saddle tilting me forward.........

[cob&onion]

Had my saddle checked by the fitter 3 weeks ago. Its a thorowgood GP saddle the T8 to be precise and is fitted with the white gullet. I had it from new. My cob has massive shoulders and is quite wide but does have withers.
Now in the past few days i have noticed the saddle tilting me forward alot.
The saddler is due out next week.
Am beginning to think that the whole saddle may not be right for her, afterall theres only so much adjusting you can do to it!

She used to have a WH one which was beautiful and used to fit her well, unfortunitly that had to be changed and she changed shape.........
Am thinking of going back to the WH type ones as the straight cut seems to accommodate her big shoulders better and is better for my long legs too
I rode her this morning and we introduced a bit of trot work, however i have noticed she doesn't feel as *free* as she did and i suspect its the saddle again although the saddler says its fine.
She had the not feeling *free* last time when her saddle was restricting her shoulder wise........
the last thing i want to do is make her feel uncomfortable ridden wise particularly as she is still young (rising 5)

Opinions?

 

[CBFan]

Sounds like a change of saddle may be require but I would let your fitter make reccomendations to you rather than limiting yourself to one brand / type.

 

[Goldenstar]

At five horses are changing shape a lot and sometimes very quickly it may be possible to adjust the flocking on your saddle the saddler will advise you if not you will have to get something different.

 

[Palindrome]

It seems like saddle is too wide or seating to high at the back, may be a reflock job will do as Goldenstar said.

 

[micki]

It sounds like you are needing a new saddle. My horse, who is now rising 6, has had 5 different saddles so far through changing shape so much.

 

[sbloom]

I think the TG Cob saddle is hard to balance, and you do hear of people going for narrower gullets and longer seats to stop being tipped forwards, neither of which may be actually correct fit. The front panel is very thin, the rear panel is very deep, and this will naturally tip forwards on many horses.

 

[s4sugar]

There are two issues here - the saddle needs to fit the horse and fit the rider too.
Sounds like your saddle doesn't fit you.

Find a saddle with a try horse and sit in various saddles. You will probably be surprised at the differences a small difference in twist, proportions & stirrup bar position can make.

 

[CobsGalore]

I'm having the same problem with my T4 Cob at the moment, the correct gullet is in and been reflocked (twice) but it is still tilting forwards.

I have made the decision to put it on ebay and get a treeless.

 

[Firewell]

My old saddle was tipping me forward. It was too wide and was digging into my horses shoulders and making him sore. He also didn't want to work properly in it and would try and go behind the bridle poor boy.
I'd stop riding her in it until the saddler has been if your worried. I think its always best to go with your instincts on these things. I didn't, I carried on and I wished I had listened to my niggling thoughts earlier.

 

[sbloom]

There are two issues here - the saddle needs to fit the horse and fit the rider too.
Sounds like your saddle doesn't fit you.

Find a saddle with a try horse and sit in various saddles. You will probably be surprised at the differences a small difference in twist, proportions & stirrup bar position can make.

In my experience the better the saddle fits the horse the better it is for the rider. Not to say that there aren't saddles that fit the horse perfectly that won't work for the rider, but improving the fit for the horse in this case will change the balance of the saddle and the rider may find it infinitely better. I have had customers say a saddle feels hard and uncomfortable when they first try it, but when I balance it (whether lifting the back or the front with flocking, or changing the tree width), many riders then find the saddle comfy and actually softer! Astonished me the first time it happened, but it's not uncommon.

 

[pip6]

I had a tg used to tip me forward. Best thing Idid was change the style of saddle I used.

 

[Luci07]

If you can try an Albion K2 - the trees tend to be further back than you think which is enormously helpful if you have a horse with big shoulders. My ISH at the time was described by my saddler as having an ISH head and a cobs body so should give you some idea! The K2 was one of the few we could find to find him