Saddle Pad advice needed - odd shaped horse!

[GingerTrotter]

Hi,

I'm having trouble fitting a saddle to my horse. I have had a saddle fitter come and the one he has now is the best fit we can get without getting one made for him (and if I could afford it I would )

He has big shoulders and no withers and a very shallow rib cage with a long thin back - you see odd!
The saddle he has now is a wid fit ideal GP saddle and it fit quite well, it doesnt slip back like his old one or roll to one side. However there is not enough clearance over his withers, I know you are supposed to be able to fit your hand in the space but I can only fit 3 finger and 2 when I'm sat on him.

The saddle fitter suggested a saddle pad (half pad) which I am using, its just a plain thin sheepskin one but I think its just cushioning the withers rather than raising the saddle.
He moves nicely in it and its doesnt seem to be bothering him but I was wondering if anyone else has the same problem and if there is a magic saddle pad solution to this - either that or I have to win the lottery and get him a made to measure saddle!

 

[Orchardbeck]

Hi, I've just had a Thorowgood T4 Cob fitted with an extra wide gullet fitted to my mare who has big shoulders, she differs to yours in that she has deep well sprung ribs and normally has no withers but a year off work, and a bout of laminitis leading to box rest has meant she has muscle wastage either side of the wither.

My saddler recommended a Prolite wither pad to lift the saddle off her withers because if she were muscled up, the clearance would be ok, but with her temporary lack of condition it is a touch too low on her withers. I tried this combination out last night for the first time and cannot believe the difference, it has totally freed up her shoulders. I used it with a Griffin Nuumed everyday pad.

 

[GingerTrotter]

Thanks.
Do you think it would work with his very flat back? his quite a skinny little thing, its almost like fitting a saddle to a the cardboard bit inside a toilet role. haha, couple that with the big muscley shoulders i sometimes think nothing will fit him.
It might be worth trying the wither pad - I wonder if there is something I can use to simulate it before I buy one?

 

[sbloom]

You know what, 2 fingers clearance might be fine on some horses. On a wide fit it would be more unusual. The most important thing is that the tree points are parallel to the horse's ribcage (not shoulder, we're fitting behind the shoulder ), that there IS clearance all the way along the gullet (and the back of the leather foldback can sometimes be the issue if clearance is low) then that the saddle is in balance from front to back. PLus stable of course .

On a wide horse if you want to lift the front of the saddle you will need a front riser. On a narrower horse the effective thickness of the pad is much greater, imagine dropping a plumb line down through the pad next to the wither. I love the Mattes correction numnahs and pads - pricey but so versatile and great to have in the tack room. Really stable as well, which most riser pads aren't.

Sheepskin may be enough, but will lift the back somwhat as well, but perhaps that is what you want? That depends on the balance without a pad.