Saddle Woes!!! Ideas to try on my High Withered WBxTB

[Chottsy]

So my horse is currently in a Thorowgood T4 High Wither. Which seems to fit him well in theory (Much better than the Wintec I had before that was hurting his back), but every couple of months it starts to slip right when I'm riding, and then makes his back sore. We have moved the back girth strap onto the balance strap to help keep it left but this isn't enough to keep it straight for any length of time.

Saddler has said the saddle fits him well (and she is the best saddler I have found out of the many I've tried) but says his left shoulder is bigger and this is what pushes the back of the saddle right. I just feel like I am on a timer for how long it is going well before his saddle makes his back sore again and I'm forking out another £150/£200 to get it all sorted.

He is obviously worth that a hundred times over but I am wondering if anyone has any advice for a saddle that may fit better for longer, or be suited to a MW high withered beast so that he doesn't have to put up with a saddle that slips every couple of months and gives him a sore back by the time I've got it sorted.

Thank youuuuuu x

 

[Charlie007]

I bought the Thorowgood anatomical t8 gp for my high withered tb. Love it!! I have had leather dressage saddles for the last 6 years or so so I was very sceptical going for a Thorowgood gp!! My tb is still changing shape so I needed something that could be altered easily.

 

[_Annie_]

I got a second hand T6 high wither with fish, it has been an absolute godsend for my very stocky, high withered tb. I use it with a prosorb shim pad, to get the best fit for him.

 

[Meredith]

Perhaps someone with more knowledge could help but is it possible to balance the saddle with a half pad with different shims on each side to keep it level on him? Both front and rear shims can be used. Would that help keep it straight and stop the slipping back?
I use a T4 high wither with a thick half pad to fill in muscle loss on my elderly pony but her muscle loss is symmetric. It works very well.

 

[paddi22]

i've two odd shaped high withered horses and the only things i got to fit were albions and thorowgoods t6

 

[Nudibranch]

One of the pads with removable shims might help. There's a Griffin hi wither shimmy pad so you could get more of a custom fit if he's bigger on one side.

 

[jjsblackhorse]

Hi, can I come at this from a different angle?
I find that when I have my horses back treated that if I don't have mine done then I put him out! I have learnt over the years if my horse stops going in a straight line it generally means I'm crooked (the long term after effects of a car smash).

It may be worth getting yourself checked.

 

[leflynn]

Hi, can I come at this from a different angle?
I find that when I have my horses back treated that if I don't have mine done then I put him out! I have learnt over the years if my horse stops going in a straight line it generally means I'm crooked (the long term after effects of a car smash).

It may be worth getting yourself checked.

I am exactly the same as this! would also investigate the pads you can shim/adjust as then if the muscle develops you can alter the pads rather than the whole saddle, I ended up with a close contact for that reason after changing saddle or having adjustments every 6-8 weeks as horse changed shape

 

[mdfreeman37]

Have you had a look at solution saddles? We have a WBxTBxCob with decent withers that fits her great and also a very wide flat back that we struggled to find something to fit. They aren't cheap brand new but they are very good

 

[Pippity]

I think I've tried every high-wither saddle on the market on my boy and still haven't got one to fit him.

Kieffer Garmisch was the closest at a reasonable price. Albion Kontrol GP was fantastic but too pricey for me. If you're willing to look at a dressage saddle, the Albion SLK was a good fit.

As others have said, if it's essentially lopsidedness in your horse that's pushing the saddle out, it may be worth looking at shimming.

 

[Ben2684]

I had this very same issue, high withered, broad backed horse, with odd shoulders. I have an ideal saddle. It's the gazelle so a jumping saddle but fits beautifully. Initially had to pad him up with the shim inserts but I'm hoping these can go completely when next due in April after being reduced over the last few months

 

[Micropony]

I have found Kieffer good in the past for a high withered horse, but if the problem is that the horse has uneven muscle development, is it worth addressing that with a physio or similar? Personally I wouldn't be confident to start doing things with shims on one side for fear of making things worse, especially without understanding why the muscle development is asymmetrical. Unless that's what your saddler and physio have advised of course. I mean you've probably done all that, I'm not meaning to be rude, it's just not quite clear from your post.