Saddle tree angle

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jumpingjenny

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Evening all.

I have a native with very big shoulders but then a significantly different wither angle behind said shoulders. Trying to find a saddle is proving impossible.

One saddle fitter told me the angle of the tree should match that of the shoulder (putting me in a wider saddle) and and one fitter has said that the angle should match the much area behind the scapula (putting me in a narrower saddle).

both ways of fitting saddles result in saddles slipping back at the moment - really very far.

The points of the tree are three fingers behind the scapula to start but by the end of a ride the saddle has moved back to more than double this. Of course I could use a breastplate but this would surely only be masking the problem?

The same thing happens whether I have a medium or XW saddle on (based on the different fitter as above) and I have tried about 15-20 different saddles, always with a fitter.

Horse wears a straight girth and no real girth grove as such.

I hope my ramblings make some sense.
So who do I go with?
The wider or the narrower opinion?
And any ideas if so how to make sure the saddle wants to stay put?

Thanks if you’ve got this far!
 
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Hi I have a similar problem with my mare in that her shoulders have always pushed saddles back. I recently bought a Rich and Sons saddle which has got "shoulder relief" panels (Google it), and so far so good. Maybe worth a try?
 
Andrea Hicks saddles are supposed to be good for natives, and for big shoulders. People who have them seem to really rate them (they don't come up second hand all that much) so maybe worth seeing if there's a fitter in your area? I only know this because I also have a big shouldered horse who tends to push saddles backwards - I ended up going treeless eventually but if I'd chosen to stick with treed saddles AH was going to be my next stop.
 
Widgeon said:
Andrea Hicks saddles are supposed to be good for natives, and for big shoulders. People who have them seem to really rate them (they don't come up second hand all that much) so maybe worth seeing if there's a fitter in your area? I only know this because I also have a big shouldered horse who tends to push saddles backwards - I ended up going treeless eventually but if I'd chosen to stick with treed saddles AH was going to be my next stop.
Click to expand...
Husbands big shouldered NF is very happy in his ex-demo AH Sport tree GP saddle - and husband says its the most comfortable saddle he's ridden in since our Farrington days. I'm just feeling smug that my Geoff Dean harness saddle fits both coblet and NF in lush padded comfort - sometimes my decision to drive not ride seems to have many good points ☺️ 🤞
 
They are two very different schools of thought for sure, but the shoulder is more upright so the angle is narrower if you go that route, the head/pommel and therefore the twist can be wider though. How you sits matters, a lot, to the horse, so that must be taken into account.

Big shoulders are often a result of postural/topline issues so I'd be looking very closely at that first, especially as you've tried SO many saddles. In a very busy saddle fitting advice group I'm on on FB, you can guarantee if someone posts that they've a very difficult to fit horse, when you get to see photos, they show these issues.

Whether you need narrower or wider depends so much on the saddle "system", they're not interchangeable, and there's the width of the angle of the points, the width of the head/pommel AND the width and angle of the rails, they all matter.

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Once you've addressed posture and topline then I would probably be looking at a half panel or a split panel design if the shoulders are still an issue (they rarely are), but also look at the length of the saddle and cut of the flap, it's easy to end up chasing bigger seat sizes and more forward flaps which won't be helping you in most cases.

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