Saddle for big shoulders, short back and leggy rider?

[supercowpony]

Ok, so I had the saddler out the other day and I think I may have a slight problem.

I am 5 ft 8, with long legs and a particularly long hip to knee. My horse is just under 15.1hh, and a short coupled cob with big shoulders.

I have some sort of GP or WH Ideal saddle, which is 17.5" and straight cut at the front. This does mean my knees are only just on the flaps. However I cope with this fine. What the saddler thought was more of a problem is that I am sitting too far back in the saddle and so, in the long run he thinks this will be uncomfortable for my cob's back.
(I feel slightly annoyed about this, as I bought the saddler new from a saddler only 1 year and a half a go, and neither my horse or I have drastically changed shape in that time. I always knew I would have to make a compromise on the saddle, but it was never even mentioned to me that I was sitting in the wrong part of the saddle.)

So, the first question is new horse, or new saddle. I still have a lot I want to do with my cob, and he can be a bit quirky. He's certainly not suitable for most people who want a cob. I don't think I could bear selling him.. But am I asking for the impossible trying to find a saddle where I won't be sat in the wrong place, I'll have some security, and he will be happy?
The saddler said he may 'cope' with the issue as I've had him for 4 years so he'll just be used to it, but that isn't really good enough in my opinion.

So then, what saddles would you recommend? After doing some browsing it seems Heritage Saddles make some especially for large shouldered horses with a straighter cut panel, but a more forward cut flap for the rider to prevent shoulder restriction? I emailed Matt Marlow, the saddler, and he seems to think this would be a solution, but obviously he wants to sell his saddles!

Are there any other similar sorts out there? Preferably for under £1000, though another one people seem to like, which is the Ideal Event Impala Pro is £1400....

But really any suggestions would be great!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Sorry, no help whatsoever as I have a similar problem. I am considering having my Saddle Company saddle remade to fit this horse and will be watching the thread with interest.

 

[Luci07]

Try a jump Albion K2. The tree is further behind than you think so you can have jump flaps without restricting the shoulder. My YO is long in the thigh as you are and she is fine jumping in it. Play around with the seat size to see what fits. I have an 18" as the horse i originally bought it for needed a little extra but it actually fits my much shorter coupled horse now.

 

[Javabb94]

I was just about to suggest the ideal impala pro! I have one on J and I absolutely love it! Unfortunately couldn't afford another for Abbie! Gutted!

I'm 5ft 11" and hardly any saddle fits - I have just managed to squeeze into the JW passion saddle for Abbie Which I also really like.

I have seen a few impala pro's on eBay for your budget so if you know they fit you could always search there?

Definately a fab saddle - J is incredibly awkward to fit with huge shoulders but it fits him like a glove

 

[siennamum]

We have an identical problem with an Iberian horse and a 6ft 2 rider. The solution (i hope) is an Ideal, which is built on a hoop head tree, it accomodates a loaded shoulder. the flaps are cut forward to allow rider to shorten stirrups and the cantle square for jumping etc. Ideal are making it at the moment it is £950 so praying it works. This is a horse who we can't fit an average treeless to as he is so short and has such big shoulders.
It is the tree which we are hoping will make the difference, completely different shape to a standard tree

 

[Suechoccy]

My horse has big shoulders, high withers, long stride and is a medium-fit cob cross something.

His saddle is a made-to-measure Equexstra working hunter of the following design:

cut-back head to allow for high withers
medium width
straightish front panels with slight amount of padding (not enough to call it a knee roll)
stirrup bars in the dressage-saddle position rather than GP-saddle position
fairly large bearing surface in the rear pads

This gave his 5'8" owner a good saddle position and kept the neddy comfy.

I'm 6'1" but ride long-in-the-stirrups so unless I take my stirrups up two holes for jumping, the saddle fits me nicely too (11 years now!). When I take the stirrups up for jumping, I find my crook-of-knee rests on top of the "knee rolls" rather than behind them, but I have long thigh too.

Horse has always seemed very comfy in the saddle.

 

[soloequestrian]

Balance International Felix or Matrix - both have relatively short, foam filled panels so you get a little more seat for the rider for the panel as you do with other models. All the Balance saddles will deal with big shoulders.

 

[muff747]

I've got a wide backed, high withered, big shouldered TB! The high withers made him almost sway backed. I had about six successive saddles which all moved across the back due to the flaps being moved by his shoulders.
I did a lot of schooling and very little jumping so I ended up with a Wintec Isabel Werth dressage saddle and he never had another sore back and it never moved, even if I forgot to tighten the girth before a hack .
I never had any more sore seat bones either! It was a lovely comfy saddle, I felt very secure in it. I even did a few hunter trials in it!!!
Sorry, this is no good if you want to do a lot of jumping, or showing in it.

 

[sbloom]

It depends on how the scapula "flows" or not into the back where the saddle sits. A big jump from one to the other, ie a prominent scapula, is more problematic than with big shoulders that don't shoot out from the ribcage. If the latter then all that matters is the right tree shape and you should be able to have a forward cut saddle to acommodate your long leg.

When the scapula is prominent it's a harder job. You may find that a thigh block, rather than a knee block, and perhaps on velcro, works. You can get your knee in underneath the block rather than it being pushed outwards when it is ON the block.

If your current saddle is sitting you too far back - is the saddle actually too long for his ribcage? If it's okay for the horse then the first thing I'd look at is whether the rear of the saddle needs lifting with something like a Mattes correction pad (the only shimming system I like to work with). It may be that with you being tall for the saddle you are being pushed to the rear and the saddle is squishing down at the back - if you can lift the back it will bring you forwards to the right part of the seat - that deepest part that means, if your weight is in it, the tree is balanced and spreading your weight correctly. If you then impact on the knee blocks, you do have an issue and may need to look at something more forward cut or rider longer

A hoop tree means the head, the top of the pommel, is very wide. This is great for very mutton withered horses, for me usually XXW or larger (and I fit mainly wide horses as I specialise in cobs and natives). but on a narrower horse, or a horse with a slight wither (even some XXW horses have a hint of wither!) then a hoop tree will swim and be laterally unstable, possibly wiggling, possibly dropping in the front. You need the width of the head to reasonably match the shape of the wither, and the panels to be attached at the appropriate hieght - then the trapezius is free and the shoulder can move.

Oh and as an aside, women are proportionately longer in the femur, so don't go thinking a saddle designed for a man will suit, it may not be any better!

Hope that helps.