Saddle for a broad cob, the minefield!!!

You really NEED a good saddler who isn't linked to just one or two brands - you want the right fit for your cob, nt the best of what they've got.

My lad is very wide and also has a lot of action. Big shoulders, big hind end, bum high, and to quote my saddler his middle is like a toilet roll tube 🤣 . Add to that he has clear preferences on his saddle and as you can no doubt imagine he's fun to fit. He's in an Albion GP on their cob/connemara tree which suits both of us, before he had a Loxley by Bliss saddle that appeared to fit beautifully but he was never happy with - a pity because I loved it.
 
I had a Wintec wide with the 3 x xw free in it, it had been fitted but never was right for the horse.

I then had a fitting with an excellent saddle maker and fitter, my criteria was it fitted me and the horse, and we could go for a burn in it! He fitted us up with an Ideal Grandee, and what an amazing saddle that always was! Turned out the horse (medium back cob, round barrelled but had a wither) didn’t need a 3 x xw after all.
 
Nari said:
You really NEED a good saddler who isn't linked to just one or two brands - you want the right fit for your cob, nt the best of what they've got.
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You don't even want to know how many people go to a general, good, independent saddle fitter who offers them the same selection of Bates/Arena/Wintec or Fairfax/K&M/TG or both, maybe one of the other more well known brands, and nothing works. Then they set about finding a specialist who likely only offers one specialist brand.

And yes, so often I've put a horse in a much "narrower" saddle once the tree is the right shape, rails and pommel especially.
 
I haven't read all the thread but I bought a WOW for my wide-ish youngster. Had it professionally fitted by a specialist and had it checked often (sometimes every 3 to 4 months). My instructor never liked it. Earlier this year my horse just stopped going forwards in walk to trot transitions, he had done it a bit before in the past but I put it down to me/him being young. This time it was really bad. I stopped riding him. My instructor convinced me to try her saddle and lo and behold he went better than he ever had before even though it was not fitted to him specifically. Anyway, long story short after a lot of faffing I've ended up with a Harry Dabbs on an IB tree. So I guess my message is listen to the horse and try lots of different saddles if you can but I know finding a good saddle fitter with a wide range is tricky!
 
Shib_xsx said:
I’m after recommendations for a saddle for a very wide cob cross Welsh d, please. Saddle fitter fit a winter wide, 3xw, but the back panels are causing pressure points as is the gullet bar, it’s all just too angled. A cavelletti was suggested but I just don’t see how adjustable saddles will fit such extremes (I’d do it for average sized).
Been looking for an ideal h&c but in the size we need I’m lucking out. They’re being advertised as a xxw (so going down a size to the wintec because of the shape) but then when I get there (after a 4 hour drive) they’re stamped a wide. There’s a fwb out there I’ve seen, how do these compare to others like an AH supercob?
Someone has a Harry Dabbs on an ib tree but reading up she sounds more like a hunter. I’ve had bad experiences where fitters fit an “it’ll do” saddle and it’s cost me a fortune. I know I should trust professionals, and I do get saddles checked, but my trust is waning.
I’ve been offered a LM saddle but the sizes are odd, what’s a 4, and I stayed away with my tb because the idea of fitting to shim didn’t make sense unless there’s rehab to do.
She was in a saddle company one but it caused the same back pressure points.
I have no experience of hoop trees, my other horse is a tb 😅 this is new to me. In the absence of a specialist fitter in the area, what the frig do I do 😅 I don’t have a budget of 2k 😢 and even if I did, who’s fitting it…

After my rant, if you got this far, if a wintec wide, 3xw is causing pressure points but “ok, just put padding under it”, what size and model would you be looking for first for a good fit?
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My suggestion is you go to one of the bigger shows like PUK or Equifest and see a saddler there, like Townfields. They often carry wider saddles for natives at these shows, and there is usually a chance to try on site.
If you are not worried about age the old GFS WH has flat panels,like this,
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/316161596030?itmmeta=01JY4KFG41VZ4ASGDCCRNVZ46N. They should be stamped wide of the bars and the flap.
or and old Barnsby No5 fit.
 
sbloom said:
You don't even want to know how many people go to a general, good, independent saddle fitter who offers them the same selection of Bates/Arena/Wintec or Fairfax/K&M/TG or both, maybe one of the other more well known brands, and nothing works. Then they set about finding a specialist who likely only offers one specialist brand.

