Saddle Recommendations For This Shape - ***PICS***

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Javabb94

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Hi,
Some of you may Have read my other thread about saddle troubles
I have a saddler coming out on 24th June although I would like some recommendations on saddles for Java's shape just so I know what sort of thing I am looking at

As I'm 5ft 11 I dont fit on straight cut VSD or most GP saddles so it needs to be forward cut or a jumping saddle

Must be brown as do workers and have brown tack and can't afford new bridle martingale aswell

Here are some pics of his shape

He is thoroughbred x Appaloosa

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Sorry I know they arent the best but I do not have any of him standing still !!

I love the Jeffries Falcon Adler VSS and the
 
PS (can't edit on phone) sorry the pics are sideways and also the saddle in the first pic is his current one it was just on as doing some videos to compare movement with and without it
 
His back isn't massively different to my horse, he looks as though he has big muscled shoulders like mine.
Mine is quite tricky to fit.. If you go for a jumping saddle make sure you go for one that sits behind the shoulders. I couldn't get a pure jumping saddle for my horse as they all sat on his shoulders, I had to get a forward cut event saddle instead, so sort of between a GP and a jump! I've jumped a meter oxer in it and when my horse throws a big jump I can feel the cantle but it will have to do! At least he CAN jump in it, with my last flat jump saddle he had to jump sort of upright because he couldn't drop his head and rotate his shoulders back.
Good luck buying saddles is a bloody nightmare. My horse is a bit between a medium and a medium wide, medium is too small, m/w is a fraction to wide so am having to use a pad. Very irritating! :)
 
Thanks for that :D

Yes that's the problem his shoulders!

I currently have a falcon hawk event and it doesnt fit

It's an extra wide I can't see how he has an extra wide

What height is your horse? Java is 15.2hh and how he is in an extra wide I will never know :/
 
My horse has huge shoulders took us over a year to find one that fitted right!
Eventually the new Bates model came out, (jumping saddle) and the Next Generation
Bates Elevation DS+ fitted perfectly no messing!

We had an absolute nightmare getting a saddle to fit so I hope you find one! xx

They tried to fit my horse with extra-wide at a few places, where as he only actually needed a normal in this saddle! xx
 
Ooh thanks for that lizzyandtoddy

I quite like the bates saddles
It seems to sit quite low at the pommel which to me says it's too wide and I am so unbalanced in it!

I will have a word with the saddler and see if he stocks bates etc
Thanks :D
 
Mine is a silhouette midas event saddle, it's the one that's 3/4 a way down this page:-
http://www.priorysaddlery.co.uk/english.html
I had a saddler come out with about 25 saddles and of all the saddles only 4 fitted well enough that I could ride in!
A new GFS event saddle I tried, a Jeffries and one of the saddlers own brand and well as the one I brought I tried. The saddle I brought was the one he moved best in but also the one that I could jump in! :)
Extra wide does seem a bit extreme! He's not a tabletop is he. He looks like he'll be a M/W, W at the most.
Be careful with the Kent and masters jump saddle as they are very forward cut which might not be good for his shoulders, try one
first :).
 
Ok thanks

Yes extra wide does seem a little extreme especially when he is 1/2 TB!

They have a Kent and masters VSS which isn't as forward cut or if I fit I could have a look at the GP

It's interesting what you say about jumping we seem to be having
quite a few poles down jumping and I can't understand why maybe the saddle is restricting him I wonder
 
I can't see any way your horse comes close to an extra wide!!!! Therefore if you like your current saddle why not try one in I would guess, MW.

A make of saddle I have recently been considering is from Heritage saddlery, google them they have a webby. They do a jumping saddle cut specifically for horses with large shoulders.
 
Unfortunately my current saddle I don't feel very balanced in at all :/

I will have a look at the heritage one for horses with large shoulders it sounds great!
Thanks!
 
The falcon hawk event I tried actually fitted my horse, it was a M/W. Problem was it wasn't forward cut enough for the jumping.

Heres a piccy of my horse just so you can compare, he's around 16hh :). Hes filled out more with the grass since this picture so hes a smidgen bigger then this now.

208291_10150188519495210_503675209_8437279_5778256_n.jpg


So not massivley dissimilar I don't think. Mine is a pure TB but a bit of a random chunky one :).
 
Haha yes they are quite similar

My legs are nearly off the end of the falcon hawk event

I used to have an ultra close contact Pessoa and since I got falcon it's like sitting on top of the horse rather than in the horse if you get my drift :D

I much prefer close contact and my horse goes better in one

Yours has the same big shoulders and withers so it's interesting you have a smaller width and I have extra wide

I have found thanks to another reply :) a heritage event saddle specifically for large shouldered horses so that will be worth looking into!
 
ooo that looks really nice that heritage saddle :). What a clever idea just making the top flap forward and not the panel, so simple!
 
I would recommend saddles direct you take a photo of your horse on both sides and from behind you take measurements for them every 1 inch along the back and take a template they look at these and rec some you take on trial they were brilliant with my palo said a kieffer and sure enough the kieffer is the only one that fits him he is a different horse


http://www.saddlesdirect.co.uk/?gclid=CPuQj8_dsqkCFQoa4QodkBdFKw
 
Thanks ihatework :)

Its really nice !! And reasonably priced too!

I have saddler coming out but I can ask him to bring certain ones he may have if they might be m
 
An old trick with these type of horses was to make a forward cut saddle on a dressage tree or similar, avoids the shoulders but gives the rider leg room, Oz
 
Unicornleather - thats a good idea but where would I get one ?

Problem is I have a very limited budget as I originally bought a GFS Pro VSD which I got rid of as didn't fit me and I jump and don't do dressage
Then I got a Pessoa Legacy XP3 which turned out was badly fitted and causes him muscle wastage
Then I got the Falcon Hawk Event which now doesn't fit!!

Hence why I am fed up of saddles haha and why my budget is limited

Seeing as the Jeffries one was brand new in march I am hoping to get a decent amount back and the saddler coming out will part ex it
 
I find it impossible to fit a saddle via a few photos. Also re width, my mare is a genuine wide fitting and she is half TB (anglo-arab). I had two saddle fitters that tried to put her in saddles that were too narrow. The mare was not impressed with this (and neither was I).

It is so hard finding a saddle fitter that you trust because even when working on recommendations, some people rave about one saddler and others will say stay away. Who do you trust? I ended up trying to understand the basics of saddle fitting myself, so that I could understand their reasons for selecting certain saddles for particular horses.
 
Yes I just asking what sort of makes to look at so I know if it's going to cost a lot!

I have researched so much about fitting on the Internet and I know finding a good saddler is hard!

I have someone coming out who has 40 years experience and said that the minimum time he will spend fitting is 2-3 hours everyone I know who has had this saddler said he is great so fingers crossed !
 
Try the Albion K2 jump - My previous ISH had a shoulder like your boy and was a nightmare to fit. My saddler likened him to a horse with a cobs body and TB head! He also went in a wide fitting.
 
have someone coming out who has 40 years experience and said that the minimum time he will spend fitting is 2-3 hours everyone I know who has had this saddler said he is great so fingers crossed !
Click to expand...

I really hope that it goes well, he does sound promising. I hope that he has the perfect saddle for the horse and your budget. :D
 
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