Saddle woes - Advice needed

[AFB]

Prewarning, this may be rambling, apologies in advance!

So about 6 weeks ago I noticed saddle sitting low at the front, horse not obviously unhappy but very stoic. Felt very proud of noticing said problem before he told me, promptly went out and purchased a Prolite front riser to see if that helped.

Horse then had an easy few weeks for various reasons, but was a prat each time worked. Put it down to lack of work for a couple of weeks, got on last Wednesday and horse being a total arse (but had had a week off), battled onwards and after 45 mins got some decent trot out of him and ended on a good note. Got on next day in school + bungee to keep his ears out of my nose (as per previous day) and he felt same as the day before, confirmed not due to lack of work! Thoughts whizzing through head as to why perfect pony being an arse and hopped off to remove Prolite. Hopped back on and cue much happier horse, removed bungee and nostrils stay clear of ears.

So spent a few days thinking saddle may look slightly 'wrong' but horse obviously prefers. Had weekend off as away and then hopped back on Monday, took him for a canter to let off some steam as it had been a while and he gets quite pent up, thinking we could then get back to schooling the following day.

This is where it all falls apart, hopped on as usual and started to warm up, horse is tense but nothing out of the ordinary, moved from flat schooling area to jumping paddock as this often cheers him up and he'll get down to work. Popped a cross pole, horribly. Continued to school on the flat with (very slight) improvement. Popped an approx 75cm spread to give him something more to think about (cross pole possibly too small for his highness to pick feel up for properly), ran at is and humped back afterwards. Now I'll admit I could have been quicker on picking up on it here, but I popped a few more to test the water and he was almost running through or scraping over jumps he would usually pop happily, then hunching his back underneath me, so called it a day and understood, horse not happy.

Got back to yard and untacked, saddle really not sitting that low (grass growth and a few weeks with light work has plumped him up a little), still 1 fingers width clearance when I'm on, but not ideal I understand.
Had a poke and prod and no obvious soreness on his back, if anything a tiny amount towards the back of the saddle (if I really dug in here I felt him tense against me, but no sign of him telling me to get off).

I will be in touch with saddle fitter asap, but wondered if anybody had any suggestions here?

My main concern is my latex saddle isn't adjustable in terms of reflocking. If it came down to a larger change does anybody have any experience here of adjustability of trees? Though I assume this will vary from brand to brand.

Then if my nightmare comes true and it is saddle shopping time, can anybody recommend something that may fit criteria:
Jump/fwd cut GP
Flatish seat with square cantle
Thigh blocks
Brown (havana or oak, not too fussy here)
Leather
Happy with mono or duel flap
Wool flocked to give more adjustability in future

Obviously I can't comment on what horse needs fit wise until I get fitter out, I'm aware tree shape will narrow it more so!

Thanks to anybody that got this far!!

 

[Wheels]

How long is it since you had it professionally fitted?

What make is your current saddle and what do you like / not like about it?

 

[AFB]

Longer than I care to admit on refitting, I've always asked saddle lady to have a quick look when we've been on yard at the same time and she's always been happy with it. It's up until now always been a 'good fit', I know horse inside out and he's quite vocal where saddle fit is concerned (I mention he humped his back with me - this is the most genuine, kind horse you could wish for, and about the most he could bring himself to do to say 'get off')

Current saddle is an Exselle (export brand of WRSC/Ideal), there's nothing I don't like about it bar horse being unhappy now, I'll be quite honestly devastated to see it go if needs must.

 

[SEL]

I'd wait until the saddle fitter turns up before you start planning what kind of saddle you want.

everything I liked, my horse hated! We've got a saddle company one now with an adjustable tree.

In fact the one the horse liked best was so straight cut at the front that I had to say no - she's got a big buck in her and I needed something to dig my knees into.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

I'd guess horse has changed shape and saddle tree is too flat. When you raise it at the front with the riser pad, it sits in better balance for the rider, but for the horse the weight is all down through the rear of the saddle, probably because it's bridging a little and digging in at the rear. When it's too low at the front it's probably too wide as well as out of balance and tipping the rider forward, but the horse is happier because with the front lower the saddle is more in line with the profile of the back, less likely to be bridging and not digging into the back at the rear of the panels. Not much you can do about this except buy a new saddle, unfortunately.

 

[Llee94]

I would get the saddle fitter out first. If they can't find anything obviously wrong then I would get a physio/osteo out for the horse. He may have just tweaked something rolling in the field or stable that could be causing him some discomfort.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

It sounds as if raising the pommel made the back of the saddle dig into the horse's back, rather than a front riser, you would probably have been better with a full prolite pad. See what your saddle fitter says before you worry about the next saddle.

 

[Dave's Mam]

Is it memory foam rather than flocking? You mentioned latex.
I've seen one dismantled & the foam gives up after a bit & creates pressure points.

 

[sbloom]

It does sound like maybe the whole saddle has dropped, not just the front, ie his back has dropped away a little bit, curving from front to back and/or lost weight or muscle all along his back. This means that lifting the front either tips the saddle back AND possibly makes it bridge around the stirrup bars, or even if it's level it may be bridging and causing 4 point pressure. A Prolite pad is a big change, I'd never recommend making that kind of change without consulting a saddle fitter, you have the cost of the pad, the cost of getting the saddle fitter out anyway and the cost of physio etc.