Saddle Fitting nightmare (Long Sorry)

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Flight

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Hi,

My friend has a 4yr old 14.3 arab x appaloosa. He is late maturing and is still croup high. She is just starting to back him. She bought a thorogood (sp) cob t4 and when started getting on him it became evident it didn't fit. She got out a saddler who altered it and said it fitted. When me and another friend looked at it, it was so tight on his shoulders you couldn't get any fingers under. She called saddler back who said it was perfect so decided to get another saddler out for 2nd opinion. Next one came out and said it was too narrow so changed the medium gullet to a wide/extra wide. Then as it was dropping down as so much wider told her to put a thick half pad under it! When she tried it out this time horse was arching back and threatening to buck and started running backwards so to me quite obviously not comfortable still!
She has already spent over £600 on this saddle and it still doesn't fit! She is now thinking about getting a bates one with the changable gullet which is nearly £1k! I think she should just get a 2nd hand leather one which she can part ex in in a few months when he has grown up a bit more!
What does everyone else think? Would you use a saddle which was so tight couldn't get any fingers in front?
 
No I would not use a saddle that was that tight. I always advise customers not to even think about buying brand spanking new saddles (adjustable or otherwise) until the horse in question is at least 6 years old.
They change shape so much in that time, anything other than a GOOD fitting secondhand saddle is money down the drain.Adjustable saddles are not the be all and end all, quite often they are false economy as so many have found and it is the shape of the head amongst other things that determines the fit of a saddle not just the gullet plate to alter the width.
Tell your friend to save her money and do as you advise, get a GOOD Saddler out to fit a decent leather or synthetic saddle and get it checked regularly, horses can change shape when young quite considerably over a short period of time.
Oz :)
 
Thanks, good advice unfortunately both the people she has had out are supposed to be qualified master saddlers!!!! I couldn't believe it when I saw how it fitted. I wouldn't claim to be an expert by any stretch but have had lots of horses and lots of saddle problems of my own and never had one fitted that tight ever!
 
I am starting to feel a bit like that too to be fair. The lady I normally use isn't qualified but has always done a really good job with my horses, including one who used to bolt due to badly fitting saddle before i bought her and is very sensitive to any movement or tightness of her saddle. I am trying to get friend to have her out but she seems convinced it has to be a master saddler.
 
Unfortunately, it's your friend's decision.Hopefully without too much discomfort to the horse, your friend will learn!
Let me know how she gets on with it.
Oz :)
PS In my book the best saddle fitter in the world is the horse itself!
Watch their reactions and you won't go half wrong, beats any human fitter !
 
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I highly recommend Saddles Direct. I too had loads of trouble with saddles not fitting , even a made to measure . spent a small fortune reflocking altering tree only to find out they never altered it.

result is horse not schooling properly not coming through with shoulders.. stopping at jumping bucking you name it.


Got saddles direct who asked me to take phtos of him with and without his current saddle. Said no way saddle wrong *(*%*(&()*&()^()*&( I thought.

she said the only saddle that will fit him is a Kieffer.

And by god she was right he is a changed horse. He is learning to jump and yesterday having only done 8 x country jumps in his life ( with trainer ) I did one yesterday 12 miles at least 50 jumps ( a miracle for me seeing i had the accident on him which nearly left me dead)

He was AMAZING a true star.

i will NOT use any one else again.

and they do NOT push a saddle if they think yours fits. My mares said fits fine you wont get a better fitting saddle for her.


try them.


and remember MASTER SADDLER IS NOT A MASTER SADDLE FITTER
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thanks i will tell her, think she is just in a rush to get something sorted so she gets chance to ride him a bit before winter. She won't ride him when he not comfy though.
 
Have a read of this link

http://unicornleather.co.uk/Return-Policy-on-Leatherwork.php

Ignore all the unrelated waffle at the top of the page, scroll down to saddles. It gives you some pointers as to what should happen and why when new saddles are fitted.It doesn't go into great detail of how to fit a saddle just some useful pointers that the Saddlers who are fitting should be adhering to.
Pick out the info that helps.
Oz :)
 
Has she considered turning the horse away for the winter,feeding for growth and development, and by spring it will have a better shape, the horse is still growing and developing, all right most horses are fine to ride at four, but not all. There are lots of educational things which can be done provided she can give up her riding and do loose schooling and long reining, gridwork in hand, polework and general TREC type exercises.
The Portugese [and others] do classical training to establish the groundwork so that the ridden horse is quite aware of sophisticated aids at an early stage.
Rushing a young horse is not ideal, better to hold back as it should give one a strong fitter and happier animal at the end of the day.
 
