Saddle ideas

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Sandstone1

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Any ideas on makes of saddles likely to fit a short backed, wide cob with a decent wither? has a kent and masters at moment. I do not really like it so thinking of changing.
 
My short backed, wide warmblood eventer is in an AH dressage saddle. It’s is great, I really struggled to get anything to fit his back profile.
He is in an Ideal jump saddle- they have a couple of models that might suit, including the Apollo
 
eahotson said:
You can definitely get AH saddles second hand.Contact Andrea or look on saddle bank.One advantage to them is that the whole tree can be widened or narrowed as necessary.
Click to expand...

They're widened as other wooden trees, the front arch moves, the rails under the rider move a little. The tree can be adjusted just a few times, so not "as necessary" beyond a certain point. One of the trees in particular works for a moderate wither. They are beautiful saddles and can work really well for sure, I fitted them as an agent for 16 years and still work with them to an extent.

I now find that so much with short backs is about where you sit the rider, and how, and brands that sit the rider forwards, at the base of the wither, can be a game changer, to the extent that you can actually fit beyond the back rib to an extent (though the industry can't actually agree on what TO the back rib actually means!).

You can see more about how to fit the rider here
 
sbloom said:
They're widened as other wooden trees, the front arch moves, the rails under the rider move a little. The tree can be adjusted just a few times, so not "as necessary" beyond a certain point. One of the trees in particular works for a moderate wither. They are beautiful saddles and can work really well for sure, I fitted them as an agent for 16 years and still work with them to an extent.

I now find that so much with short backs is about where you sit the rider, and how, and brands that sit the rider forwards, at the base of the wither, can be a game changer, to the extent that you can actually fit beyond the back rib to an extent (though the industry can't actually agree on what TO the back rib actually means!).

You can see more about how to fit the rider here
Click to expand...
Fair enough.The one I bought is 2xw and Andrea told me that as her back develops it will need to be broadened to 3xw which I think will need doing soon.My cob is not short backed though.She can take an 18" saddle according to Andea.
 
Absolutely, adjusting the front arch one size wider is completely normal, you could easily widen two sizes, but there absolutely is a limit to both the whole amount you should adjust in one go, and how many tree adjustments it can deal with in the first, say, 5 years, either in the same direction (usually a few), and then narrowed AND widened which really limits future adjustments. Beyond 5 years I personally won't narrow a saddle, whatever its history, and beyond 10 wouldn't usually widen, so there are many limitations.
 
But not as many limitations I think as a lot of makes.If I wanted a second hand one I would approach Andrea who is easy to talk to.Have my horse measured as per het videos and ask her advice.
 
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