saddle woes

[piebaldcob]

Hello,

I have a 14.1 traditional cob who is very chunky, broad backed and no wither. I have had real trouble with saddle fitters fitting the wrong size saddles to my boy! I have finally found a fantastic saddler who has fitted the perfect saddle which fits my boy lovely. The trouble is it doesn't fit me!! It is a 16.5 seat and I am having real trouble with it. I don't feel confident riding in it, let alone trying to jump in it. My saddle said that he won't fit anything bigger on my pony because of his short back! I am a larger rider - but shrinking pretty fast but find that my knees come over the knee rolls if I put my stirrups up. I don't know what to do?? I am at the stage of thinking that I should sell my boy (who i love dearly) to buy something a little bigger to cope with a bigger saddle.

Sorry for the long post but getting pretty upset now.

 

[martyna]

why not try a treeless saddle might be a bit more comfy for you ? if your this upset it will dampen your enjoyment and thats the main thing !! poor you

 

[piebaldsparkle]

What type is your saddle, I couldn't get a GP to fit mine, so had to go for a VSD (which is sraighter cut, thus inbetween a GP and a dressage saddle).

 

[PrincessDana]

Hello, I had the exact same problem as you. I went through 3 saddles in the space of a couple of months before finding one that actually fitted both me and my cob. I ended up getting the saddler to order me one and fit it to him. The make of the saddle i ended up with was a Dever and i got it in a 17" seat.

 

[Tierra]

Have kinda the same problem with my warmblood. He has high skinny withers but is then massive over the width of his spine. To top it off, he's 16.1hh and very short coupled - to the point of needing a 16.5 inch saddle. Aaaaaand im 5ft 10

We got around it with a wow saddle as they can fit the panels of the saddle to your horse (so his are 16.5) but give the rider a slightly larger seat to make things more comfortable (so my seat is 17inch)

Combined that with slightly longer than usual dressage flaps rotated forwards and it gives me plenty of leg room.

I had him in a 17inch saddle prior to that and he was suffering with a lot of bruising in the area directly above his kidneys which obviously, wasnt good. Since he's lost the half an inch on the length, ive had no further troubles

 

[Spot_the_Risk]

Oh hell, this is what I'm going through too, back lady said last week that my saddle (17") is causing pain and soreness at the back, it's too long I guess. But I'm a size 16 (and back at Slimming World!) and my saddle, a Wintec Wide, isn't big enough for me, and my knees come to the front edges.

We've got an appointment with the top man of saddles and fitting, Nathaniel Underwood, on 3 December - the earliest appointment he had! I think I will be getting a saddle for Christmas - gulp!

 

[JACQSZOO]

I had the same problem with Georige. Could'nt get a GP for love nor money because he is short coupled witha large shoulder. Anything that fit him was wayyyy to small for me. In the end I opted for the WOW too. He has size 1 panels and I have a size 2 seat. Perfect for both of us.

 

[hunteress]

Hi i'm going through this at the moment 15 2" cob had a saddle made 18inch long more for comfort for me as i'm a 10/12 size when I put my boy in this saddle he bucks and puts his back up so I havn't used it much costing me £1200 then I bought a cliff barnsby 18" extra wide off ebay £350 inc P/P and hes ok in that but i'm still thinking 18" is too big getting a Barnsby saddle fitter out to see if these saddle are ok some of these saddlers not all take you for a big ride !!!!!!!!!!

 

[mrussell]

It depends on how much you can afford... I have a WOW saddle for the simple reason that I can have a standard seat on shorter panels... Ive a croup high TBx with a forward girth groove so I really strggled ot get a saddle that wasnt always being pressed forward.

I spent years trying different makes so I dont envy you at all...