knows about some different saddles. Your previous one obviously doesnt know about thorowgoods, hence just writes them off as 'too wide' when thats not necessarily true!
 
Thanks for comments, to be honest was a little disappointed with saddle fittin, he looked at her own saddle on her, tried the ideal classic on but he only had a 16" in his van so didnt even girth it up then took that off, gave her another look over and said 'no, not worth trying thorowgood' and that was about it! He came very highly recommended and is well thought of around here so was expecting him to be more thorough to be honest...he certainly was with the other horse he fitted same day, but then she was more straight forward in that he just changed her from a wintec wide to a thorowgood t4 owner rode, owner happy job done, when people are supposed to know what they are talking about you just tend to take their word for things i suppose, but looking back at it now maybe i do need to call someone else for a second opinion.
 
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