And yes, so often I've put a horse in a much "narrower" saddle once the tree is the right shape, rails and pommel especially.
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Cavaletti seem popular round here too. People love the adjustable ones…
 
Shib_xsx said:
Cavaletti seem popular round here too. People love the adjustable ones…
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They certainly have a better head shape, beyond that, as always, I recommend that people read around about any brand before purchase. And yes, people love adjustable saddles for all sorts of reasons, some/many of which are valid, many/some of which aren't.
 
daydreamer said:
I haven't read all the thread but I bought a WOW for my wide-ish youngster. Had it professionally fitted by a specialist and had it checked often (sometimes every 3 to 4 months). My instructor never liked it. Earlier this year my horse just stopped going forwards in walk to trot transitions, he had done it a bit before in the past but I put it down to me/him being young. This time it was really bad. I stopped riding him. My instructor convinced me to try her saddle and lo and behold he went better than he ever had before even though it was not fitted to him specifically. Anyway, long story short after a lot of faffing I've ended up with a Harry Dabbs on an IB tree. So I guess my message is listen to the horse and try lots of different saddles if you can but I know finding a good saddle fitter with a wide range is tricky!
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Mine is also young and starting out, keeps stopping, she’s unfit, unbalanced and babyish so I push her on at the advice of instructors, but there that niggle in the back of my mind that it’s also because she’s sore. I’m barely riding and gone back to groundwork because of that niggle. It’s a sure way to embed behavioural problems pushing a young horse that’s uncomfortable through training isn’t it.
 
I think it's so hard to recommend online. These are my WOW saddles for my 2 cobs and they are very different. The one on the left fits a short backed, croup high 13h pony who is as wide as she is tall with a ridiculous forward girth groove. She also has an area of kissing spine around T18. She loves this set up but we need to keep the air very bouncy for her - her static shape is saggy ex-broodmare but in motion her back really lifts

Right hand side is another cob. He's now 7 so is a very different shape to when he was younger and my saddler has sweated buckets keeping us both in balance. Very, very firm panels for him - he hates any instability. I have his old AH and it wouldn't come close to fitting him now. I bought him with a PE saddle and his shoulders outgrew that within months.

but what works for mine wouldn't work for someone else.....
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Please do your research on any brand of saddle you are considering buying; word of mouth recommendations and look at what information is available about them. My DH is a saddle maker (50 years + in the trade), and he posts photos at various stages of every saddle he makes on his FB page. Totally transparent for everyone to see.

sbloom said:
Just a warning that lots of the saddles you'll find at showing shows do the horse no favours...or the rider...especially the ultra close contact showing saddles.
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Virtually every saddle company in Walsall makes a close contact showing saddle. Like every saddle out there, they range from absolutely awful to top quality ones. Again, please, please do your research.

And a word of warning. There are saddles out there that have an English sounding name, but are actually of Indian origin or similar. If a saddle is made in England, then the saddle company making them will shout this from the rooftops. Very clever wording is used to make you, the consumer, think you are getting an English saddle, when in fact you aren't. If you are not sure, ask them directly; "are your saddles 100% hand crafted in England?" I have trawled through adverts for some saddles, looking for those precious words, and they were nowhere to be found. This practice makes my DH's blood boil 😡
 
Baywonder said:
Please do your research on any brand of saddle you are considering buying; word of mouth recommendations and look at what information is available about them. My DH is a saddle maker (50 years + in the trade), and he posts photos at various stages of every saddle he makes on his FB page. Totally transparent for everyone to see.



Virtually every saddle company in Walsall makes a close contact showing saddle. Like every saddle out there, they range from absolutely awful to top quality ones. Again, please, please do your research.

And a word of warning. There are saddles out there that have an English sounding name, but are actually of Indian origin or similar. If a saddle is made in England, then the saddle company making them will shout this from the rooftops. Very clever wording is used to make you, the consumer, think you are getting an English saddle, when in fact you aren't. If you are not sure, ask them directly; "are your saddles 100% hand crafted in England?" I have trawled through adverts for some saddles, looking for those precious words, and they were nowhere to be found. This practice makes my DH's blood boil 😡
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I mean the ultra close contact saddles, 1cm foam type panel on ponies, not much more on horses, with tiny narrow heads/pommels, upright rails that don't suit wide backs and often built tipping back. Just horrible things and a long way from what your OH builds. And yes, plenty of English sounding saddles built wholly in the Far East but also plenty of saddles that are assembled to some degree (I believe a while back they could almost just have the buckle guards added here but that may well be exaggeration!) here and stamped made in the UK/England, and not just smaller brands (probably not EVEN, they're less likely to do this).
 
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