Saddle fit dilema

[Dizzle]

So, I've had the same saddle on my mare since I bought her, I bought it cheap 2nd hand knowing it was a brand that fitted this breed. We've had it adjusted and reflocked various times, I know my saddle needs major alterations when I end up on the floor. I've had a forward cut girth to try and stop it moving forwards (very forwards girth grove, round belly, small withers, good shoulders fairly typical New Forest)

Mare had a lot of time off because I had a baby, she came back into work, bucked me off so I had saddle altered, had issues with saddle moving forwards still so I tried a sticky numnah, mare is now carrying a little extra weight as finding it hard to put the work into her, saddler has added point straps to stop the saddle moving fowards.

Now my dilemma:

Mare is carrying more weight than I would like but realistically having a young child I don't know if I will ever get her 'fit' again, but at the moment she is stabled half an hour away from home, we're renovating a house 3 mins from stables so in the next month we will be living locally, meaning I can ride some evenings or AM.

Saddle still moves slightly forward despite me having a limpet pad and a Dever sticky competition girth (she's too fat for the forward cut girth)

Saddle leaves two patches of 'scuffed' hair on either side (pictures below)

BUT mare is going REALLY well, no napping, moving forwards hacking out alone and generally being a pleasure to own BUT I've not ridden in the school for months (we need lessons, no point falling out over schooling on our own).

So my dilemma is, she's going well in the saddle at the moment but the scuffed up hair worries me, I've never asked saddle fitter if there could be a better fitting saddle rather than just adjusting mine, but I assume there could, so do I just throw caution to the wind and ask saddle fitter to find me a new perfect saddle (and spend £1k in the process and maybe still be in the same boat as I have paranoia buying a new saddle after a incident with a different 'saddle fitter' years ago) or do I just thank the lord she's going well despite the scuffed hair, save my pennies and try and ride more?

I'm worried about spending a fortune on a saddle and her changing weight and it not fitting any more.

HELP!

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

What saddle are you using on her at the mo?

 

[Dizzle]

It's an Ideal GP.

This is us doing XC a few months ago, for an idea of the pony/rider shambles, I mean, picture:

 

[ester]

I wouldn't spend a lot on a perfect saddle atm.

When you say altered do you mean tree or just the flocking? Does it do that only with a grip pad underneath (I think they can encourage the hair to do that by gripping) and did it do it before point straps were added, do you trust saddler and have you asked them about the hair movement.

Also ideal do do quite a lot of slightly different shaped tress (more than I realised) and I know it can be difficult to stop them going forwards without being tempted to make them too narrow. Mum's mare is bum high, big bellied, narrow shouldered and forwards girth groove so although she has the same saddle as my welshie (ideal) it has a different tree in it to help + gel pad + wavy girth and it still isn't quite perfect if she puts a sharp stop in.

 

[Dizzle]

I might grab one of my normal numnah's to try this weekend to see if I still get scuffed hair, hair was still scuffed before point straps were added, they've helped stop it moving so far forwards.

It has had tree adjusted and flocking, tree went in in 2013, out in late 2014 and in again in early 2015, I have no idea what shape tree it is but I assume if I find a reference number I can email Ideal and ask.

Mare is with me for life so I don't mind forking out for a saddle but I'd want one that fits (with minor adjustments within reason) for the next 10+ years.

 

[ester]

tricky isn't it, my saddler has been keen to make mine narrower but I've errd on the side of just using thicker numnahs as the minute he is out of work for any reason he will expand (and we have been through that once and managed ok.)

I think it would be interesting to see without the grip pad, but as she is going ok I would be tempted to wait until you are nearer her and see how much you think she might change then have a chat with saddler who obv knows her quite well and whether they think anything else might suit better.

 

[nicelittle]

We have a new forest and he's been recently fitted with a Wintec Cair by our saddler. It was cheap, fits him well, and if he changes shape we can change the gullet. I find it really comfortable too, despite being a rather tall adult and it only being a 16 1\2 inch seat!

