Saddle question - is this normal?

[Hollyhorse]

I bought a new dressage saddle for my boy last week! Tried over 10 saddles including passier, ideal, kieffer, jaguar... n ended up with an albion ultima platinum, expensive taste I know but I loved it straight away Anyway I've ridden in it a few times n have noticed that when his shoulder moves back it bulges in front of the saddle - is this normal? I've never noticed this before with other saddles, but that doesn't mean that it didn't happen! I rang the saddler and asked about it as I was worried it meant his shoulder wasn't moving freely etc, n he said that it's just the skin and could be that he has lots of loose skin and that it's not something to worry about, he's going to call me tomorrow morning to chat about it properly as he was in the middle of a fitting when we talked today. So I was just hoping for some feedback about whether this is normal or whether I should be worried? He talked me through the fitting at the time, explaining about how the point of the saddle was parallel to my horse's side etc so it seemed ok but I want to check as I leave Southampton on saturday and so if necessary I need to sort anything out by then! Any advice would be great Thanks!

 

[CBAnglo]

It sounds as though it might be too tight - usually when a horse has atrophy and the saddle is fitted closely to the back muscle (or lack of back muscle) it can restrict the shoulder.

Would need to see pics though.

 

[Hollyhorse]

To be honest that's what I suspected - that it was too tight. He's only 6 years old and when I got him last year he had NO muscle whatsoever, now he is really muscling up but still has a weak back and obviously has more muscling to do. If this is the case what could the saddler do - exchange it for a wider one?

 

[CBAnglo]

A small amount can be done with flocking, but with youngsters you get into the habit of buying a new saddle every time they change shape. I went through 3 before I fitted mine with a SC saddle and since then (18 months) I have adjusted it about 7 times (luckily I am a saddle fitter!) He has grown 3 inches in the last 2 years though and he is a fatty in summer and a poor doer in winter (he really loves being difficult).

Also, I am not really keen on the Albion - I assume you have a TB type if this is the saddle that actually fitted your boy?

 

[Hollyhorse]

Yeah he's definitely got a bit of muscling and possibly growing to do. He's an ISH with a mix of WB and TB as well as a little ID - he's not a really narrow TB type but has some bone as you can see below:

I had a saddle company saddle which I bought before christmas but actually made him extremely sore in the back, when I got a different saddler I tried loads of different types as I hadn't really felt comfortable in the saddle company one, and I loved the albion - it felt great for me and did everything I wanted it to. I was initially hesitant as albion are used for lots of warmblood dressage horses like Carl Hester's horses but then William Foxpitt uses them and his are TBs so I thought they must work for TB types too! I really would like to find a way to make this saddle comfortable for my horse as I like it so much.

 

[KatB]

I wouldnt worry too much. if he is moving freely in it and the point is sat behind his shoulder, the bit that makes the skin "bulge" is just the flap where the kneeblock is? If sothat is just flexi saddle bit and you may find it moulds to him the more you use it. My Albion did on my boy the first few times I used it, and now is fine. He has huge shoulders and it just took a wile for the flocking to mould. It never restricted him in any way though

 

[Hollyhorse]

I think half the problem is once I start to worry about something I can convince myself that things are there that aren't! If I think back I could say that he was less forward than when I schooled him in it but then I'd lunged him really hard the day before so he could have been tired... but overall I think he would let me know if he was really uncomfortable. I just want to make sure that it's a perfect fit so I'm not causing any back problems in the long run. Yes you're right the skin that bulges is the bit just in front of the knee block. I shall have a really close look tomorrow when I put it on as it is brand new and slightly stiff so as you say it could be that it just hasn't yet softened and moulded to him. Thanks for the reassurance!