Saddle fitting and muscle wastage

[Jingleballs]

I got my HW cob templated for a new saddle today and due to the amount of muscle wastage from current ill fitting saddle the template was more like that of a TB.

Saddler has suggested a wintec - not a wide one which I was surprised at but standard 500 GP.

I'd been told by a previous saddler that in order for muscle wastage to repair you had to ensure that you did not fit the saddle directly to the wasted muscle but fitted it slightly wider and then padded the space inbetween with something like fibregee or a sheepskin pad to allow the muscles to develop.

Does this sound right? I may be getting a new saddle fitted tomorrow and I want to make sure we get it 100% and don't cause any more damage. When I mentioned this padding out to the saddler today she did not agree suggesting it could cause more problems.

Any ideas??

 

[Kallibear]

If you DON'T leave room for them to widen, the saddle will need adjusted every couple of weeks, hence people saying to put a pad under the saddle. If you don't adjust it, it pinches and stops them widening. It's less of an issue with wintecs though, as they are easy to adjust.

A 500 may fit widthwise now, but I'd be amazed if it will once he fills out. The tree is horrible curved at wider fittings (not really designed to go any wider than a medium) and no cob should be a medium (black) gullet (a narrow for most other brands)! It will also need the panels at the back totally reflocked so the outside edge doesn't dig in.

What gullet width does he take at present? I would go for a Wintec Wide personally, for any cob or flat backed horse. They take down to a wide (red - equivelant of a medium for other brands) easily. The panels and tree are flatter, the girth straps give stability and, if they don't have cair (with cair the panels are rounded), they are nice saddles. I had one for Brodie and it was a lovely fit and SOOOO comfortable.

Once you've decided, I'd also have a look on ebay before you buy - there's a 17" wintec wide going for £150 at present (compared to the £400 they cost new)

 

[ISHmad]

We used layers and layers of fibregee with a horse we bought who had muscle wastage. Fitted a wider saddle as he would need once his back was how it should be, and padded it up until his back was right.

It was incredible how quickly the back recovered with the give and take of the fibregee - and much cheaper than having to keep going through saddles to get the right fit.

So I agree 100% with you, get a wider fit and pad it out correctly to enable the horse's back to recover.