 

[Dizzle]

What are the stirrup bars like in the wintec? The last time I saw one they were like little points that allowed the stirrups to fly off on a whim.

 

[nicelittle]

Well, we haven't had any flying stirrup leathers yet! They're like a sort of curved hook and are quite difficult to get the stirrups onto. If you Google Wintec Cair it gives you photos of the saddle from all angles.

 

[Hoof_Prints]

My saddle fitter had trouble with my saddle moving, my horse is extremely difficult to fit- we tried every saddle she had, plus all sorts of pads and girths, in the end she said to stick some sheepskin under ! and now it is fine and horse is very happy and comfy with no more scuffed up hair as it took up the movement and added lots of padding. Obviously sheepskin can be quite thick though, so there would need to be room for it. We had trouble with pretty much every saddle lifting a bit at the back (very flat horse) and ruffled hair near the front, no matter what make, width or shape of saddle.

 

[Peregrine Falcon]

Is that a M over G brand I spy there in the saddle area? Foresters can be a right pain to fit.

If you look on the stirrup bar on the ideal, you may need to pull the leather back a bit it should have a letter indicating tree width.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

You said the horse is going well so I'd stick with things as they are. If she goes worse once you start schooling you can think about a new saddle then. Unless you just want a new one, that is.

 

[Theocat]

You said the horse is going well so I'd stick with things as they are. If she goes worse once you start schooling you can think about a new saddle then. Unless you just want a new one, that is.

I agree with this. I wouldn't worry too much about the scuffed hair - mine gets it (developing into bald patches!) when he's moulting, and the saddler didn't think it was unusual or anything to worry about. If she otherwise seems happy in it I wouldn't rush to change anything.

 

[sbloom]

I personally won't fit a saddle that is scuffing hair, a saddle sitting on the scapula, which if it moves forwards it is, can easily lead to bruising and long term calcification of the bones. NFs need flatter trees that a lot of people think, this helps with stability and keeping saddles back, plus getting the flocking and tree width bang on to help the saddle stay in place.

 

[guido16]

Why not get something with a changeable gullet on it. They don't cost a fortune so you could keep your current saddle as well.
That way, as she changes shape, you have more options.

 

[FfionWinnie]

Have you tried a crupper?

I don't think point straps are very good for the long term health of the horse either.

Also could you make a track system so she has to move about more and get some weight off.

I think I would get a saddle from a native saddle expert such as AH saddles but not when she's fat.

Hopefully once you've moved it will be a bit easier to ride her. None of my natives who are hacked for about 10 hrs a week are ever fat. In fact I find they need extra feeding to keep the weight on.

 

[sbloom]

Point straps are fine, we use them all the time (and have done for years) for forward girth grooves and triangular shaped natives, but the saddle must have perfectly even contact down the front of thepanel under the points, and must be flat so that a point strap does not pull the pommel down. When used correctly they keep the saddle back to free the shoulder. Never needed to use a crupper, I can't see they're nice for the horse, nor sticky pads which I try to avoid, have one or two customers that use them temporarily but that's it.

Changeable gullet saddles do not fit all shapes and sizes, whatever the makers say, there is a huge difference between that type of cob saddle and the sort of close contact fit you can obtain with specialist wide and flat fit bench made saddles on wooden trees.

 

[Dizzle]

So, just to update. Hacked out for two hours on Sunday, possibly the nicest hack I have ever had on her, totally foot perfect. (We hacked out on Saturday too and again she was pretty forwards going, until she spotted the hot air balloon! )

Still using the limpet pad as I keep forgetting to pick up one of my normal numnahs and NO scuffed hair???

I have just changed her into a different muzzle (a dinky grazing muzzle) as I think she'd worked out the Shires a bit too well, so maybe she's lost a bit of extra weight and that's stopped the saddle scuffing the hair up?

I did have an adjustable saddle for her (Thorowgood PC saddle) but despite it being the saddle she had before I bought her, saddle fitter wasn't happy with the tree shape on her so I sold it a few months ago.