antigone
Well-Known Member
Please could I pick the brains of all you knowledgeable saddle fitting people out there? This will be a long one please bear with me.....
I have recently bought a 14:3 cob mare that is slightly croup high. She has a proper wither (novelty for me) and her back is quite straight. Because of all the problems I have had with local saddle fitters over the years I decided to get a Heather Moffett Flexee saddle. These are synthetic saddles with a flexible leather tree but they use a wintec type metal gullet in the front. Nice serge panels flocked with wool. I really like heathers saddles.
She was measured for the gullet width - no problem. I was told that I needed a front riser to balance the saddle as she is croup high so I got a le mieux lambskin corrective pad. What concerns me is that with the saddlecloth and the riser pad is it making the gullet too narrow? I was always told not to use thick pads under correctly fitted saddles for this very reason. Without the riser the saddle is a bit down in the front.
The main reason this is bugging me is that she is not as forward going as she was when I first got her 4 months ago and she can also be a bit nappy at times. Then again she has had time to settle and work out that I am a bit of a soft touch - she is a typical piebald mare, lovely nature really but bossy and quite clever. I am a novice rider.
She has been seen by a veterinary physio and given the all clear and was given the once over by my vet when I bought her.
How do I make sure she is not uncomfortable?
I have recently bought a 14:3 cob mare that is slightly croup high. She has a proper wither (novelty for me) and her back is quite straight. Because of all the problems I have had with local saddle fitters over the years I decided to get a Heather Moffett Flexee saddle. These are synthetic saddles with a flexible leather tree but they use a wintec type metal gullet in the front. Nice serge panels flocked with wool. I really like heathers saddles.
She was measured for the gullet width - no problem. I was told that I needed a front riser to balance the saddle as she is croup high so I got a le mieux lambskin corrective pad. What concerns me is that with the saddlecloth and the riser pad is it making the gullet too narrow? I was always told not to use thick pads under correctly fitted saddles for this very reason. Without the riser the saddle is a bit down in the front.
The main reason this is bugging me is that she is not as forward going as she was when I first got her 4 months ago and she can also be a bit nappy at times. Then again she has had time to settle and work out that I am a bit of a soft touch - she is a typical piebald mare, lovely nature really but bossy and quite clever. I am a novice rider.
She has been seen by a veterinary physio and given the all clear and was given the once over by my vet when I bought her.
How do I make sure she is not uncomfortable?