Saddle fitting for youngster advice, please?

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Shilasdair

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I have a 3yo Shire x TB, who is about 16.2hh to 16.3hh at the withers, still croup high and still growing. She will be four in July 08.
I would like to have a saddle made for her by some very good local saddlers...who fit trees etc to the horse, but is it worth it....or is she too young?
All advice appreciated, thanks.
S
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Shire's are late developers, so I think she'll have a lot more growing, and broadening to do.
I wouldn't have thought it's worth getting a made to measure saddle until she's a bit older. Unless you stop feeding her to make sure it fits her forever...
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I went through 4 different saddles with mine between the ages of 3 and 6, part-exing them at my local saddlers, so it hasn't cost me much once I'd got the initial saddle.
 
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Shire's are late developers, so I think she'll have a lot more growing, and broadening to do.
I wouldn't have thought it's worth getting a made to measure saddle until she's a bit older. Unless you stop feeding her to make sure it fits her forever...
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I went through 4 different saddles with mine between the ages of 3 and 6, part-exing them at my local saddlers, so it hasn't cost me much once I'd got the initial saddle.

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How much more growing can the d**n thing do? She already weighs about 650kg...and I'm going to have to buy 6'9" rugs
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I've tried all methods I can to stunt her growth...even the colic surgery didn't set her back...
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Was your beast a Shire x too?
S
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I really wouldn't just yet, My boy never had a saddle of his own until he was 7! again a 16.3 tb x wb so a late developer. I was lucky in the fact that I had a very good saddler & many friends who let me borrow & have saddles flocked to fit him him while he was constantly changing shape.
 
Speak to your saddler, some makes have alot more scope to be adjusted with flocking etc. Barnsby are infinitely adjustable, we have just had a wide adjusted to a narrow through flocking, and the saddler said this was well within Barnsby's scope, whereas Ideals/Jaguar etc have the ability to be adjusted, but not to the same extent.... worth researching, but would recommend Barnsby for quality and adjustability....
 
Meg, the young 'un, is unknown breeding, but has got cleveland bay and welsh in there somewhere. She's just had another growth spurt and she's somewhere between 6 or 7 yrs old now. I got her as a 15.1hh at 3 and she's at least 16hh now.

It's my mum's horse who is the shire x. We got her as a 7 yr old, and she's 15 now. She didn't grow any taller, but is still expanding widthwise... She weighs over 650kg but is only 6'3 in rugs
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I think it might be a mistake to spend too much on a made to measure saddle until a horse is in work and has finished growing, as far as you can tell - unless it has a lot of scope for adjustment - but to cope with differences front to back as well as potential width you would really need something with Flair which will compensate - otherwise you saddler will be forever fiddling with flocking - which would cost more in the long run
 
Charlie77 - thanks but not what I wanted to hear...
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KatB - excellent point - I should ask him if he can make an adjustable one or whether she will grow too much!
Mistle-toe kisses - have PM'd you.
Fairhill - how tall is your Shire x? And by expanding widthwise...do you mean skeletally...or fat?!
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Not necessarily, our saddler does free servicing for the first 12mnths on a saddle brought from him, and then adjusts for about £40 a time, costing less than changing saddles!
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I have the same problem with my little cob - he is now 3 1/2 and his bum has shot up again - already 15 hands at the front - think he is going to be a larger traditional.

I went for a barefoot treeless to avoid him having to keep having new saddles as he has a load of filling out to do. Later I hope to have a very nice show saddle but for the moment the barefoot is great and I also use it on my 16.3 clydesdale who goes really well in it and apart from the western would not use anything else now on him.

My WB mare was bought at 5 1/2 and was 15.3 1/2 and a year later was 16.3.
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Hope you are not a 5' squirt like me
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I think my problem is a lack of experience with Shire crosses as I come from a background with TB eventers etc, and in Scotland I didn't meet many Shire x horses.
What age do they stop growing? Are they usually extra wide fits?
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Well, you've clearly failed to stunt your horse's growth too!
I did look into treeless...but they seemed to cause pressure points at the stirrup attachments...and they're expensive to have to change again.
But happily
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, I'm not a 5' squirt, I'm 5'10"...but it's even more important that a saddle fits her as I'm no lightweight.
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Fairhill - how tall is your Shire x? And by expanding widthwise...do you mean skeletally...or fat?!

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She's 15.2hh, so a dwarf really.

Draught type horses tend to finish skeletal growth at 6-7 yrs old, so with yours being a TB x she could have stopped, but probably hasn't.

By expanding widthwise I mean muscle rather than fat. Her original saddle was too tight for about a year (and being a tolerant sort she never let on). So once she got a wider one her back started to broaden out, and she has now got another one (hopefully her widest at XW) as it was starting to pinch again.

The other thing to watch out for with a heavier horse and saddles is the width at the back of the gullet. We had to discount a lot of saddles for her as they'd have pressed on either side of her spine.
 
Thank goodness for you that you are tall, getting on a 16.3 can be a challenge for me.

I had hoped Stinky would stop at 15 hands but vet told me he reckons 15.1 - 15.2 and if I am really lucky 15.3
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I did a lot of reading up on treeless and I have also bought the correct pad to go with the model I bought - torsion and barefoot both have good reputations.

To date and I have been using the saddle on both of my two since May I have not experienced any problems and as said, Old C goes wonderfully in it and Young C really seems to like the saddle to. I find it one of the most comfortable saddles to sit in - cross between bareback, english and western.

Only thing I have had is a friend who rode Young C said she didn't like it as she could feel all his movement - something I personally like about the saddle. Only one out of various people who have rode in it not to like it.

Hope you find something and she stops growing - my friends shire x cob was a table top so hopefully yours will take more of the TB side.
 
Ah, I wondered how she fit into a 6'3" rug if she was like my elephantine one.
Mine hasn't finished growing...if anything she's a bit behind as she was an orphan, late foal...and has had the surgery too. She is a pretty ideal weight, and looks well...but has just had another little growth spurt so her bum is at least 17hh...and croup high.
Good point about the spine width...
I am now starting to wonder if my TB's saddle (an extra wide fit) would suit her as they are not that dissimilar in body shape...I may try it to see.
Thanks!
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She sounds lovely, and I'm a sucker for a sob story. Any photos of her?

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sadly there is nothing in Shilasdair's life that does not shatter a camera lens in the attempt to capture it....and there are no mirrors in her house
 
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