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I'm interested in this discussion because I found that the MS that I used, with a big reputation, fitted both of my horses poorly.

Initially, I had my doubts but wouldn't trust myself because they were the trained pro. Then my horses in different ways showed discomfort and frankly I DID trust my own judgement and made some changes. My RI totally agreed with what I had done, and both horses have been a lot better since.

Here's the problem - I still know that one of the two horses really needs another saddle altogether as although he's a lot more comfortable and working far better, it's still not a great fit. But where on earth do I go and how do I source the right saddle?? There is such a variety on the market, and frankly I don't even know where to begin - and now I don't feel that I can rely on the fitter either.

How does it work with Saddles Direct?
 
showqa, can any of your local friends reccomend a fitter? I think every fitter has positive and negative reviews and I think alot of it comes down to how you get on with that person as an individual human. Trust is a very powerful thing!

I'm having an absolute NIGHTMARE with my "new" mare, I can't find a saddle to suit her for love nor money. Sadly, the Balance one that DOES suit her is well out of my price range and doesn't come up 2nd hand as they are too new. Infact, they rarely use them, and my balance fitter thought it was a good oppertunity to try it out and play with the saddle. Top class quality that you would expect, but my bank manager doesn't think my pony warrents the money!! If only money grew on trees...

CM, if they DO work for the organisation, isn't it technically advertising? forgive me if I'm mistaken, I don't know how this forum works yet... I've been a lurker for far too long but never posted!
 
I have been riding since childhood and have never used a saddle fitter, never had a horse lame and never had one out of work with a bad back, although I buy youngsters some of which I have owned all there lives and have done pretty much everything with them.
I am always interested in how things work so for a young horse who was very one sided I had trouble fitting, one shoulder was markly less developed than the other, after many trials with secondhand saddles I decided that a nice wide sadlle with a Flair numnah that we could adjust as he filled out was the best plan as it allowed us to tweek the balance.
I have to say the saddle that fitted him the best was the most uncomfatable for me, but the horses comfort comes first.
Just out of interest I paid my £50 and had a balance saddle fitter out to see if they could do any better. Lovely lady, spent two hours with me and I tried several types and hand on heart if I had thought they were any better than what I had fitted I would have bought one.
From my laymans piont of view they are a very nice wide saddle that you pad to fit.
'The BALANCE Pro-Complete Pads come in a large range of shapes and thickness, in order to provide a comfortable and adjustable interface between the horse and the saddle '
They are a very nice pad but they are a pad or 'adjustable interface' to the technical.
Who ever comes to fit a saddle has to make a living and most do it of the profit on the sale saddle, which really if you take away the 20% vat is not a lot.
If you go to a Clarkes shoe shop they are going to try and find a Clarkes shoe to fit your child, because thats their job to sell Clarks shoes.
A good saddle fitter should sell carry a selection of saddles and their knowlegde of the way they are constructed and their properties, and should fit the horse that is front of them and have the proffessionalism to say when they have nothing that is suitable.
Some equine are like women who need different sets of clothes depending on what time of year it is and how much exercise they take. It not the ideal but its life.
I think when spending hundreds of pounds do not loose the use of your senses (physical and mental), have an objective friend to watch, have a cool off period and don't expect a saddle to correct all a horses faults.
 
To be honest with you Enduro, the horsy friends who I trust live in different areas a distance away from myself and the people around here frankly have had the same saddle for the twenty years that they've owned the horses without considering that they may need to get it checked!!
 
showqa said:
To be honest with you Enduro, the horsy friends who I trust live in different areas a distance away from myself and the people around here frankly have had the same saddle for the twenty years that they've owned the horses without considering that they may need to get it checked!!
Click to expand...


Ahhhh bother!!
 
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