Saddle help for round pony

stencilface

stencilface

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I've not posted in ages and wondered if anyone could help.

I have a 12.3 pony that needs an adult rider. Currently he has a thorowgood t4 pony saddle which is a good fit on him,however at 15 inches its diddy for the rider. The max saddle length he can take is 15.5, and thorowgood do a version of the t4 with longer saddle flaps, but only from a 16 inch and up.

Hes very broad with no withers. Has anyone experience of a saddle company saddle? I considered tireless, but worried about that on his back with adult riders.

Anyone have similar? I haven't limitless funds for saddles, 500 ish is my budget...
 
500 is a decent budget, have you tried the showing pages on FB? some of the showing saddles have a larger seat on a short panel so you might get lucky and get a 16.5 seat on a 15.5 panel. SC saddles I don't particularly rate tbh.

re the treeless, if the rider is titchy I'd not be worried but its hard to find a treeless that wouldn't swamp a pony that can only take a 15.5 saddle. Heather Moffat has a new 'Pad-dle' out which looks good but its too new to get reviews on it. the other option is a Thorn pad with decent pad underneath but a lot depends on the weight of the rider.
 
Thankyou, I'll have a look at the paddle. I've also been recommended AH saddles and looked at a solution saddle, although I know both of those are out of my budget even second hand!!

Its tricky with a small pony who needs an adult rider. The t4 hasn't got much to sit in, and the pony tends to scoot and dash when worried and the rider has nothing to sit into
 
I picked up an older Silhouette GP with a hoop tree for £200 recently and have seen smaller ones-mine is a 17 seat and its not the shortest so not sure if one in a 16 would suit. Look for upswept panels!
 
Just bear in mind that every saddle has a different footprint, you may find that some 16" saddles will be sort enough, especially if they have an upswept panel, but bear in mind this sort of super short panel (and where a bigger seat has been put onto a shorter panel) then it's almost always lower as well, so seldom works with a wither to flatter back as there's nothing to balance it. In other makes a 15" may be as big as you can go (and for instance the trees I fit don't come in a 15.5"). Here's some guidance on sizing saddle footprint, but it's very hard to get sellers to measure the footprint accurately sadly https://www.ahsaddles.com/single-po...bum-look-too-big-in-this-saddle-length-part-2
 
I also rate silhouette saddles for round types, if you can find one the right size. Often on eBay and reasonable second hand, nice saddles too.
 
Going to have to Google upswept panels too!
I'll have a look at the silhouette too, thankyou. I'm going to bramham next weekend so I'm hoping to look at lots of saddles and ask a lot of questions there too.
 
I had a SC saddle for a Clydesdale and really liked it. I was very light and comfortable for both horse and rider, so if you can find one that fits your pony, I can recommend the saddles. Thinking about it sis, whose legs are long, had one for her 15.3 hh mare who had a very short back, I guess you probably could get one made to fit within your budget. Certainly worth looking into but I don't remember ever seeing the company at Bramham, it seems to all be very expensive saddles.
 
stencilface said:
Going to have to Google upswept panels too!
I'll have a look at the silhouette too, thankyou. I'm going to bramham next weekend so I'm hoping to look at lots of saddles and ask a lot of questions there too.
Click to expand...

You'll find mostly the French eventing sector type saddles, possibly Albion etc, 3 day events aren't a good place for footfall for us wide specialists (and the pitches are super expensive, especially if it's only effectively PR and you don't sell at the show) :). Here's the low down on the upswept panel https://www.facebook.com/pg/stephaniebloom.saddlefitter/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1409787429069850
 
Thankyou, yes I know it will be mostly devoucoux and wow etc if past experience is anything. I guess I was hoping to just look at a lot of saddles, and maybe see if any of the tack places had a stock of second hand saddles. I'm close enough that I could borrow one on the Friday and return it on the Saturday.

My instructor sells/fits saddle company saddles, so I do trust her, but still worry about buying anything new! Maybe I'll have to message her and see.

The current saddle fits ok, but the pony's vice is to rush forwards, and when he does that the saddle offers nowhere for an adult to be able to sit in and ride him through it effectively. Hes never done it with me, only when I get others (lighter people!!) To ride him. I don't think the saddle is an issue (comfort wise for him) as I can walk trot canter fine on him, but when he dashes it just becomes useless.
 
I have known plenty of ponies rush from a not-so well fitting saddle, slightly less likely if he only does it with lighterweight riders, but it might be moving more with a lighter rider? You might find the odd used saddle at Bramham but it'll be pot luck. I'm not the biggest fan of SC saddles, do keep an open mind about what might fit well, and remember no single brand can fit everything (I'm sure I'm teaching you to suck eggs on that one!). I personally think wooden trees suit most flatter backs better on average, a flat wooden tree tends to be flatter than a flat synthetic tree (eg the TG Cob isn't that flat).
 
He's had a lighter rider on who he was fine with. I think it only becomes an issue when he rushes, but the saddle in itself doesn't cause it. I mean I have cantered him and have to stay out of the saddle as with his short stride I just cant sit on it, so it must have been rubbish then for him and he didn't worry. Hes wary of strangers so that doesn't help me when finding a rider. I think I need someone to spend a few weeks doing groundwork with him so he gains confidence first with them.

Also I need to lay off the biscuits, wear minimal (but still decent lol) clothing to cut my weight down, buy some safety stirrups (another minefield, ha!) and just get back to pony squashing
 
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